Christmas Ale spice question

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Kickass

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Yes I know its still summer but my desire for winter and darker beers has begun to bleed through. This will be my first winter of drinking homebrews so I figured I’d start on a Christmas beer.

So here is what I brewed and my question will follow:

5 gallon batch
6 lb amber LME
1 lb amber DME
1 lb dark brown sugar
1 lb special B
6 oz cara45
1 oz ground allspice
1 oz ground clove
½ oz bitter orange peel
Wyeast Scottish Ale

Williamette and fuggle to 20 IBU’s


Here is my question…
After 10 days in primary and 82% attenuation I racked to secondary. The spice flavor was incredibly strong and over bearing. How much will the spice flavor mellow out in 2 to 3 months? Will this subside by Nov/Dec or should I brew another 2-3 gallons with dark DME and blend?

Thanks for the help.
 
I brewed a Christmas Ale last year with 3 cloves (I believe it was 3) and the flavor was very strong to begin with, and definitely mellows with time. Nov/Dec may not be enough time to mellow substantially, but it will improve.
 
I think a full oz of ground clove is a lot. I spiced my pumpkin ale very heavily with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger, but i think i only use about 1/8 of a teaspoon of ground cloves. Its an extremely strong spice when ground as opposed to whole.

But just like everything else it will mellow with time. in 2-3 months it will mellow out a little, but Whether or not it will still be overbearing I'm not sure. I'd bet that it'd still be pretty strong at that point.
 
A full ounce of ground cloves?? Over bearing must be an understatement! I used about 10 whole cloves in a brew, probably about a quarter ounce at most, and it was over bearing. I blended, 3:1, and it became somewhat more balanced but still pretty in your face. I wouldn't count on much mellowing, brew and blend and brew and blend, and then give away 5 gallon cornies as christmas presents haha
 
Why would you use allspice and clove?

By definition: Allspice: Named because it tastes like a blend of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. It is also known as Jamaican Pepper. Allspice is available whole or ground.

Wouldn't that seem like too much clove when allspice already has that characteristic?? :confused:
 
Why would you use allspice and clove?

By definition: Allspice: Named because it tastes like a blend of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. It is also known as Jamaican Pepper. Allspice is available whole or ground.

Wouldn't that seem like too much clove when allspice already has that charateristic?? :confused:

Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Call me ignorant if it makes you feel better but I’ve never been into cooking and I’m new to homebrewing.
 
I would like to continue this discussion as I am going to brew a spiced Biere de Noel sort of thing pretty soon in anticipation for the upcoming holidays. Is there any other spice combinations you guys love for the gingerbread sort of flavors? I am thinking I will use some powdered ginger to avoid the heat from freshly grated ginger. A bit of nutmeg and cloves will certainly be involved, but the cinnamon is still up in the air. Suggestions?
 
My annual holiday ale uses 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice and 1 tsp ginger...

The flavor and aroma of the spices is definately there, but it isnt overpowering. No doubt when you raise your glass that you are about to consume a holiday specialty.

I cannot imagine how much an ounce of a ground spice is... was this a recipe that you found here?
 
Is there any other spice combinations you guys love for the gingerbread sort of flavors?

Randy Mosher has a spice mix in Radical Brewing for a gingerbread beer. This is what I brewed last year. It was a partial mash. Add more DME to sub for the maris otter, or add more maris otter for the DME if you are an extract or all grain brewer. This'd be an all grain for me now as I'm up to 10 lb of grain with my system!

mashed at 154F

3# Light DME
3 3/4# Maris Otter
1/4# Biscuit
1/4# Chocolate Malt
1/4# Crystal 120L
1# light brown sugar
1 oz glacier pellets 6% (60)
1/2 oz perle pellets 6% (10)

Spices at flameout (steeped 5 min before cooling)
4 grams cinnamon sticks broken up
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1 gram whole clove

1 packet windsor yeast
 
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Call me ignorant if it makes you feel better but I’ve never been into cooking and I’m new to homebrewing.
No, not calling you ignorant. Just wanted to warn you.

I know most recipes call for both, but I think it can be overwhelming just using a little. ;)

You can follow any recipe, but just keep that tidbit in mind.
 
the recipe i did for my x-mas ale was a kit ( recipe of the month from Welcome to Beer-Wine.com)
it used the safale T-33 belgian strain..3months into it it tastes like a belgian with gingerbread spice...but its about 8% also..3 more months and i hope that flavor will mellow, its a lil hot right now.
 
Resurrecting this thread....

How about using a Belgian yeast for this type of beer such as WY1214 and get the cloviness from that?

I've got a 1214 starter on at the mo' and am planning doing a simple Belgian Pale from that, then using the yeast cake to pitch a Christmas Dubbel on....probably with a little cardamom, orange peel, maybe a cinammon stick.....perhaps a little ginger...anyway, going for a Christmas type spiciness, but I thin the yeast flavour will add a lot anyway.
 
I brewed up a biere de noel last weekend and went with a rather subtle spice combination. It was a 1.075 lager with the following spices added at 2 min:

2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 tsp powdered ginger (didn't want the heat from fresh)
1/2 tsp nutmeg (grated on a microplane)
1/4 tsp allspice (about 5 berries lightly crushed)
1 whole clove
 
what about the danstar munich dry yeast for clove spiciness and some variety??
 
Malts:
3# Amber liquid malt extract
3# light DME
1 lb Crystal/Caramel 80
3 oz toasted Oats
2# Honey (boil 60 minutes)
Hops:
1oz Cascade (boil 60 minutes)
1 oz Cascade (boil 20 minutes)
1 oz Willamette Aroma (boil 0 minutes, when you turn off the flame )
Misc
1.5 tsp Irish Moss (boil 10 minutes)


Yeast: I pitched 11 g notty, that was slow to start and since i had honey and apple sugars, after two days I pitched 12 gram muntons dry ale and it really took off. 1.070 to 1.018



Additives:
1 whole nutmeg roughly crushed (boil 60)
3 Cinnamon stick (boil 60 minutes)
2 whole cloves (boil 60 minutes)
1 whole fresh rough chopped ginger (boil 60 minutes)
6 lbs chopped apples that I rinsed with hot water and froze in a 1 gallon bag with water (add this to cool wort at end of boil)
32 oz apple cider/jjuice added to secondary fermenter


My OG was 1.070 , after 5 days of fermentation it is sitting at 1.018 in secondary where it is now fermenting away with the apple juice. I think this is going to hit 8% ABV by the time it's said and done.


after I added the cider to secondary, fermentation started up again. I am likely going to let this carry on for a week and then rack again and possibly dry hop and rack it onto some more crushed apples or something. Or I might just leave it alone!
 
how about mulling spices? i have some mulling spice tea bags and was thinking about throwing about 6 of them in at flameout. only thing is, two of the ingredients are lemon peel and orange peel. too weird? thoughts?
 
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