Winter Seasonal Beer Holly (Christmas Ale)

OK - today I made the "tea" in a 1 L Erlenmeyer - boiled about 600 ML of beer after cold-crashing. I make 2.5 gallon batches, and so halved the ingredients posted by the OP. Dissolved 2 oz of priming sugar into the warm mixture, added the spices just as the dextrose was fully dissolved. Nota bene - the bits of spice will cause an immediate foam-up, which was an issue in my Erlenmeyer! Anyway, combined this with the cold beer from the secondary, and bottled off 6.5 L...will tell you how it tastes in December, but the sample I pulled today was alright!

P.S. - didn't quite hit the OP's numbers - OG was 1.071, FG was 1.012...

TxBigHops said:

Now you have me curious - why do you use two cups of water for priming sugar? How big are your batches? I brew 5-6 gallons which uses about 4 oz of destrose. Only use as much water as needed to disolve the sugar - about a half cup.

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I'm not that experienced... I have read it somewhere online and my friend who showed me how he brewed("tought" me) did it also. I've always done it and it's worked for me so I've never questioned it.
Makes sense to only use as much water needed to dissolve the sugar but also makes sense to use "more fluid" so it mixes better?
I make 6 gallon batches...

I have this in the bottle for 3 weeks.
Is that too early to pop one?
I know that the flavors have yet to come together, but will it be a huge disappointment this early?

Pyg said:

I have this in the bottle for 3 weeks.
Is that too early to pop one?
I know that the flavors have yet to come together, but will it be a huge disappointment this early?

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It definitely will not be disappointing, but it will definitely be different than if you wait until Christmas.

I always tell people that I think it tastes like a gingersnap cookie for the first 5 weeks or so.

Pyg said:

I have this in the bottle for 3 weeks.
Is that too early to pop one?
I know that the flavors have yet to come together, but will it be a huge disappointment this early?

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Your post made me curious... I popped one of mine today. It is 7 weeks old, 4 weeks in the bottle.

Aroma ginger and orange forward with some hops getting through. Cinnamon and slight alcohol flavor up front with a bitter finish. Definitely needs another couple of weeks!

Not sure if that helps your decision.

BrewCityBaller said:

Your post made me curious... I popped one of mine today. It is 7 weeks old, 4 weeks in the bottle.

Aroma ginger and orange forward with some hops getting through. Cinnamon and slight alcohol flavor up front with a bitter finish. Definitely needs another couple of weeks!

Not sure if that helps your decision.

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Kind of.
Unfortunately I am way too curious, but I know that drinking one will be a let down.
However since it is my it at batch I have an itch for a taste.
Compound that with not having a beer all week and the fact that I have atleast 20 more 12 oz bottles.
Might have to put one in fridge !

Pyg said:

Kind of.
Unfortunately I am way too curious, but I know that drinking one will be a let down.
However since it is my it at batch I have an itch for a taste.
Compound that with not having a beer all week and the fact that I have atleast 20 more 12 oz bottles.
Might have to put one in fridge !

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Mine is 5 weeks old, 2 weeks in the bottle.

I'm also very curious; luckily I bottled an American wheat and a Rye IPA on the same day so I will try these tonight and resist the Holly beer. :fro:

Shenanigans said:

Mine is 5 weeks old, 2 weeks in the bottle.

I'm also very curious; luckily I bottled an American wheat and a Rye IPA on the same day so I will try these tonight and resist the Holly beer. :fro:

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BTW I forgot to add the honey on the brew day so added it with the spices and priming sugar so maybe I will get some honey flavour in there too.
Will report back in a month.

Shenanigans said:

BTW I forgot to add the honey on the brew day so added it with the spices and priming sugar so maybe I will get some honey flavour in there too.
Will report back in a month.

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Wait... you put BOTH honey and priming sugar into your beer on bottling day? Hopefully not a whole pound of honey, or you may end up with some major bottle bombs!

Shenanigans said:

Mine is 5 weeks old, 2 weeks in the bottle.



