Thinking about Christmas/Winter Beers

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JLW

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Yeah, I'm probably a little late for some styles of beers especially heavily spiced beers that take a significant age period.

I need to order soon and get a brew day planned in the next week or so.

Here are my ideas:
  • Double Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
  • Clone of Brekenridge Christmas Ale (last years Christmas beer)
  • Wee Heavy
  • My George Washington Prter Recipe
  • Belgian (Triple or Quad)
  • I really like St. Bernardus Chsitmas Ale but I can't find a recipe.
Thoughts? Other examples? What beers do you guys associate with Christmas/Winter?
 
i'm working on a stout recipe myself, working on the hops and yeast choice before work haha. i don't think it's too late.
 
I'm looking to figure out the best way to do a chocolate mint stout, and when I should brew it. I'm thinking in July.
 
I brewed this double chocolate oatmeal stout in December and I am letting it age until Novemeber/December mainly becuase I'm not in the mood to drink that beer right now.

I would say my stout is ready to drink I sampled at the 2 /3 month age period and it was incredible. So I would think your Mint stout would be ready by then.

I would be curious to see your recipe when finsihed.
 
I'm looking to figure out the best way to do a chocolate mint stout, and when I should brew it. I'm thinking in July.

I did this. IMO the best way to get the flavor for me was "to taste" with a small amount of peppermint extract and peppermint schnapps. Each bring a little bit different flavor. As for chocolate, I will only use chocolate nibs. Cocoa powder is a PITA to clean, doesn't stay in suspension well and generally is a giant mess! YMMV.

I also have a gone horribly wrong spiced ale that was supposed to be like "old feziwig" it has gotten infected with something and is now on its way to being my 1st sour. I am calling it Old Fuzzy Wig. No idea how this is gonna end up. It may be a dumper...

While not beer, I can not think of anything better than Gluhwein or warmed, spiced apfelwein with a splash of brandy and sugar to taste....or the time tested and true egg nog with brandy and nutmeg sprinkled on top...
 
I brewed this double chocolate oatmeal stout in December and I am letting it age until Novemeber/December mainly becuase I'm not in the mood to drink that beer right now.

I would say my stout is ready to drink I sampled at the 2 /3 month age period and it was incredible. So I would think your Mint stout would be ready by then.

I would be curious to see your recipe when finsihed.

i've posted this on a couple boards now, been tweaking it. someone brought up that this low attenutation yeast may leave too syrupy sweet a mouthfeel, especially with the lactose, so probably going to switch that out (suggestions welcome) and mash at 150.


Amt Name Type # %/IBU
15 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 78.9 %
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.6 %
8.0 oz Black Malt - 2-Row (Briess) (500.0 SRM) Grain 3 2.6 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.9 %
0.11 oz Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 9 -
1 lbs Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 6 5.3 %
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.6 %
1.0 pkg Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) [124.21 ml] Yeast 11 -
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 8 5.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 13.9 IBUs
1.0 pkg Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) [124.21 ml] Yeast 10 -

also throwing in a 1/2 tsp each of allspice and nutmeg at 5min, creating a tincture of cinnamon and vanilla bean with bourbon and tossing that into the secondary after about a month.
 
I did this. IMO the best way to get the flavor for me was "to taste" with a small amount of peppermint extract and peppermint schnapps. Each bring a little bit different flavor. As for chocolate, I will only use chocolate nibs. Cocoa powder is a PITA to clean, doesn't stay in suspension well and generally is a giant mess! YMMV.

I also have a gone horribly wrong spiced ale that was supposed to be like "old feziwig" it has gotten infected with something and is now on its way to being my 1st sour. I am calling it Old Fuzzy Wig. No idea how this is gonna end up. It may be a dumper...

While not beer, I can not think of anything better than Gluhwein or warmed, spiced apfelwein with a splash of brandy and sugar to taste....or the time tested and true egg nog with brandy and nutmeg sprinkled on top...

Awesome thanks for your insight. For the chocolate I plan on using cacao shells, I have a bean to bar chocolate maker 5min down the street and I know how to get a great chocolate character from the shells (just use about a half pound in a giant "tea bag" after the boil). It comes out nice and fruity/nutty, tastes more like chocolate as an agricultural product than just chocolate in a bar. It takes a little while for the chocolate to settle down into a good flavor, at first it's crazy overpowering.

As far as the mint, I hadn't really thought about Schnapps, that's a good idea. I was thinking it'd be great to use fresh mint but exactly how to do it is a little confusing, maybe make my own mint extract? I suppose then I should just buy a natural mint extract then.
 
What if you took the fresh mint and mashed it like in a mixed drink and then let it soak in the Schanpps? IDK, that may be dumb idea.

I really like this idea of a mint stout though.

@ MrManifesto, your recipe looks really good. It might be the right combination I'm looking for. Spices could be muted just enough by the stout to make it very tasty.
 
How about just making a strong tea out of the spearmint leaves? I've got a dark ale just about done with primary that I'm going to secondary with 8 year old bourbon soaked French oak chips. Then bottle it up for September or October. Maybe next month or so I'll make something for thanksgiving & Christmas.
I think I may just do the Midas's gold for Jesus' birthday. That should emulate the things the three wise men gifted him with in a glass.
 
How about just making a strong tea out of the spearmint leaves? I've got a dark ale just about done with primary that I'm going to secondary with 8 year old bourbon soaked French oak chips. Then bottle it up for September or October. Maybe next month or so I'll make something for thanksgiving & Christmas.
I think I may just do the Midas's gold for Jesus' birthday. That should emulate the things the three wise men gifted him with in a glass.

Do share the Midas's Gold recipe.
 
The original Sam made over at DFH is called "Midas Touch". I made a HB ingredient list anyway. Gotta work it out. Here's what I got;
8lbs light DME
2lbs wildflower honey
1QT Muscat grape juice concentrate(northern brewer)
.5oz Simcoe hops
10 saffron threads
priming sugar
WLP 001 or Wyeast 1056 ale yeast
OG 1.086
FG 1.026 Target ABV%-9%
IBU-12
23L batch size may be a typo from my research that says maybe 5G,raised to 5.5G by the Muscat juice addition. Like I said,I need to work it out,haven't made it yet. Just gathered info of what's in it from that micro archeologist that did the initial research.
 
JLW said:
Yeah, I'm probably a little late for some styles of beers especially heavily spiced beers that take a significant age period.

I need to order soon and get a brew day planned in the next week or so.

Here are my ideas:

[*]Double Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
[*]Clone of Brekenridge Christmas Ale (last years Christmas beer)
[*]Wee Heavy
[*]My George Washington Prter Recipe
[*]Belgian (Triple or Quad)
[*]I really like St. Bernardus Chsitmas Ale but I can't find a recipe.

Thoughts? Other examples? What beers do you guys associate with Christmas/Winter?

I just brewed my favorite holiday brew. My own recipe called "The Gingerbread Man Cometh". A Baltic porter with Ginger and spices. It's fracking delicious. And it will be ready to drink by thanksgiving.
 
bovineblitz said:
No rush. Get more hammered :mug:

If you ever have the chance to eat at Uchiko in Austin I highly recommend it. That being said...

149 degree mash for 90 minutes

12 lbs. Munich
8lbs. Maris Otter
8oz. 40L
8oz. 60L
8oz. 90L
4oz. Special B
2oz. Black patent

FWH 40IBUs. I've used a few different hops in this recipe and find that the variety makes little difference as I'm not really shooting for any hop character, so I just use whatever high AA hop I happen to have on hand.

For the spices everything goes in at flameout.

1oz. Crystalized Ginger
1/2 tbs fresh ground cinnamon
1/2 tbs fresh ground nutmeg
1 tsp clove

Pitch a huge starter of wyeast pacman at 60 degrees. Ferment out then rack and lager for at least 6 weeks. However the best batch I ever made was lagered for a full 4 months before I bottled it. When it's young the spices taste pretty strong but by the time it's ready to drink... 6 months it's perfect
 
Thanks! That recipe looks fantastic! The best part is I can get Munich malt for .79 a pound! hahahahaha I also like the Midas Touch recipe above as well!

I modded a recipe I saw here from I think DubbelDac, for my peppermint chocolate baltic porter.(Sorry DD, I would have provided the link but I can not seem to find it...) This is my version and notes. Mine has been aging in bottles since late January. I had planned on tying a Hershey's chocolate candy cane to the bottle with a pipe cleaner also DD's idea.


Peppermint Chocolate Baltic Porter

Size: 6 gallons
OG 1.085
FG 1.010
ABV 10%
IBU 30.5

12# 2-row
3# Munich
1# flaked oats
1# crystal 40L
0.5# chocolate barley
0.5# chocolate wheat
0.5# of pure cocoa powder (Hershey’s unsweetened) @ 15 Min
0.25# of pure DARK cocoa powder (Hershey’s unsweetened) @ 15 Min
0.5# of lactose @ 15 Min
1# honey

* 1 oz chocolate extract to secondary
**1 oz vanilla extract to secondary


E.K.G. and Willamette 32 grams of ea @ 60 min + 14 grams of each @ 30 min.

yeast: Wyeast Scottish ale 1728

Notes: In hind sight the cocoa powder dropped out of suspension in primary, made a huge mess in my keggles and I lost 1/3 of the batch to thesludge in kettles+trub in primary which was mostly cocoa...I have since switched to chocolate nibs. I would use .75 lbs in the boil and another .25 lbs in secondary if needed. I think the nibs + extract worked well in a different beer so I would go that route again. The peppermint I used a few drops of peppermint extract (the good stuff in the baking isle) and a few oz of schnapps. I tasted after each addition until I felt I had it right. I think 4-6 months would be enough to age this out...



Now, I will have 3 beers and I have just thought about this one (Not that this would be an award winner but what if we come up with a super "piney" IPA I am thinking "tastes like a Xmas tree..." piney. (What would be the best hops to use?)
This will give me 4 beers and if my sour works out that is 5 if not I will have 4...I am then only 1 or 2 away from a 6er! #@$&! You guys all suck...In the best possible way! :D
 
Crap, now I have too many beers I want to brew and I'm already faced with a backlog of other beers I don't have time to brew.

Too many beers not enough time.

:mug:
 
I went a really different direction for XXX-mas this year. I am doing a dark saison with brett and some winter-y spices. It will either be really good or really gross.

It's about three months in with a nice brett pellicle.
 
If you ever have the chance to eat at Uchiko in Austin I highly recommend it. That being said...

149 degree mash for 90 minutes

12 lbs. Munich
8lbs. Maris Otter
8oz. 40L
8oz. 60L
8oz. 90L
4oz. Special B
2oz. Black patent

FWH 40IBUs. I've used a few different hops in this recipe and find that the variety makes little difference as I'm not really shooting for any hop character, so I just use whatever high AA hop I happen to have on hand.

For the spices everything goes in at flameout.

1oz. Crystalized Ginger
1/2 tbs fresh ground cinnamon
1/2 tbs fresh ground nutmeg
1 tsp clove

Pitch a huge starter of wyeast pacman at 60 degrees. Ferment out then rack and lager for at least 6 weeks. However the best batch I ever made was lagered for a full 4 months before I bottled it. When it's young the spices taste pretty strong but by the time it's ready to drink... 6 months it's perfect

Homebrewtastic, is this a 5 or 10 gallon recipe? If it's a 5 then the OG has to be in the 1.090-1.100 range?
 
Thanks! That recipe looks fantastic! The best part is I can get Munich malt for .79 a pound! hahahahaha I also like the Midas Touch recipe above as well!

