I'm Brewing my Winter Warmer Tomorrow!

I've got a bunch of leftover grains from several different recipes so in an attempt to use them up, I'll be brewing up a winter warmer tomorrow using them. Here's what we've got:

2-2.5 lbs. each of belgian pils, belgian pale, and german pils
about 5-6 lbs of crisp's maris otter to add some gravity
0.5 lbs. british med. crystal
0.5 lbs. british dark crystal
0.5 lbs. special roast
0.25 lbs. british chocolate
0.25 lbs. victory
1 lb torrified wheat

I'm gonna make about a quart of amber candi syrup to add

Bitter with perle, and bramling cross for flavor and aroma, to about 50 IBU

OG will be somewhere around 1.090-1.100

I'll also add some cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, clove, fresh ginger and orange zest with about 5 min left in the boil, any ideas on good quantities?

And it'll be fermented with Wyeast Trappist High Gravity yeast.

Ill secondary it on some oak cubes.

How's it sound?

Sounds like a big ass beer.

BeezBrew said:

Sounds like a big ass beer.

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Yeah, should end up somewhere around 10% ABV. I also ended up finding a half pound of special B I'm throwing in. Should be pretty good. I'm thinking for the spices, I'll do something like a half teaspoon of cinnamon, a quarter teaspoon of allspice, and and eighth teaspoon each of cloves and nutmeg. The zest of two to four clementines and maybe an ounce of fresh ginger, grated.

I made some candi syrup to add and targeted the 290 degree dark amber syrup described in the candi syrup thread. It tastes awesome. I've been licking the pot I cooked it in all night.

I also conditioned the malt on this brew again, my third time doing that. And it's amazing how fluffy the crush is. It really is a huge difference.

I'm gonna let the yeast ramp up to 80-82 just like I did for the Westvleteren 12 clone, that uses the same yeast.

Even though winter warmers/spiced ales aren't a huge favorite of mine, I can still appreciate them once in a while and I think this beer with be big enough to store away for a while, so if I only have a sixer a year, I'll be enjoying it for years to come, and witnessing the changes that take place over that time. I'm also kind of more excited about this beer than I would have expected. It should be fun.

KingBrianI said:

I'll also add some cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, clove, fresh ginger and orange zest with about 5 min left in the boil, any ideas on good quantities?

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I used quite small quantities of these and included some lemon zest along with a bit of cocoa. By small, I mean around a teaspoon or less of each (other than the zests and cocoa). I can say from this experience, it takes 6+ months for it to mellow, especially the clove and allspice. My IBUs were probably in the 40 or less range, however, so that may have something to do with it. Based on that, I'd suggest less than half a teaspoon of each based on my experience unless you're brewing it for next winter!

I ended up going with a half teaspoon of cinnamon, a quarter teaspoon of allspice and and eighth of a teaspoon each of nutmeg and clove. I also used the zest of four clementines and about and ounce and a half of fresh grated ginger. I just cooled and whirlpooled and haven't had a taste, but the smell is mostly clementines and a bit of ginger. The spices are pretty muted. I'll update when I taste the wort but I think it should be well balanced.

Here is what the recipe ended up being:

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 27.87 %
2.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 13.94 %
2.50 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 13.94 %
2.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 11.15 %
1.00 lb Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 5.57 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2.79 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -extra dark (150.0 SRM) Grain 2.79 %
0.50 lb Pilsner (2 Row) US (1.0 SRM) Grain 2.79 %
0.50 lb Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 2.79 %
0.44 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 2.45 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 1.39 %
0.25 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 1.39 %
1.00 oz Perle [8.20 %] (90 min) Hops 26.0 IBU
0.80 oz Northern Brewer [10.50 %] (20 min) Hops 15.1 IBU
1.00 oz Bramling Cross [6.00 %] (15 min) Hops 8.8 IBU
1.00 oz Bramling Cross [6.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.20 oz Northern Brewer [10.50 %] (0 min) Hops -

I added a quart of homemade dark amber candi syrup with 30 minutes left.

0.5 t. cinnamon 5 min
0.25 t. allspice 5 min
0.125 t. nutmeg 5 min
0.125 t. cloves 5 min

zest of 4 clementines and the peel of one of those 5 min.
1.5 oz. fresh grated ginger 5 min.

The smell was mostly citrus zest and ginger right after the boil. As it sat during the whirlpool, then during transfer to the carboy and during my gravity sample tasting, the citrus dissipated somewhat and the subtle spices began to shine through. I hate to say it but this wort tastes and smells like pumpkin pie. It is thick and smooth and there's this great caramel richness from the crystal malts and the candi sugar. I'm interested to see how those flavors evolve over the course of this beer fermenting and aging. I'm hoping it will attenuate down to about 1.016-1.020 from the 1.090 OG I got. There are a lot of crystal malts in there but I mashed around 148 for 90 minutes so it might make it down there. The color is a deep dark mahogany.

I didn't do a very good job of updating this thread. I ended up adding half an ounce of medium+ french oak cubes I had soaked in about a cup of Cruzan Black Strap Rum and an equal amount of spices as added to the boil. That sat in secondary for probably two months. I then bottled with a little fresh yeast. The beer was very good early on, but a little hot with alcohol and the flavors hadn't quite come together.

I tasted another bottle yesterday and all I can say is wow! The beer has come together extraordinarily well. The spices are very noticeable, but not at all overpowering. The mouthfeel is wonderful, it's rich a creamy and feels almost like whole milk in the mouth. Deep caramel and malt flavors dominate with the spices and chocolate flavors coming through in the background. The sweet/bitter balance is perfect. I'm not trying to overhype this, but this could possibly be the best beer I've ever had. That's no joke. This stuff is so good. Despite its >10%ABV, it went down really easily. I think I'm going to have to make this every year so I can have "vintages" to keep and age. It's actually good enough that you don't have to wait til winter to drink it. When I make it again, I'll probably combine the pale malts into one type and the pilsners into one type to simplify the recipe.

Congratulations on the winter warmer Brian! I need to come up with a vintage beer myself too. Last year I tried a 6% red ale that I spiced (minus the clementines) exactly like yours and found the spices muted at first, then really came out when the beer conditioned. I wouldn't call it overwhelming, but enough to say "only one pint tonight."

I would have to say that if the beer drys/thins out, that really accentuates the spices, so moderation is key. Any roasted malts would have brought them out more too, so experience in how all the ingredients/process that goes into the beer also helps as well to strike that balance. It seems with the higher alcohol content and perhaps the "kitchen sink" helped you.