12 Beers of Christmas 2017

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Brewed up the gingerbread Ale. It's been fermenting for 3 days now and the blow off tube is bubbling about 45x per minute still. If it gets down to 1.011 it will be around 8.5%. I threw in a little honey at flameout just to jack up the ABV. It smelled incredible when I added the spices at flameout.
 
Gingerbread Ale just finished fermentation. Kegged it up. Sample was smooth and the spices melded together and hide the alcohol.

IMG_1308.jpg
 
@TBC Looking good!

@passedpawn Decided to rebrew the quad based on your input. Lower efficiency this time around, but I plan on making up for it with sugar additions in an attempt to reduce the body of the beer. Below is what it looks like going into the fermenter. Maybe I'll end up with a clearer beer this time... Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback on the first attempt!

35716620713_8ee4901a74_z.jpg
 
Easycreeper said:
@TBC Looking good!

@passedpawn Decided to rebrew the quad based on your input. Lower efficiency this time around, but I plan on making up for it with sugar additions in an attempt to reduce the body of the beer. Below is what it looks like going into the fermenter. Maybe I'll end up with a clearer beer this time... Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback on the first attempt!

35716620713_8ee4901a74_z.jpg
Click to expand...

My pleasure. I have had mine carbonating in keg for weeks and still haven't sampled. Notes coming soon.
 
Finally getting the Christmas Gruit going. I'm about 2 months behind where I'd like to have been, but life and all that. Wort in the kettle, and the spices are not in yet but smelling amazing after measuring them out.

I made one change in backing off the amount of juniper in the recipe. I used a half oz in the spiced stout last year, and it was a very forward, prevalent flavor. This recipe called for 4 oz! That seemed way over the top to me based on the previous beer. I backed it off to 1.5 oz and we'll see how it goes.

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So it looks like we're moving along well...by my count, the only things we need confirmation on are:

@b-boy - how are things looking for the abbey weizen?
@HopHeavy - is your brother on track with the spiced dunkel weizenbock?
@HawleyFarms - did you ever end up brewing back in March? Haven't heard much since then.

Also one thing to note, start gathering boxes now for shipping if you haven't already, unless you're just planning on buying them. I was scrounging last year so I've started collecting now. Another 2.5-3 months and we should be ready to start shipping stuff out! Can't wait.
 
@Auger - Good advice on the boxes.

Just checked FG on the quad and it bottomed out at 1.024 again. OG was 1.109 after the sugar addition a couple of days into fermentation, so it's sitting at about 11.16% right now.

I've got a couple of packs of WLP001 in the fridge, so I may build a small starter with one and see if I can get a few more points out of it. We'll see...

Got some other plans for it once I'm done with that. Hopefully y'all will like the additions. :mug:
 
Auger said:
So it looks like we're moving along well...by my count, the only things we need confirmation on are:

@b-boy - how are things looking for the abbey weizen?
@HopHeavy - is your brother on track with the spiced dunkel weizenbock?
@HawleyFarms - did you ever end up brewing back in March? Haven't heard much since then.

Also one thing to note, start gathering boxes now for shipping if you haven't already, unless you're just planning on buying them. I was scrounging last year so I've started collecting now. Another 2.5-3 months and we should be ready to start shipping stuff out! Can't wait.
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I haven't chimed in in a while either. Sorry about that. Life with little kids flies by!
I haven't brewed my honey ginger IPA yet but I've brewed a honey IPA I like a few times and it always comes out well. I figured I'd steep some shaved ginger root in a quart of first runnings then add it back in with the yeast pitch. (I've done with method with a few different beers) Then depending on where the ginger flavor is at kegging time I'll dry-ginger it for a few days or so.
I want to brew a batch here soon so I can hammer the ginger down. It will be a fresh batch come xmas time! :ban:
 
Auger said:
So it looks like we're moving along well...by my count, the only things we need confirmation on are:

@b-boy - how are things looking for the abbey weizen?
@HopHeavy - is your brother on track with the spiced dunkel weizenbock?
@HawleyFarms - did you ever end up brewing back in March? Haven't heard much since then.

Also one thing to note, start gathering boxes now for shipping if you haven't already, unless you're just planning on buying them. I was scrounging last year so I've started collecting now. Another 2.5-3 months and we should be ready to start shipping stuff out! Can't wait.
Click to expand...

Also, @jerbrew the last thing I saw was that you were working on recipe formulation. Hows it going?
 
Hey guys! Pete is still a go, to my knowledge. I have 5 gallons of a spiced RIS waiting on bottling sometime after Halloween. Will have about 8 months age on it by then. Gonna go the beer gun route, hope no one objects. I had a helluva time bottle conditioning a RIS last year...

Sorry for my delayed response here... Last few days I have been I have been on but spending all my time planning and building a keezer, finally. BTW, noticed @passedpawn in a number of great threads on the subject.
 
