Great Holiday Ale Extract Recipe

[slackerlack]

Its been 12 hours since I transfered this to the secondary with the cider and honey. I have absolutely no activity going on from the yeast. Should I pitch another packet?

 

[brewstev]

getting the apples out of the carboy was definiley tough. After racking to secondary, the apples were quite a mess. It took alot of shaking and washing to get everything out of there...but the beer tastes delicious

 

[slackerlack]

The yeast finally started working again.

 

[jtkratzer]

Racked to secondary on cider and honey yesterday. I had to refrain from pouring the honey in my mouth and focus on pouring it in the carboy.

Still trying to figure out how to get these apples out of the carboy.

I used water and a plastic fork to dig/pour them out.

 

[slackerlack]

Did any of you transfer your beer to a secondary with the honey and cider? I did, and I am getting activity in my airlock, but no krausen. Is it normal to not have any krausen some times? This is the first one I have seen with none.

Also, how long did everyone let theirs sit in the secondary?

 

[jtkratzer]

Did any of you transfer your beer to a secondary with the honey and cider? I did, and I am getting activity in my airlock, but no krausen. Is it normal to not have any krausen some times? This is the first one I have seen with none.

Also, how long did everyone let theirs sit in the secondary?

I warmed the cider up a bit to dissolve the honey and get the temp closer to what the beer was at rather than just dump it out of the fridge. The fermentation roared, almost immediately and I got more krausen from the cider and honey than I did with the initial brew.

Cider and honey went in 9 days after pitching the yeast and I racked to another carboy after 16 days from pitching the yeast to let it settle. 16 days later I bottled. Tomorrow is two weeks in the bottles. I think I'm going to try one tonight as it's been warmer than 70 where my bottles sit since the woodstove is going 24/7 these days.

 

[jtkratzer]

I put 2 of these in the fridge to see how they're coming along. It was 14 days from bottling, but it's been warmer than 70 where the bottles sit. All I can say is AMAZING! The ginger is still definitely there and finishes strong, but it has settled out a bit. The first initial taste is the apple and sweet from the honey and finishes with the ginger. I shared two bottles of this with the guests of our New Year's party and it went over very well.

 

[permo]

I put 2 of these in the fridge to see how they're coming along. It was 14 days from bottling, but it's been warmer than 70 where the bottles sit. All I can say is AMAZING! The ginger is still definitely there and finishes strong, but it has settled out a bit. The first initial taste is the apple and sweet from the honey and finishes with the ginger. I shared two bottles of this with the guests of our New Year's party and it went over very well.

After aging how did the batch turn out?

I have a single two year old bottle that I have been saving. I bet its going to be great.

 

[HBrew71]

Reviving a three year old thread.

Thinking of brewing it this weekend. One quick question: do you rack all the spices into your primary from the kettle or are you supposed to leave them behind? Does it matter? I am just wondering if it will be in the primary too long if I did rack it.

Thanks.

 

[FlyFisherman]

wow this one has gotten my attention also !!! I've been browsing forums in search of an interesting holiday brew and believe I've found one!!!

 

[FlyFisherman]

It is so awesome to see how this recipe has inspired so many folks to brew this very elaborate holiday I brew. I simply love beers like this and I am planning a new version of this for next xmas, and it is going to be roastier and bigger than the last version, which is super awesome. Let's brainstorm a little and see what we can come up with. Here is a start


14 pound two row
1/2 pound C80
1/2 pound C40
1# oats rolled
4 oz special B
4 oz victory
4 oz chocolate
1 oz magnum at 60
\2# honey at end of boil
1 nub fresh ginger rough chopped at 5 minutes
2 cinn sticks at 5
2 whole penang cloves at 5
OG before fruit = roughly 1.080
WLP500
5# chopped apples and 64oz apple cider to secondary


Also folks, I love the pics and the reports of how your beers turned out. This is a great recipe protocol for the holidays.

mmmmm........mmmmmm.......

how did this version turn out??? I'm surprised this little project hasn't been advanced any further.

 

[ssgumby]

reviving an old thread! This recipe inspired me so I just finish brewing this ... just went in primary. Will update as it progresses.

 

[permo]

I need to make this again........I just had my last bottle the other day. It was still good.

 

[ssgumby]

Im going to move to secondary in about 2 days, my issue is finding cider without preservatives. I found some that says " <.1% Potassium Sorbate and/or Sodium Benzoate."

I know both of these are preservatives, will that small of an amount <.1 cause any harm?

 

[ssgumby]

I found non preserved cider at a local produce stand.

My bubbling action stopped so checked gravity, was down to 1.01 so decided to rack to secondary. OG was 1.055

Here is a pic when I opened primary,

 

[permo]

Looks pretty good. Did your apples turn to mush? It was like the yeast ate up my apples. I sliced mine a lot thinner though.

 

[ssgumby]

Not quite mush, but very soft.

Within hours of racking to secondary the fermentation took off again and has been going since.

 

[ssgumby]

Wow, wow, wow! I kegged this yesterday and force carbonated. Yes, I sped up the process some. But wow this is good!

My father-inlaw tried it, then went back for seconds. Said "you need to package this and sell it, liquid gold".

FG came in at 1.006 which put me at 6.3% ABV.

My best beer ever!

 

[AJinJacksonville]

Researched the forums and saw this holiday extract brew. I read what everyone did, and then did a few tweaks myself. I've gotta tell you...if it tastes anything even close to how it smells going into primary...it's a winner!

Just had to revive this one with the holidays coming up.

Divine!

Cheers!

 

[AJinJacksonville]

ssgumby:

Do you recall how long you kept it in secondary after it started up again?

I am about to transfer this evening...adding in 1# of honey and 64 oz of apple cider.