I'm also very curious; luckily I bottled an American wheat and a Rye IPA on the same day so I will try these tonight and resist the Holly beer. :fro:

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Mine is 5 weeks old as well.
I am avoiding going to the basement (brew room), this way I won't be able to put a bottle in the fridge.
This way I won't have one cold for the weekend.
Or I could just follow swmbo's advice and "be patient", but that is a trait I lack!

Broke down and tried one.
Ginger flavor, hints of orange and hops.
No cinnamon.
Hope the flavor changes with time
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1446937091.382503.jpg

Pyg said:

Broke down and tried one.
Ginger flavor, hints of orange and hops.
No cinnamon.
Hope the flavor changes with time
View attachment 314548

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No vanilla?

Good that you tried it and reported your disappointment.
Helps keep me strong for the next month

Shenanigans said:

No vanilla?



Good that you tried it and reported your disappointment.

Helps keep me strong for the next month

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I did not add vanilla,
But I will next year, next batch!

Bottled mine today after 2 weeks in primary and 16 days in secondary. I used normal table sugar and got to thinking, has anyone used brown sugar for bottling?? Thought that sounded pretty good, and I'd like to try it!


But MAN did that little "tea" smell heavenly. I cannot wait to try it.

dibrewzza said:

Bottled mine today after 2 weeks in primary and 16 days in secondary. I used normal table sugar and got to thinking, has anyone used brown sugar for bottling?? Thought that sounded pretty good, and I'd like to try it!


But MAN did that little "tea" smell heavenly. I cannot wait to try it.

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Yes, I have used brown sugar in mine that last two years and it has worked out fantastically.

Question on aging this out. I don't have an empty keg to put this in yet so I bottled half of it and have three gallons sitting topped up in a carboy. Regarding the beer that's in the carboy, how long can I leave it in there and should I keep it under airlock or switch over to a solid stopper?

Not sure what you mean by "topped up", but that beer will be fine for a while (months). If it is sitting on yeast I'd rack to secondary. I'd use an airlock, just 'cause. Just remember to keep it filled.

Soup

Topped up as in there is no head space. Beer all the way up to the bung.

I just got done brewing this one. I hit all my numbers. It was a fantastic brew day. I'm hoping this should be done (and ready to drink by Jan 6th). The only difference I made was I used an English Ale yeast (WLP002 English Ale Purepitch).

Aaron

I bottled this on October 4th to have it ready for Christmas. But I couldn't wait and cracked one today. It already tastes killer. Orange, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger. It's all there and pretty well balanced. I will double my will power and wait until family arrive for Christmas to open another. Looking forward to seeing how it develops. Great recipe!

Gonna make this this weekend, going to keg and force carb hope its ready by Christmas but may not be.

So I tried one last night 7 weeks after brewing; 3 weeks fermenting and 4 weeks in the bottle.

Tastes quite good but still a little unbalanced so hopefully it will get better.
I primed it with enough sugar for 2.5 volumes but it's still a little under-carbed.
I wouldn't call it flat but it's more like 2.2 volumes than 2.5.
Maybe with all the spices it takes a bit longer for it to fully carb?

Anyway I will try again in two weeks.

Shenanigans said:

So I tried one last night 7 weeks after brewing; 3 weeks fermenting and 4 weeks in the bottle.



Tastes quite good but still a little unbalanced so hopefully it will get better.

I primed it with enough sugar for 2.5 volumes but it's still a little under-carbed.

I wouldn't call it flat but it's more like 2.2 volumes than 2.5.

Maybe with all the spices it takes a bit longer for it to fully carb?



Anyway I will try again in two weeks.

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I am trying one this weekend , 2 weeks after last trying one.
It will be 3 weeks in primary, 5 in bottle
8 weeks total.
Part of my thinks I should just wait a week

5 weeks in bottle and nothing but ginger flavor.
Seriously hope the cinnamon comes out in the next month!

