Recipe Help

zzARzz said:

If you're going for traditional Italian Christmas Cookies, I'd just use 12oz of crystal 60l grains instead of 8oz-60L and 4oz-120L and add 4oz lactose to represent the mascarpone that is usually present in the cookie recipes.

I also agree that your bittering hops, the way you have them, may overwhelm the subtler flavors you're going for. Maybe keep the IBUs in the 20-40 range? What base style are you using as a guide? A Belgian Specialty Ale, maybe? 1/3oz of Chinook hops at 60 min and the rest of your hops the way you have them would put it around 30 IBUs.

Sounds like a really interesting recipe, though, and I'm looking forward to hearing how it turns out.

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cottagebrews said:

Thanks, all. Was looking at flavor profiles last night and (foolishly) forgot to check the AA on the varietals. 1/4 to 1/3 oz. Chinook sounds much more my speed. I like the idea of using a little lactose to give it some creaminess. At what point in the process should I add that to the wort?

This is really a Frankenstein recipe--I looked at all the Christmas ales and porters that I could find to get a sense of what goes into them to start, then searched around for hops, yeast, and miscellaneous ingredients that would add the sort of flavors I want. I was trying to make this more of an amber ale or Belgian than a porter, but with a little chocolate malt for warmth and fullness. Do you think this will get me there?

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cottagebrews said:

Two weeks into fermentation and the gravity is at 1.014. That's slightly higher than anticipated (1.012), but I think I've bottomed out. Even though the temperature is a tad cold, I've had no airlock activity for over a week. The plan now is to leave it in primary for another 6 days just in case there's still some honey taking it's time to ferment, then I'll transfer to secondary.

When I gave it a smell yesterday it seemed very sweet, with lots of the orange flavor coming through. I didn't notice the cinnamon so much in the aroma, but it's not like I was sticking my head deep into the fermenting bucket. I'll give it a taste when I do my transfer and think about dropping a stick or two into the carboy if the cinnamon is lacking. Does anybody have an idea of how much I should use if I decide to do that?

The other variable here is the amaretto. I know I need to add that at bottling, accounting for the sugar content to avoid bottle bombs, but I figure the transfer to secondary is a good time to figure out how much I'd like to add. Can somebody who's added liqueur to beer before give me an idea of how much I'll be working with? I have no idea if it's even in the range of a few ounces or a few cups. My goal is just to impart a mild almond flavor that will balance out the sweetness of the orange and complement the cinnamon.

Thanks for all your help, everyone! My next project is going to be a French Toast Stout for the fiancée. That one is shaping up to be a challenge...

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