What is your Holiday Beer?

[kev211]

With the holidays coming up I figured it would be cool to hear what everyone will be serving for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus (I've got a lot of problems with you people). If the thread survives long enough it could serve as a year round holiday beer thread that will become saturated with saisons in the summer and punkin beers in October

If you feel lead to post a recipe. If not, just post the beer that will be on tap/bottled/served

I will be serving a Cinnamon Vanilla Milk Stout and a Nutmeg, Cinnamon Vanilla Cream ale. Just tapped both and they taste great! Now lets hear your holiday brews!

 

[jdauria]

I have a tweaked version of the Better Not Pout Stout that can be found on BYO and I think on here. Orange peel, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice and ginger. Smelled like fruitcake when boiling!

 

[Snicklefritz]

I've brewed this one for Christmas for the past 3 years:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=218147

Its a great recipe.

 

[agrazela]

I'm celebrating Star Wars with "Star Flight" galaxy-hopped pale ale.

(And if I'd thought of that concept BEFORE I'd brewed it, I would have made it an IMPERIAL pale, and probably made it black, too.)

 

[bobeer]

I have a scotch ale with cranberries and maple syrup.

I also just brewed a milk chocolate stout that I"m hoping, if I keg, will be ready by xmas night.

 

[unviewtiful]

I have a Mexican Latte Stout (with chocolate, coffee, cinnamon, ancho chiles) that I bottled up a couple months ago with the intent to have it ready for Christmas. I'll also have an ESB and Mosaic/Maris Otter SMaSH pale ale on tap that were brewed for the occasion.

 

[Brew_G]

I brewed what I'm referring to as a "Winter Brown Ale." 1.066 --> 1.017 with 2-Row, Victory, Chocolate, and Rolled Oats along with A good helping of Calypso, Cascade, and Willamette (dry hopped with Centennial and Cascade). I also hit it with 2.25 oz of white pine tips for 15 minutes in the boil.

I bottled it about three weeks ago and tested one last weekend. The tips are prominent - a kind of candy-like earthiness that you get when you chew on the tips themselves. It's really nice, even as young as it is, and I have a good feeling about how it'll turn out as it ages a bit.

This beer is going to be served liberally at Christmas and the New Year. Once I'm through that, I've got a Nelson-Galaxy-Centennial IPA that should be ready on a few weeks that I'm really excited about.

 

[brewprint]

If you consider IPAs holiday brews I've got a mess of them. That's about the only thing I want to drink anymore. If I drink a holiday brew I just think about the IPA I'll drink when it's gone.

 

[giraffe]

I got a Quad, Doppelbock, and Baltic Porter up. (I also made a barleywine, but its crap, so i set that one aside) Im not really into spices. I like my christmas beers dark and moody. Its very wet here.

 

[bhchrist]

Kate the Great inspired RIS. I brewed in 7 months ago and it spent half the time with a port-soaked oak spiral. Not sure I would call it a holiday brew, but I brewed it with the intent of it being ready over the holidays, so close enough.

 

[RockinOak]

Got an "Eggnog" stout about to go on for Christmas Eve. I think its gonna end up being a bit more holiday spiced than Eggnog though.

 

[BigMack]

An amped up version of my normal oatmeal stout is my holiday beer this year.

 

[m00ps]

saison w/ some random yeast blend
saison w/ some random yeast blend
saison w/ new yeast i havent tried
wild saison
IPA
saison w/ some random yeast blend
very hoppy saison
Black IPA
sour saison


whichever of those i guess. I'll see whats tasting best right before xmas. wasnt feeling a winter warmer

 

[Toga]

I have a kicked up version of my oatmeal chocolate stout, a very big nut brown, a basic lager, n a back sweetened spiced cider on tap for the holidays this year.

 

[Steve3730]

I have a Christmas ale with spices and orange peel.

Also my friends and I did a stout project where we took a 5 gallon base stout, after primary split it into 5 separate batches all aged on different adjacents. So the list below will be ready
Stout w/rootbeer extract & vanilla bean
Stout w/habanaro,cinnamon,caco& vanilla
Stout w/ bourbon soaked oak
Stout w/bourbon soaked oak & cinnamon
Stout w/ banana extract &caco

 

[wyccad915]

For Christmas, I will hopefully have my chocolate stout ready. Nothing too special about it. I got it for ~$25 on AHS. As a bonus I added 3 vanilla beans. It will be right at 2 weeks in the bottle just a few days prior to Christmas, so I will sample it then and see. If it is not ready for Christmas, hopefully it will be fir new years. I wish I could find a clone recipe for shock tops' shockolate wheat. That was a good beer and I didn't know until this year that it was cancelled last year. I am in no way ready to attempt recreating it on my own but as far as i understand it is a spiced ale that is aged with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans. Maybe i can experiment in 2016 and have something good for next Christmas.

 

[traveligion]

Spiced pumpkin doppelbock and Anchor Christmas inspired brown with vanilla, nutmeg and star anice.

 

[bucfan1234]

Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Clone.

 

[JonM]

I have a dubbel, a dunkelweizen and a robust porter on tap (along with some root beer for the kids.) we spend a lot of time at the in-laws' this time of year, so I figure I'll bring a growler of this one night and a growler of that the next night.

I also have a bomber is Bruery Saison Rue so I should probably pop that open on Christmas Day or something.

 

[m00ps]

I also have a bomber is Bruery Saison Rue so I should probably pop that open on Christmas Day or something.