Looks like things are moving right along down in the ferm chamber, my spunding valves are definitely spewing forth more than a little CO2 right now. Question for the group, what's the protocol on 'extras'? I don't expect anyone to include them, but I want to make sure it's cool if I put in some extra beers/microbes/slightly-organic-looking-semi-squishy-thing-that-I-found-while-running into the box.
 
Bad news from me guys. Finally got a chance to brew up the cranberry lambicky back in April. Tasted great coming out of primary. Used cranberries in the mash. Added Lambic Blend in secondary with another bag of cranberries. Checked it tonight after getting all these updates over the last few days and it smells and tastes like pure vomit :-( I think I'm going to call this a dumper.

I was hoping to brew a second batch over the summer as a fail-safe but spray work has been brutal this year. Haven't brewed anything until just last weekend.

I hate to be the guy to come up empty handed on the Lambicky 2 years running but I'm going to bow out. Will be watching the thread in disappointment to see how everything turns out and hopefully be giving the crabapple lambicky another try here in a month or two when they are ready for picking.
 
HopHeavy said:
Hey guys! Pete is still a go, to my knowledge. I have 5 gallons of a spiced RIS waiting on bottling sometime after Halloween. Will have about 8 months age on it by then. Gonna go the beer gun route, hope no one objects. I had a helluva time bottle conditioning a RIS last year...

Sorry for my delayed response here... Last few days I have been I have been on but spending all my time planning and building a keezer, finally. BTW, noticed @passedpawn in a number of great threads on the subject.
Click to expand...

I'm using a beer gun to bottle the ones I'm sending. It's been carbing in kegs forever. I just need to get it in the bottles. Maybe this weekend.
 
Auger said:
So it looks like we're moving along well...by my count, the only things we need confirmation on are:

@b-boy - how are things looking for the abbey weizen?
@HopHeavy - is your brother on track with the spiced dunkel weizenbock?
@HawleyFarms - did you ever end up brewing back in March? Haven't heard much since then.

Also one thing to note, start gathering boxes now for shipping if you haven't already, unless you're just planning on buying them. I was scrounging last year so I've started collecting now. Another 2.5-3 months and we should be ready to start shipping stuff out! Can't wait.
Click to expand...

i'm on track.
 
Pulled gravity samples today the wyeast 5 gallons has way too much sulfur (artifact I sometimes experience when spunding, may dissipate, or I may plate filter it which seems to really knock it down) the wlp half tastes great and is 9.1%, but I'm concerned that it may not be done so I'm force fermenting a sample now.

View attachment 1505785046114.jpg
 
I racked the gruit on Sunday because I needed the bucket it was in...man that beer has a lovely herbal holiday bouquet, it filled up my whole basement. I'll probably keg it in another month or so.
 
passedpawn said:
I'm using a beer gun to bottle the ones I'm sending. It's been carbing in kegs forever. I just need to get it in the bottles. Maybe this weekend.
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What kind of beer gun do you use? I've been looking at them myself. There are some that claim to bottle at serving pressure without any foaming. I'm not sure I believe that.
 
b-boy said:
What kind of beer gun do you use? I've been looking at them myself. There are some that claim to bottle at serving pressure without any foaming. I'm not sure I believe that.
Click to expand...

I've got a Blichmann beergun. I have no experience bottling beer with it (I did bottle wine). I'll do a couple for practice first (fill, refrigerate overnight, open).

I think the key is to get the bottles as cold as possible, get the beer as cold as possible, fill and cap quickly.

Wish me luck :)
 
When I bottled last year's fruitcake old ale, I just used a bottle filling wand shoved into the tip of a picnic tap. Once the beer is good and carbonated, I just vent the keg then put pressure up to like 5 psi, and fill the sanitized bottles, cap on foam. Works great!

I just popped an aging one, feeling celebratory!
 
Another reminder...time to ship in 2 months' time (the week after Turkey Day)! I'll be kegging the gruit in the next few weeks to start force-carbing.
 
Auger said:
Another reminder...time to ship in 2 months' time (the week after Turkey Day)! I'll be kegging the gruit in the next few weeks to start force-carbing.
Click to expand...

Should we move shipping up a week? Not that I'm rushing anyone. I thought I read an article way back that UPS and Fed Ex are going to start charging a surcharge on packages for the holidays starting the week after Thanksgiving.
 
TBC said:
Should we move shipping up a week? Not that I'm rushing anyone. I thought I read an article way back that UPS and Fed Ex are going to start charging a surcharge on packages for the holidays starting the week after Thanksgiving.
Click to expand...

I'll leave that up to the senders...if you have beer ready to ship the week before Thanksgiving, then I don't have a problem if you want to ship it early. It looks like the surcharges might only amount to 5-10 bucks difference on the entire bill:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...pping-fees-us-customers-costs-rise/103014410/
 
I'm not sending too early because I know you gobblers will drink it early. I could have sent them a month or two ago. I want it to be part of your christmas holiday.