I modded a recipe I saw here from I think DubbelDac, for my peppermint chocolate baltic porter.(Sorry DD, I would have provided the link but I can not seem to find it...) This is my version and notes. Mine has been aging in bottles since late January. I had planned on tying a Hershey's chocolate candy cane to the bottle with a pipe cleaner also DD's idea.


Peppermint Chocolate Baltic Porter

Size: 6 gallons
OG 1.085
FG 1.010
ABV 10%
IBU 30.5

12# 2-row
3# Munich
1# flaked oats
1# crystal 40L
0.5# chocolate barley
0.5# chocolate wheat
0.5# of pure cocoa powder (Hershey’s unsweetened) @ 15 Min
0.25# of pure DARK cocoa powder (Hershey’s unsweetened) @ 15 Min
0.5# of lactose @ 15 Min
1# honey

* 1 oz chocolate extract to secondary
**1 oz vanilla extract to secondary


E.K.G. and Willamette 32 grams of ea @ 60 min + 14 grams of each @ 30 min.

yeast: Wyeast Scottish ale 1728

Notes: In hind sight the cocoa powder dropped out of suspension in primary, made a huge mess in my keggles and I lost 1/3 of the batch to thesludge in kettles+trub in primary which was mostly cocoa...I have since switched to chocolate nibs. I would use .75 lbs in the boil and another .25 lbs in secondary if needed. I think the nibs + extract worked well in a different beer so I would go that route again. The peppermint I used a few drops of peppermint extract (the good stuff in the baking isle) and a few oz of schnapps. I tasted after each addition until I felt I had it right. I think 4-6 months would be enough to age this out...



Now, I will have 3 beers and I have just thought about this one (Not that this would be an award winner but what if we come up with a super "piney" IPA I am thinking "tastes like a Xmas tree..." piney. (What would be the best hops to use?)
This will give me 4 beers and if my sour works out that is 5 if not I will have 4...I am then only 1 or 2 away from a 6er! #@$&! You guys all suck...In the best possible way! :D

What about using all Chinook? Maybe a recipe could look something like this. Re-using my Maharaja Clone recipe.

Grains:
16.5 lb 2 Row Malt
.5 lb Victory malt
.5 lb Crystal 120L Malt
Hops:
2 oz Chinook @ 60 min
1 oz Chinook @ 30 min
2.5 oz Chinook @ 0 min
2.5 oz Chinook @ 0 min
4.5 oz Chinook - Dry Hop
2.5 oz Chinook - Dry Hop
2 oz Chinook - Dry Hop
Yeast:
2 Vials White Labs California Ale 001
 
Thinking of doing an oaked wee heavy. Would you guys take a look at recipe and tell me if it'd work? It'll only be about my 3rd or 4th batch.
 
Crap, now I have too many beers I want to brew and I'm already faced with a backlog of other beers I don't have time to brew.

Too many beers not enough time.

:mug:

You & me both,man! I've got 5 recipes scribbled down that I thought up while reading/researching on line,+ the one or two in my head! I just thought the "Midas Gold" I put together was cool because it was from the tomb of King Midas himself in Turkey. They've been excavating it since '51 or so. They buried the beer with him 2,700 years ago! How's that for classic brewing?
They say the flavor is between a wine & an ale. I gotta brew this one for Christmas! That micro archeologist figured out what was in it,had a paper posted on line,& approached Sam at DFH to try & brew it. Sam is known as an extreme brewer,so it was a ligical fit...
 
You & me both,man! I've got 5 recipes scribbled down that I thought up while reading/researching on line,+ the one or two in my head! I just thought the "Midas Gold" I put together was cool because it was from the tomb of King Midas himself in Turkey. They've been excavating it since '51 or so. They buried the beer with him 2,700 years ago! How's that for classic brewing?
They say the flavor is between a wine & an ale. I gotta brew this one for Christmas! That micro archeologist figured out what was in it,had a paper posted on line,& approached Sam at DFH to try & brew it. Sam is known as an extreme brewer,so it was a ligical fit...