Me too! Is it one of the newer rebranded "Terreux" ones? Cause Ive had it a while back but was wondering if they reformulated anything for the new ones.

Also, if shocktop is mentioned again, its going to ruin my holiday spirits. There's a reason it was cancelled

 

[TheCADJockey]

I only drink the bitterest of IPA's. You wouldn't understand.

 

[redllama]

I usually brew a Quad of some sort in January or February and then age it all year for holiday parties/gifts

 

[kev211]

I only drink the bitterest of IPA's. You wouldn't understand.

Try me

Tapped my Cinnamon Vanilla Last night. So freakin awesome! Named it after Christmas Vacation. Its called... Is Your House on Fire?

 

[JonM]

Speaking of Christmas Vacation, I saw Goose Island's holiday brew on tap the other night. It's called "A Real Nice Surprise."

 

[kev211]

Speaking of Christmas Vacation, I saw Goose Island's holiday brew on tap the other night. It's called "A Real Nice Surprise."

Gonna get you something real nice

View attachment 1450457041093.jpg

 

[brewcat]

Kegged my Christmastime Stout last night. I never got around to brewing it last year but this year I converted it to all grain. The sample smelled great and tasted good. So far I'm pleased.

 

[BrewingTravisty]

I've got a few beers I'll be serving at Christmas, nothing extremely Christmasy though. I have my Vanilla Rum Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (11.5%abv), a Irish Red Rye Ale (5%abv - This one is named Red Five for Star Wars hype) and a heffeweizen (6%abv - high efficiency and attenuation so I got an extra 1%)

 

[Billy-Klubb]

my Nelson Pale might be carbonated by then. if not, I have some of my Port and Merlot Pyment left. and a variety of Paradox beers.

 

[z-bob]

I have a brown porter, goosed with a little sugar to make it "holiday", still in the fermenter and just about finished. It's not going to be ready by Christmas, but it might be close enough that I can force carbonate a liter. With all the brown malt, it probably won't be good until it ages a bit.

(gotta find my CO2 hose with the tire chuck...)

 

[BNolt17]

I did a Gingerbread Brown Ale but did it a weekend later than originally planned so it probably won't be ready until New Years. I also did the Strawberry Alarm Clock recipe on here for the wife, not a Christmas beer necessarily but putting it on tap next week. Happy Holidays All!!

 

[mattdee1]

I had to brew something my family will actually drink, so I've got a blonde and a wheat. Also, I'll gladly take care of the leftovers of those beers. The weird recipes with spice and fruit and whatnot are fun to try, but I'd only be able to drink 1 or 2 of those over the holidays before I'd be ready to go back to plain old barley and hops.

 

[BrewingTravisty]

I had to brew something my family will actually drink, so I've got a blonde and a wheat. Also, I'll gladly take care of the leftovers of those beers. The weird recipes with spice and fruit and whatnot are fun to try, but I'd only be able to drink 1 or 2 of those over the holidays before I'd be ready to go back to plain old barley and hops.

I'm the same exact way, I'll enjoy a couple beers with spices and/or fruit added but I prefer a normal grains and hops only beer. I am looking forward to trying my Vanilla Rum Barrel Stout though, it's been aging for a few months now. I would prefer to give it a few more months, but hopefully it's aged enough by Christmas.

 

[brrman]

I honestly hate (really hate) spiced beers so I typically just go with a nice porter on tap for the holidays.

 

[BrewingTravisty]

I honestly hate (really hate) spiced beers so I typically just go with a nice porter on tap for the holidays.

I hate most spiced beers, unless they're subtle. The bad thing is most people way over do the spices. Even subtle ones though I'll only drink one or two of before going back to non spiced beers.

 

[BrewingTravisty]

I just cracked the seal on the mini keg I put my stout into and holy crap... It was amazing, this is the best beer I've ever brewed! Possibly even one of the best stouts I've ever had! I'm gonna be so drunk on Christmas xD

 

[Singletrack]

Bah humbug. I can't brew all your fancy spiced Christmas beers and whatnot.

"Just sit there and drink another IPA, bitter beer face. You want Christmas? Okay, this one is reddish."

 

[Calder]

I honestly hate (really hate) spiced beers so I typically just go with a nice porter on tap for the holidays.

Same here. I think it a waste of a good beer when you add spices. I have a few Porters lined up for the Holidays.

I just cracked the seal on the mini keg I put my stout into and holy crap... It was amazing, this is the best beer I've ever brewed! Possibly even one of the best stouts I've ever had! I'm gonna be so drunk on Christmas xD

Mini keg/great beer ......... That's only about 12 pints. Will it make it to Christmas Day.

 

[BrewingTravisty]

Same here. I think it a waste of a good beer when you add spices. I have a few Porters lined up for the Holidays.




Mini keg/great beer ......... That's only about 12 pints. Will it make it to Christmas Day.

I have 2 mini kegs of this stuff, one definitely won't make it lol the other I'll have to exercise a lot of self control xP it's about 11% though if I remember right... I lost my notes on it sadly, so I forget the FG. The OG was about 1.100.

View attachment 1450546796604.jpg

 

[Spartan1979]

No Christmas beer this year. I just never got around to it. Last couple of years has been a clone of Midnight Sun's Cohoho or The Old Fruitcake Ale from Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing.

 

[brewbama]

I have a Choco Milk Stout and a German Alt on tap. I just brewed a Red and added Sweet Orange Peel. No spices for me thank you.