Brewed this a little under a month ago and it's been in bottles for just under two weeks. Couldn't wait any longer and pulled the first bottle last night at a dinner party. Not quite as carbonated as it should be yet, but whoa, what a great beer. Super malty, a little sweet and spicy. Passed it around the table and everyone loved it

I kegged this a couple weeks ago and I poured my first glass.... WOW! Really great beer. It's a true winter warmer. I'm going to let it age for a little longer before I pull another pint. I'm very pleased with this beer. Give it a try!

Opened this after 5 weeks in the bottle - very nice, smooth, maybe a little under-carbed (my bad), but a really nice beer! Props to the OP.

This batch won't make it for Xmas, but definitely in time for New Year's.

I'm going to try the following:
Put all spices in a hop bag and soak overnight in enough everclear to cover the bag.

Boil a quart of beer and add the bag for one minute. Then let sit for 15 min in the french press.

Dump the tea (full hop bag and all) and remaining infused everclear into a keg and rack the rest of the beer on top. Chill and carb.

We'll see

Time to bring this thread back to life fellas!! Lets get Christmas brewin!!

DagoBrewer said:

Time to bring this thread back to life fellas!! Lets get Christmas brewin!!

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I am on the fence about making this one again.
I messed up last time and used ginger powder and ended up with ginger beer!

Pyg said:

I am on the fence about making this one again.
I messed up last time and used ginger powder and ended up with ginger beer!

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Oh that sucks! Ive followed the recipe to the T for the last 4 year's and it gets better every year! Especially if you let it sit a long time!

DagoBrewer said:

Time to bring this thread back to life fellas!! Lets get Christmas brewin!!

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You're spot on. It has a great taste (even without the tea!) - I think if I brewed this next, kegged it, let it age a few months, it would be fantastic at Christmas...

Thanks for the reminder!
I brewed this last year and it turned out well.
The only difference was that I used Target for the bittering charge instead of Centennial and I added the honey later because I forgot to add it to the boil.

Still don't want to use up Centennial for bittering so I might opt for Magnum or maybe Target again.
I have fresher orange peel this time and will use sweet instead of bitter.
Plus 1 more year brewing experience

Hopefully it turns out even better this time

DagoBrewer said:

Oh that sucks! Ive followed the recipe to the T for the last 4 year's and it gets better every year! Especially if you let it sit a long time!

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Hope you're right. I still have about 8 bottles left over from last fall's batch. Haven't opened one in months. I like when I have enough beer that I forget about some of them.

I totally forgot I have 3-4 bottles from several years ago. Might open one up this weekend to see how it's aged.

I just had my last bottle from 2012 a few weeks ago, wow!! It Was amazing!!

Water is heating right now, excited to brew this one!

I saw the Midnight Wheat next to the Pale Chocolate at the brew store and decided to give it a try.

DagoBrewer said:

Oh that sucks! Ive followed the recipe to the T for the last 4 year's and it gets better every year! Especially if you let it sit a long time!

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I am going to give this another shot.
the version I made last year had a few differences than the Original post.
I had used 2 oz cascade @ 60 & .5 saaz @ 5 min
I cut the abv to 6% ( i don't have the equip to handle 13#)
I also used 1 oz of can-ginger-orange.
(of course I f-ed up and used 1 oz ginger powder instead of root)

SO, Some questions.
how much of a difference does making a spice tea vs adding spices at end of boil make?

wil this brew suffer if I cut the 2 row from 13# to 10#?
(I may have to do brew in a bag in 1 kettle and steep all other special grains in a separate smaller kettle)

Does 1 tbs of orange peel-ginger & cinnamon add a prominent spice flavor?
I was thinking of adding 1 oz a piece as per my original recipe, but this time adding a vanilla bean!

I hope to brew this by end of Sept!

Pyg, i honestly don't think it'd make a diff by adding the spice ingredients at the end of boil, actually not a bad idea i think I'll try that when i brew this. And cutting the 2 row down 3 lbs, should just make your abv lower by a bit. Maybe just add some dme or corn sugar to your boil to compensate? Or just deal with a lower abv?

What is this the preferred yeast for this brew?