Christmas Gingerbread Beer

The thread on the 12 days of beer got me thinking of a gingerbread beer, I came up with this how does it look.


Christmas
Christmas/Winter Specialty Spice Beer


Type: All Grain
Date: 7/6/2011
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Brewer: Gerald
Boil Size: 3.25 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (4 Gallon)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
16.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 78.0 %
2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 9.8 %
1.50 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 7.3 %
1.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4.9 %
2.00 oz Challenger [7.50%] (60 min) Hops 17.5 IBU
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50%] (60 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50%] (10 min) Hops 1.9 IBU
0.25 oz Allspice (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.25 oz Ginger Root (Boil 12.0 min) Misc
0.25 oz Nutmeg (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.60 oz Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 min) Misc



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.111 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.028 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 11.0 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.6 %
Bitterness: 24.6 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 16.6 SRM Color: Color


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body Total Grain Weight: 20.50 lb

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 6.41 gal of water at 162.1 F 150.0 F 75 min
Mash Out Add 4.10 gal of water at 200.5 F 168.0 F 10 min



Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Volumes of CO2: 2.0
Pressure/Weight: 2.7 oz Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F Age for: 84.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F


I'm hoping for a slight gingerbread flavor with low hop interference.

Any mods are welcome.

Are your settings right? Says 3.25G boil for a 5G batch and 2.0oz of Challenger at 60 minutes is way more than 17.5 IBU.

Yeah I only have a 4g pot so I top off with water to 5g

I guess I'm a little confused. You are mashing in with 6.4G of water and mashing out with 4.1G. Besides grain absorption, where is all this water going?

If you want low hop interference, you'll need to lower the hop additions. 3oz of hops at 60 mins is a lot. The Challenger alone should be about 45 IBUs.

That's where I was a little confused before, usually Beer Smith adjusts properly but I guess it didn't this time. I may do a first and second runnings with this one.

Maybe use Marris Otter instead of 2-row for some added depth of bicuity/bready character. Also I would plan on this being ready for Christmas 2012. An 11% beer alone probably wouldn't be ready to go by this Christmas, but when the extra spices are involved as well then I'd imagine it would be a little rough this December.

Though take that with a grain of salt, im a perfectionist