First Christmas/Winter Ale

[werndog]

First and foremost I am excited to be a part of this community, I started brewing beer about a little less than a year ago and decided to take a shot at a winter warmer/ Christmas ale. I finally got it fermenting on Monday, it would have started earlier but I heat shocked my carboy and lost my entire wort. Apple pie was my inspiration for this beer my recipe was as follows

2.4# Dark DME
6# Light LME
1# Light Munich
0.5# Carahell (19L)
0.5# Caramunich
1oz Black Patent
1.5# Dried Apples
~4" of cinnamon
1.5 vanilla beans
1 oz Norther Brewer Hops
1 oz Cascade hops
1 oz Simcoe hops
Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale) - 2 smack packs

I steeped my specialty grains for 45 minutes @ 152 degrees, with 20 minutes left I added in 1/2 of a vanilla bean split down the middle. At the end of my steep I took about a quart of the wort and poured it over the dried apples and let them steep throughout my boil. I added all of my DME to the wort and half of the light malt extract and brought to a boil. 30 minutes added the rest of the light malt and started to add my hops. To hop this beer I broke my NB hops into 30 Dixie cups and added one cup per minute. (Taking a page from dogfish head with continual hopping, this is also my first time trying this) For the last 15 minutes of the boil I added half of a cinnamon stick and added 1/2 oz of the cascade hops(broken up into the last 15 cups with the NB hops). 2 minutes left in boil I finished with the remaining cascade hops. I then cooled my wort and successfully added it to a new glass carboy. Since I had broken my carboy the night before my Wyeast 1084 had been active for almost 24 hours in the smack pack. My starting OG was 1.080 and I pitched at 74 degrees.

The fermentation started really quickly and it is bubbling away as we speak. As I said before this is my first time trying this. I am also going to dry hop this beer with 1 oz of Simcoe and the rest of the vanilla and cinnamon in a day or so.

I can't wait to get this beer in the bottle and give it a shot! Let me know what you think. Next time to make it a little "bigger" I think I will add in about 10 oz of brown sugar. Also if I can get my hands on Wyeast 1728 I would like I try that

I would like to hear what people think about my recipe and any suggestions you might have for next time

 

[crookedibrews]

I'm subbed. There is a lot going on here. I like the cascade addition. I would like to know how it turns out. I would be patient on this one. Give the flavors plenty of time to mellow in the bottle. At least 6 weeks

 

[werndog]

Thanks for the advice! I am definitely slow rolling this one, but it was more to dry it out than letting things mellow. I will definitely be keeping that in mind now.

 

[werndog]

UPDATE: my final OG measured at 1.012 which is lower than I was expecting and it means I got an abv around 8%. Giving the beer a small sample it tasted good with only hints of the apples and other spices added. I think I will go bigger with the spices next time (which may not be for about 9 months) but even the non beer drinkers in my house liked the way it tasted. As long as everything goes right in the bottle I think I got a keeper or at least a tweaker

 

[werndog]

UPDATE: this thing has been getting rave reviews from friends, family, coworkers, basically anyone who gets their hands on my brown bottles! I am super excited about this! The only sort of negative feedback that I have gotten is it doesn't finish very well which I agree with. It has great flavor and holds a pretty good head, nice aromas coming up front along with flavor when you first sip it but it leaves a little be desired on the back end for mouth feel and the flavor drops almost completely off after you swallow.... But I'm not sure where to go to change this. More malt? Longer boil? I have already came to terms that this beer needs more spices and dry hopping would help add a more complex flavor it's just this one issue... I'm in no rush to figure this out seeing as I am switching to AG this summer and have a lot to study and learn, I'll probably do an ME brew of this next year for christmas presents

On another note, my manager tried my beer and I am going to get a chance to help out in a local brewery for the beer they make for the restaurant!


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew