ITs begining to look alot like Christmas

Hey all... was wondering if anyone had any knock-out recipes for a good christmas ale. This will be my first attempt at a Christmas beer so im looking to try something very flavorful yet somewhat simple since we all know how the holidays are...


Looking forward to responses...

Cheers!

StoutattheDevil said:

Hey all... was wondering if anyone had any knock-out recipes for a good christmas ale. This will be my first attempt at a Christmas beer so im looking to try something very flavorful yet somewhat simple since we all know how the holidays are...


Looking forward to responses...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

You know, I am a big fan of dark, full body beers during the winter. Like a nutty, caramel, toffee sort of thing. You could sit back in a chair by the fireplace, listening to great christmas music, or even watch "it's a wonderful life", enjoying a dark beer from the fridge.
I'll dig up my recipe for you. It's really awesome!
That is if you are into dark?

Baaaa HUM-BUG!!!!

SnaX said:

I'll dig up my recipe for you. It's really awesome!
That is if you are into dark?

Click to expand...

Oooohhhh, I am! is it possible to post??

Check the recipes section. Off hand I'd say specialty brews and probably spiced and I'm sure you'll find some.

Hey Snax... Im all about a good porter or stout and drinking them as a sub-means to keep warm only makes them better as well... I'd love to take a look at your recipe.

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but it looks good. I am brewing it next. maybe someone that has brewed it can comment. It is right out of Papazian's Joy of Home Brewing.

Holiday Cheer
* 7 lbs. light malt extract
* 1 lb honey
* 1/2 lb Crystal 60L
* 2 oz black patent
* 2 oz Cascade Hops (60 minutes)
* 1 oz Saaz Hops (2 minutes)
* 1 oz grated ginger
* 6-inch stick cinnamon
* zest from 4 oranges
* Ale yeast

if you like stouts, i would just do a imperial stout, with a tiny bit extra chocolate added...and a strong brew of christmas blend coffee added to the secondary(cold brewed)

Snax, what's your recipe man, you have my mouth watering.

Honestly, I think you could probably take your favorite recipe and add some spices during the boil, or in the secondary and you'd be on your way. Although, if you want to get technical, Christmas brews are generally darker, so a stout or porter or something like that would be a good starting point.

That Papazian recipe above is a good starting point in terms of spices.

I made a chirstmas ale back in august the I just put in the keg. I picked up a kit from my LHBS then just added my own spices. I added cinnamon, fresh ginger and all spice to a mason jar full of vodka and let it sit for a month. After tasting the beer it taste like a gingerbread man. Now I like gingerbread but I have made better beer. But I am having some friends over next weekend so hopefully they will drink it all.

Just put a big stout in the fermenter yesterday. It ended up being a lot bigger than expected, 1.100... but it was a milk stout so a good chunk of that could be unfermentables. I'll have to work out the numbers later today.

I'm excited about this one, but I have a feeling it won't be ready by Christmas. It's a Chocolate Milk Stout, spiced Mexican-style with cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and fresh Tabasco pepper. And oatmeal. Because I figured, as long as I'm throwing everything else into this recipe, why not oatmeal?

Still need to come up with a name for it, though.

Mexican Breakfast Stout?

Here is an Extract that I made last year. If you want the all grain version, I can post that as well. The ginger gives it a nice warm feeling (even though the beer is cold!)

Christmas Ale I
Specialty Beer

Type: Extract
Date: 11/10/2007
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Brewer: Slimer
Boil Size: 3.25 gal Asst Brewer: ERock
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (4 Gallon)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: -
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 85.25 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 13.11 %
2.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.64 %
2.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 26.8 IBU
1.00 oz Sterling [7.50 %] (15 min) Hops 10.4 IBU
0.10 oz Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
0.75 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 oz Ginger Root (Boil 12.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.048 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.042 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.60 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 3.90 %
Bitterness: 37.1 IBU Calories: 185 cal/pint
Est Color: 15.7 SRM Color: Color

Mash Profile

Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)

Created with BeerSmith

I think part of the fun is coming up with your own personal take on a winter/Christmas ale. Some make extra strong versions of classics, some extra hoppy versions, some make hop bombs, some malt bombs, some make hop AND malt bombs.

I forget my grain bill, but last year I made something that was like a non-roasty porter. I used 2-row, lots of crystal, flaked barley, and some chocolate malts. Used WLP028 edinburgh ale for good attenuation and good malt flavor.

During the last 5 min of the boil I added 4 cinna sticks, 1 lb molasses, and 1 once crushed juniper berries(this is for a 10 gallon batch). It turned out very nice! Spices added complexity without adding flavors that were too in-your-face (most people couldn't name what spices were really in it, just that it had a little something "extra")

This year I'm doing almost the same grain bill except 5 gallons will have spearmint leaves and cocoa while the other 5 gallons is dry-hopped with amarillo and chinook.

GearBeer said:

Mexican Breakfast Stout?

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More like Mexican Siesta Stout if that OG number is anywhere near accurate.