They had Midas on tap at my local pub and it's a really good beer.

I like these Baltic Porter ideas too but if I have to lager these then I may have to pass. I'm not quite set up for lagering yet. I'm wondering if I can top ferment instead?
 
X - mas tree IIPA aka Piney the Elfer

DISCLAIMER: Before I even get started with this there seems to be some health concerns revolving around pine needle tea and pregnant/potentially pregnant women. This will be the only warning that I give. I am not responsible for what happens to you or what you serve to people or what they do with this beer! The recipes I found called for boiling 1/2 cup of chopped needles for 20 minutes in 1.5 Pints of water. My beer recipe will NOT be using the needles in that high of a concentration but that does not make it safe for pregnant/potentially pregnant women!

SIDE NOTE: the above tea recipe will provide 100% RDA of vitamin C but the longer they are boiled past 20 minutes the less Vitamin C will be present. At this point this is an UNTESTED recipe, I am guessing as to how it will be! continuing on...

If you intend on doing this you will need to get the fresh shoots from the ends of the branches. These are bright green. The best time to gather these will be the spring/early summer, in other words, NOW! Also, from what I have read, the best needles to use are from "White Pine".

Storing the needles: I will be gathering the needles, rinsing them off, chopping them into 1/2 cup batches, rolling as much air out of the ziplocks, then freezing these bags until it is closer to X-mas. Since this is an IPA recipe it should not be aged. I am planning to brew mine in Mid-November. I will gather up 2 cups of finely chopped pine needles total, placed into 4 bags.

Here is my modded recipe from the original PTE clone:

Batch size: 6 gallon

15 lb Two-row pale malt
10 oz Crystal 40L
10 oz lb Carapils (Dextrin) malt
8 oz Dextrose (corn sugar) @ flameout

.50 oz Chinook 90 mins
.50 oz Simcoe 30 mins
1 oz Simcoe 15 mins
1 oz Chinook 15 mins
1 oz Simcoe 0 mins
1 oz Chinook 0 mins

Pine needle additions: @ 30, 20, 15 and 10

Dry hop:
0.50 oz Chinook (12 to 14 days total)
0.50 oz Simcoe (12 to 14 days total)

0.25 oz Chinook (5 days to go in dry hop)
0.25 oz Simcoe (5 days to go in dry hop)

Mash at 151
Mash out 168

*Due to the Simcoe shortage sub Falconer's Flight if needed.
 
What about using all Chinook?

You can try what ever you like! Mine is not hoppy at all. It really does not even taste like beer anymore! To me it tastes like a liquid Andies Candy Mint Patty. Also, I have not lagered mine at all.

Thinking of doing an oaked wee heavy. Would you guys take a look at recipe and tell me if it'd work? It'll only be about my 3rd or 4th batch.

Fantastic Idea! Wee heavy ales are awesome when it is cold outside! I am actually brewing up a smoked whiskey barrel wee heavy. I just pitched the yeast 48 hours ago but I went heavy on the smoke so I do not have a tested recipe to share. These tend to need some aging so brew it soon!

Some other Ideas I have been kicking around are a milk stout with a small bag of cookie crisp cereal attached to the outside of the bottle in a small ziploc for "Santa's Cookies and Milk" stout. A Golden Ale using as much "gold" named ingredients as possible with an incense stick/cone of myrrh an frankincense attached to the bottle (Gifts of the magi) and if my Old Fuzzy Wig goes south, I may attempt a cranberry wit. Man there are going to be some happy people I know this year!!!
 
Absolutely.

Nice, thanks.

Steeped grains
0.50 lbs UK Dark Crystal
0.50 lbs UK Peated Malt
0.75 lbs UK Roasted Barley

6 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup- 60 mins
6 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup- 15 mins

Hops

2 oz. northdown- 60 mins

Yeast

1 pkg Scottish Ale

addition

2 oz Oak chips 56 days secondary

Primary 15 days
Secondary 56 days
Bottle 21 days
 
The only thing I would add based on my research on wee heavy's is to take a bout a quart of the wort and boil vigorously to carmalize a little. Then add back in to the full wort.

