Winter Beer Style Suggestions?

[brad87us]

So I feel I am ready to take the leap into AG brewing and have been toying with an idea for a Winter Spiced recipe but I could use some experienced expertise.

My idea is to try to get the flavor of Gluhwein, a German mulled wine drink, in with a dark porter or stout. Gluhwein is a favorite holiday drink in my family and I want to get that same warming, bold taste in the beer. Since I am fairly new, my idea was to try to find a basic recipe and just tweak a bit to get the flavors in there. I feel like I have come up with a good flavor profile (listed below) but am not sure what to use as a base. Maybe a RIS, or robust porter?

Any thoughts on the matter would be great!

Gluhwein flavor profile:

Boil
Star annise, 1 pod, 15min
AllSpice, .2oz, 15 min
Cinnamon, 4 sticks, 15min
Cloves, 10 buds, 15 min
Sweet Orange Peel, 1oz, 15 min

Secondary
1 whole orange sliced (is this enough?)
Toying with the idea of Brandy or Bourbon soaked wood chips

 

[jfk69]

Hmm, never tried something like that, but I would probably avoid an RIS. They have flavor complexities unique to them and I'm not sure how they would play with your other ingredients. If you want to try it with a Porter, search Coal Porter in the recipes section. This is an excellent, very sessionable Porter that is simple enough that it might handle something like this. Run it by bob in the thread, as he is the creator of the recipe, and see what he thinks. Just a though.

 

[RonPopeil]

The spices you want to add would be more suited to a dubbel or quad or belgian strong dark. Look into a higher OG belgian dubbel. Skip the sweet orange peel(bleh) and orange slices(gonna get infected) and use a small amount of orange zest.

Check out Ommegang's Adoration as well.

 

[giraffe]

I agree. Use orange zest. Also, with those spices, id look to color/flavor the beer with dark sugar syrup instead of roasted grains, which i think may be a muddled mess. If you dont want belgian yeast esters, with a dubbel or quad, you can always go for something like an 'old ale' with invert #3.

 

[Spartan1979]

Old Ale would also be an option.

 

[solbes]

+1 to above, I was going to say Old Ale might be best. I would not add it to something with roasted malts. A lot of winter warmers (spiced) are loosely based on the style.

 

[brad87us]

+1 to above, I was going to say Old Ale might be best. I would not add it to something with roasted malts. A lot of winter warmers (spiced) are loosely based on the style.

Hm...I hadn't really heard of old ales but that sounds like it would work quite well. I was looking into winter warmers but couldn't really figure them out. I feel like the alcohol flavors and fruitiness would mimic the red wine base of normal Gluhwein.

Skip the sweet orange peel(bleh) and orange slices(gonna get infected) and use a small amount of orange zest.

Why not orange peel? Or soaking whole orange? Not trying to defend as much as just learn. A very key part of Gluhwein is adding sliced oranges while mulling the wine over heat. Will just zest impart that same sort of flavor? Would I add it during the boil at the 15 minute mark with everything else? How much should I add?

 

[RonPopeil]

You would want to add all of your spices to the fermenter. Usually a secondary fermenter or bottling bucket. I believe the practice is to soak in vodka to sanitize.

The packaged orange peel products don't always provide a quality flavor. Orange zest will hit the orange flavor on the nose.

Adding whole fruits: You can't boil mostfruits because you'll active pectin and make jam. Adding to the fermenter puts you at risk for wild fermentation as most fruits contract wild yeast. Soaking in vodka or other high proof liquors will sanitize so if you want to add whole orange you should blend it with liquor and leave it stand for a few hours up to overnight before adding.

I don't mean to tell you what you have to do so much as guide you away from things that will ruin your project.

 

[brad87us]

I don't mean to tell you what you have to do so much as guide you away from things that will ruin your project.

I was more curious than anything else. Thanks for the advice.

 

[NTexBrewer]

https://byo.com/stories/item/2258-winter-seasonal-beers

Give this a read. I just power skimmed it but it looks like the first recipe has a lot of the spices you were planning to put in your beer. Even if you don't chose that style it will give you some idea about the amount to use.

 

[brad87us]

https://byo.com/stories/item/2258-winter-seasonal-beers

Give this a read. I just power skimmed it but it looks like the first recipe has a lot of the spices you were planning to put in your beer. Even if you don't chose that style it will give you some idea about the amount to use.

Thanks! That's a great article.

 

[NTexBrewer]

Thanks! That's a great article.

Your welcome. I think I put in Google your spice ingredients followed by beer recipe.

BYO magazine and their website usually has lots of good articles to get bits and pieces for making recipes or finding recipes.