I think the LATEST to mail them, for people who are ready, would be Friday Dec 8. That leaves about 2 weeks to get it to your destination for Christmas. Any later than that and cheap shipping might get delayed and not make it. I'll probably get mine out on the 1st, just to be safe.
 
Finally got around to bottling the Spiced Cherry Dubbel. This was the re-brew. First batch I split into two parts. My part did not get cherry, and was an AWESOME belgian dubbel. But the 2nd half of it got too many cherries and was just too tart - I ended up dumping on back lawn. This second effort, which I brewed in May, got less cherries in the half I'm sharing with you guys, and I think it's just right.

OG = 1.097. 1.017 FG. That's about 10% ABV. It's pretty hefty, more of a cold weather fireside sipper than a beverage for your football/wings afternoons.

I bottled for myself in swingtops, but you guys get normal capped bottles. Been a while (5 years?) since I used my capper :)

I bottled with my Blichman Beergun, which I have zero experience with. Hope I did it right. Seemed simple enough though. I filled til the foam came over the top, then capped on the foam. Though it looks like a foamy mess, it really wasn't - the one in the pic wasn't really a good example. With cold bottles and beer, very little foam is produced. I experimented with bottle fill amounts, and general filling technique, which is evident in the last picture.

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_mg_2257-68433.jpg

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I had better get on the ball. Just started cold crashing the quad today. Planning on gelatin fining later this week and bottling Saturday morning. Hope EC-1118 doesn't let me down getting these conditioned in time... They'll get shipped out regardless.
 
@passedpawn

Looks like it'll be a little clearer this time 'round:ban:. Glass is a little cloudy from condensation, but clear nonetheless.

FG looks to have settled at 1.021. ABV is calculated at 11.55%.

Smells pretty good and I'll taste the hydrometer sample, but going to withhold judgement until it's finished conditioning.

37898948496_c64ead4b62_h.jpg
 
Easycreeper said:
@passedpawn

Looks like it'll be a little clearer this time 'round:ban:. Glass is a little cloudy from condensation, but clear nonetheless.

FG looks to have settled at 1.021. ABV is calculated at 11.55%.

Smells pretty good and I'll taste the hydrometer sample, but going to withhold judgement until it's finished conditioning.

37898948496_c64ead4b62_h.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice! Can't wait to sample. It's gonna be quite merry with all these great beers.
 
Easycreeper said:
Giving the label thing a go if I can find some labels that cooperate with my printer...

37260272564_3bdef43ca8.jpg
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If you have an inkjet, don't do it. The ink will run when the bottle gets sweaty or when you try to apply the label, etc. Print and take your label to Kinkos have have them make color copies on their laser printers. Then cut out with scissors and paint on with milk. Paint both sides, apply, let dry.

I have a color laser. That does work well.
 
passedpawn said:
If you have an inkjet, don't do it. The ink will run when the bottle gets sweaty or when you try to apply the label, etc. Print and take your label to Kinkos have have them make color copies on their laser printers. Then cut out with scissors and paint on with milk. Paint both sides, apply, let dry.

I have a color laser. That does work well.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. The printer is an inkjet and the results were awful as you alluded to. :mug:
 
50 bottles later and the quad is packaged. I remembered really quickly why I moved to kegging earlier this year... Sooo much to drag out and clean up!

One is in a 24oz Monster Energy can, so I'll be able to monitor conditioning as it progresses. Hopefully the champagne yeast got distributed evenly enough to make it into every bottle.
 
Kegged the gruit today. There's a lot going on in this beer...spices, heavy esters, some muskiness from the honey, and surprisingly not super dry, given the FG of 1.002. It's still slightly boozy at about 8%, hopefully that balances out with another month in the keg prior to bottling. Pretty darn good as is though.

View attachment 1509311670666.jpg
 
If you all want to start PMing me your mailing addresses, I'll compile them all and send out a list for everyone in a few weeks.
 
Ok, I haven't updated anything so here we go. The brew went well except, I ended up with way too much wort at the end. I did the mistake of showing some old friends the brewing process and wasn't paying enough attention. Anyway, ended up with about 11 gallons instead of 7 gallons pre-boil. I boiled away for three hours which I think turned out to be a blessing in disguise and ended up with 7 gallons of 1.064 wort. I put some stuff aside for me in a smaller fermenter and 5 gallons into the fermentation keg. So the numbers put it into more of the lower end of a bock than firmly into the dopple bock region I intended. Fermentation went well, ending at 1.014 for about 6.6% abv, and the resulting in beer is super rich, chocolaty, and overall a delicious bock, I'm proud of myself on that account. The rye combined with the modest FG play very nicely together.

I fermented for about 4 weeks under pressure and cold crashed for a couple days. Transferred to secondary today and put 4 Oz. of vodka soaked Juniper berries in it. So far, the juniper is subtle and plays a nice supporting role to the rich bock. I'll give it a week and adjust if necessary.

Questions:
What is the timeline for shipping these?
Who is taking care of distributing addresses? I see Auger beat me to it
How many beers does it look like we ended up with?
 

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