Here is my AG wee heavy:

12.25 Golden Promise 2 row pale palt
12 oz 55L British Crystal Malt
2 oz toasted 2 row pale malt
2 oz peat smoked malt
4 oz black strap molasses (added at the 90 min boil)
4 oz of cane sugar (added at the 90 min boil)
Hops:
2 oz EK Goldings @ 90 min
1/2 oz EK Goldings @ 15 min
Other:
Whirlfloc Tablet @ 15 min
Yeast:
Wyeast's 1728 Scottish Ale Yeast
 
The only thing I would add based on my research on wee heavy's is to take a bout a quart of the wort and boil vigorously to carmalize a little. Then add back in to the full wort.

Here is my AG wee heavy:

12.25 Golden Promise 2 row pale palt
12 oz 55L British Crystal Malt
2 oz toasted 2 row pale malt
2 oz peat smoked malt
4 oz black strap molasses (added at the 90 min boil)
4 oz of cane sugar (added at the 90 min boil)
Hops:
2 oz EK Goldings @ 90 min
1/2 oz EK Goldings @ 15 min
Other:
Whirlfloc Tablet @ 15 min
Yeast:
Wyeast's 1728 Scottish Ale Yeast


Cool thanks. The Black Molasses sounds awesome. Could I use Liquid Pale Extract instead of golden syrup?
 
I don't see why you couldn't use Liquid Pale Extract. It seems to be a good base for about any style.
 
Thanks! That recipe looks fantastic! The best part is I can get Munich malt for .79 a pound! hahahahaha I also like the Midas Touch recipe above as well!

I modded a recipe I saw here from I think DubbelDac, for my peppermint chocolate baltic porter.(Sorry DD, I would have provided the link but I can not seem to find it...) This is my version and notes. Mine has been aging in bottles since late January. I had planned on tying a Hershey's chocolate candy cane to the bottle with a pipe cleaner also DD's idea.


Peppermint Chocolate Baltic Porter

Size: 6 gallons
OG 1.085
FG 1.010
ABV 10%
IBU 30.5

12# 2-row
3# Munich
1# flaked oats
1# crystal 40L
0.5# chocolate barley
0.5# chocolate wheat
0.5# of pure cocoa powder (Hershey’s unsweetened) @ 15 Min
0.25# of pure DARK cocoa powder (Hershey’s unsweetened) @ 15 Min
0.5# of lactose @ 15 Min
1# honey

* 1 oz chocolate extract to secondary
**1 oz vanilla extract to secondary


E.K.G. and Willamette 32 grams of ea @ 60 min + 14 grams of each @ 30 min.

yeast: Wyeast Scottish ale 1728

Notes: In hind sight the cocoa powder dropped out of suspension in primary, made a huge mess in my keggles and I lost 1/3 of the batch to thesludge in kettles+trub in primary which was mostly cocoa...I have since switched to chocolate nibs. I would use .75 lbs in the boil and another .25 lbs in secondary if needed. I think the nibs + extract worked well in a different beer so I would go that route again. The peppermint I used a few drops of peppermint extract (the good stuff in the baking isle) and a few oz of schnapps. I tasted after each addition until I felt I had it right. I think 4-6 months would be enough to age this out...



Now, I will have 3 beers and I have just thought about this one (Not that this would be an award winner but what if we come up with a super "piney" IPA I am thinking "tastes like a Xmas tree..." piney. (What would be the best hops to use?)
This will give me 4 beers and if my sour works out that is 5 if not I will have 4...I am then only 1 or 2 away from a 6er! #@$&! You guys all suck...In the best possible way! :D

This looks fantastic. I can almost taste/smell it now . . . that is if someone might be kind enought to convert this to a 5 gal extract recipe? Sorry folks . . . I'm still working up to my first AG, but I'm not there yet!!
 
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