I need help figuring out what to brew!

So SWMBO and I recently found out we have a little one on the way (our first). The due date is Christmas Day, giving me a little time to plan a special beer for the occasion. I want to brew something and give bottles out to people instead of cigars.

My problem is I have no idea what to aim for. Given the time of year that he/she will be born, I want to brew something appropriate for the season. Should I go with something malty like a bock, porter, or stout? A Belgian? A Holiday spice/Winter Warmer? Or should I go with a hoppy beer, along the lines of Sierra Nevada Celebration?

I really want to figure this out now, so I can have something ready to brew in August/September, giving the beer time to age if needed.

Any recommendations?

Do you have lagering capabilities? If you do, then a malty lager would be a good choice. If not, an ale would be fine also.

Yooper said:

Do you have lagering capabilities? If you do, then a malty lager would be a good choice. If not, an ale would be fine also.

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I'd love a good malty lager. Something like a Munich Dunkel, or a doppelbock.

Unfortunately I don't have lagering capabilities, so I'd have to make it a faux lager with Kolsch or Cali Common yeast.

What about a west coast rye amber or a double IPA with chocolate, bourbon, or berries, or a chocolate stout?

I guess it depends who your friends are. Make something the majority of them may like. You can always brew another special beer(less palatable to the masses) for you, something that cellars well like a large stout, you could open some around your childs Bday every year.

silentmike said:

What about a west coast rye amber or a double IPA with chocolate, bourbon, or berries, or a chocolate stout?

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I'm a bit of a hophead, but the more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards something malty. I brew lots of hoppy beer. I want to do something different.

A stout is certainly a possibility.

Xpertskir said:

I guess it depends who your friends are. Make something the majority of them may like. You can always brew another special beer(less palatable to the masses) for you, something that cellars well like a large stout, you could open some around your childs Bday every year.

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Accomplishing this is going to be difficult. My friends are a weird mix. Some are hopheads, some love malty German styles, some love Belgians, and some are BMC drinkers. How the heck do you satisfy that kind of diversity?

You could do a low ABV bock, call it Baby Bock.
If twins brew a Double Bock. Or a Dubbel and call it Dubbel Trouble.
First Born Founder's Breakfast (stout) with a giant FB logo.
You could do a blonde and secondary with either strawberries of blueberries and when people pour it into a glass, they will see either blue or pink, this would be a fun way to announce the sex of the child.
Maybe a Belgian just for you that you open every year on your kid's birthday!
Or all of them! Do them all!

If you want to make something extra special and big, go for a barleywine. you have plenty of time to let it ferment for a few months, and they get better with age.

I bought smaller 6 oz champagne bottles online for my barleywine. If you got those, itwould allow you to have more bottles to pass out (4 gallons filled almost 72 bottles). my barley wine was 12.7% ABV, so 6 oz packs a wollop.

Cascadian style stout... coffee/chocolate on the front and a hoppy finish. Nice & creamy too. That's IF you and everybody else likes a stout... not everybody does.
A safer bet would be a nice Ale. A Pumpkin Ale would fit the season, but for my taste, it's too malty/sweet, and the pumpkin and allspice can be too much.
A big Lager may be the perfect give-away... takes a long time to condition, and probably most people would enjoy it. Only down side is if you screw it up, it's a lot of wasted time.

This would be perfect: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f78/christmas-belgium-274187/

CrookedTail said:

Accomplishing this is going to be difficult. My friends are a weird mix. Some are hopheads, some love malty German styles, some love Belgians, and some are BMC drinkers. How the heck do you satisfy that kind of diversity?

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I think you answered your own question. Sampler 6 packs.

Poobah58 said:

This would be perfect: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f78/christmas-belgium-274187/

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This sounds interesting. The recipe looks pretty complex!

Did you harvest the Chimay yeast from a bottle, or is there a proprietary strain that you used?

Xpertskir said:

I think you answered your own question. Sampler 6 packs.

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That's a great idea! A lot of work, but an awesome idea!

I could do a play off of the kid's ethnic background, as he/she is going to have a diverse one:

Irish - Red Ale
Italian - Euro Light Lager
German - Weissbier
French - Biere de Garde
English - Brown Ale

and of course...
American - American IPA

Like I said, a lot of work, but it would be cool to do.

If I were you, I'd be brewing my ass of anyways. Babies tend to get in the way of brewing.

Xpertskir said:

If I were you, I'd be brewing my ass of anyways. Babies tend to get in the way of brewing.

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I know. I've been preparing to brew more extract beers to save time.

the pink and blue idea is great!! i will definitely be using that at the gender reveal party whenever i have one haha

CrookedTail said:

This sounds interesting. The recipe looks pretty complex!

Did you harvest the Chimay yeast from a bottle, or is there a proprietary strain that you used?

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Wyeast 1214 or White Labs WLP500. Not as complicated as it looks!

Congratulations!

Do you like wheats?

I've always thought that Dunkelweizens and Weizenbocks make great winter brews. If I read correctly that you're a hop head, either of those would certainly be a change.

Mozart said:

Congratulations!

Do you like wheats?

I've always thought that Dunkelweizens and Weizenbocks make great winter brews. If I read correctly that you're a hop head, either of those would certainly be a change.

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I like weissbiers, but I seem to brew them a lot. I kind of want to do something different. Something special.

Thank you all for your input. I appreciate it!

Instead of cigars, give out a smoked beer! How's that for clever? But you'd have to come up with a fermentation fridge, though. Yes, I make a lot of rauchbiers so I'm a bit partial.