Winter Seasonal Beer Great Lakes Christmas Ale Clone

Sounds like you've got a good plan to me machado!

Having your batch ready by x-mas might be a little tight though...

 

I keg so it shouldn't be a problem for me to have it ready by Christmas. I typically go from grain to glass in about 3-4 weeks with most of my beers depending on the style. I'm sure this one will be better as it ages but I'm optimistic that it will be very drinkable in a month.

 

I should have added unless you keg...

 

I think it was just because main fermentation had JUST completed that I got that odor... I changed fermenters from a fridge to a chest freezer, so I'd never been able to smell right from the top before, at least at that early stage....

I sampled at 7 days and it was down to 1.014 and I didn't get that same smell.

I fermented between 62-66 over the course of a week, and its been sitting at 68 for about 10 days at this point, I'll look to keg it maybe Sunday, if not ill wait another week just to let it condition a bit more.

 

I just recently attempted my first all grain batch. I brewed this recipe - scaled down to a 3 gallon batch due to my equipment limitations. Brewed in a bag on the stove top and then dunk sparged in a separate pot.

When I brewed two weeks ago, the OG was at 1.073 and now it's at 1.006. This calculates to a 92% attenuation. Is this even possible or were one of my measurements likely off? Mash temps were upper 150s and I pitched a 1 liter starter of Wyeast Labs #1028 London Ale. Fermentation temps were right around 65 degrees for 2 weeks so far.

I was hoping this would finish a little higher and not be so dry.

 

My guess is that one of your hydrometer readings was off or your mash temp was closer to the higher 140's creating a more fermentable wort.

 

Making a batch today! may the force be with me

 

Same here! Had to use WLP013 London Ale because my LHBS didn't have 1028. I'm assuming they are probably the same strain.

 

I racked mine to secondary on Friday night. I'll update more when it goes in the keg.

 

Your hydro is off, or you picked up a bug. 1028 typically wont go that low. Not impossible but not likely. How does it taste?

 

I ended up bottling this last weekend with a FG of 1.006. As for taste, the ginger is very prominent right now, so it's really hard to say how this is going turn out. I'm sure it's going to be drinkable, but may not be as close to the GLCA as I was hoping. Only time will tell. It seems a little dry, but not as bad as I was expecting at this FG.

I have these carbonating and conditioning in a closet right now where the temp fluctuates between 67F and 72F. They will have been bottled for 23 days on Christmas Eve. What are my chances of this being ready to drink by then?

 

Mine has been kegged for over a month and is still very ginger heavy. Hoping it will be decent by xmas

 

I think you will be just fine. I'd say check one after 2 weeks and again at 3 weeks. Pop them into the fridge a day or two before Christmas Eve. Now I know this isn't proven to work but you can even turn each bottle upside down once or twice every week just to get the yeast moving around a little more. I got my barleywine carbed up in 3 weeks just fine when I did this. I probably should've done it to half of them and then tried one of each every week to compare.

 

Mine finished pretty low too....1.010. I am beginning to think all my thermometers are off and I'm mashing lower then I think. My last few beers have finished dry. The beer tasted decent though, I lowered the ginger slightly to around 3/4-7/8 oz. I'll give it one more week and it's getting kegged. Just in time for Christmas

 

I bottled mine yesterday....still had the clove, banana, and ginger taste going on....hopefully it tastes more like xmas ale after it bottle conditions. Still has that estery taste from the london ale yeast.

 

Kegged mine yesterday:

Link

 

mine bottled for about 6 months, the ginger subsided a little bit but not as much as I hoped it would. Still tasted fantastic but was more of what Southern Tier 2Xmas tastes like.

 

Added a tiny bit of cinnamon to the keg. Got it much more in line with where i wanted it. Id back down the ginger and up cinnamon in future batches.

 

This is what I'm planning on doing for my next batch of this brew. I've only made 2 batches of an extract version of this recipe and I'm going to be brewing my first attempt at this AG recipe soon. Per emails from Great Lakes, they recommended equal amounts of ginger and cinnamon. My first batch I steeped 1.5 oz of both ginger and cinnamon and it was very strong with the ginger. My second batch I knocked it back to 1.25 oz of both ginger and cinnamon and it was still overpowering with the ginger but not as much as my first batch. Both batches were still very good as my wife loves them so they must be good. That said, for my next AG batch, I think I'm going to cut the ginger back to .75 oz and keep the cinnamon at 1.25-1.5 oz. and see how that turns out.

 

Did any of you guys wash your yeast after this batch? Not sure if an extra washing would rid the yeast of the cinnamon and ginger?

 

I brewed NB's Brickwarmer which also uses Wyeast 1028. That recipe calls for sweet orange peel steeped for the last 5 minutes of the boil and I removed them when I racked the wort to primary. I'm planning on washing the yeast from that batch tonight and using it to make a starter for my next batch of this recipe.

So far, the only beers I've made with 1028 are this Christmas Ale clone and the Brickwarmer so I'm not concerned about some residual cinnamon or clove flavors.

 

Took a sample yesterday, it tastes great! Might be the best I've brewed yet! Finished dryer at 08, but I don't think it's worse for it!

Thanks for the recipe!

 

Kegging tonight. The hydrometer samples are simply amazing. This isn't an everyday beer but it is my favorite effort overall. Thanks much for the recipe!

 

I've had this kegged for about 2 weeks now. I rushed this one a bit and it shows. It's still very young (brewed Dec 2). I backed the ginger down to 7/8 oz but it's still pretty strong right now. The cinnamon was very faint so I added 2 sticks to the keg. I think I'll have to let this one sit for a few more weeks.

 

I had way too much ginger! It backed off significantly after a few weeks in secondary but its still too strong. I just brewed another batch yesterday without the spices to mix with the first batch. Looking forward to splitting it between 2 kegs in a couple weeks. Maybe I'll save one keg for Christmas in July, lol.

Good luck,
JB

 

I like this beer but I just mine has a really strong honey flavor. I'm not a huge honey fan and I wonder what the best way is to dial that back. A little less honey? Add the honey a little earlier in the boil?

 

Honey should not really impart flavor to the beer. What kind did you use? What temp did you ferment at and for how long?

JB

 

One pound of clover honey. Fermented at 62-64 for 21 days then kegged. Honey was added at flameout.

 

I used clove honey, too, and do not have any honey flavor in mine. Sure you're not tasting residual sweetness from the malt?

Tell us about your brew day (mash temps, gravities, etc). London Ale yeast can lend some fruitiness that might be confusing your palate. Is that possible?

JB

 

Tried mine after 12 days, was pretty decent, after 18 days it tastes like cough medicine. Waiting it out another week or two and/or hoping that was just a bad bottle?

 

I added the honey at flameout and I could definitely taste the honey in this brew. It was subtle but I could tell it was there. I loved it for that exact reason, subtle but noticeable.

 

My first attempt at this recipe (AG) is still in my fermentor and should be ready to bottle this weekend. However, I have made two batches doing extract with a recipe similar to this one and I too have added honey at flameout both times and I too could tell it was there. Not overpowering but noticeable and very good.

EDIT: I decided to go ahead and take a gravity reading today as this thread piqued my interest on how my first attempt at this AG recipe turned out. Gravity reading was about 1.016 after an OG of 1.068 so I'm happy about that. But what I am most happy about is how this thing tastes! This was a close as you could come to being the real thing! I thought my extract version of this brew turned out pretty good and this bacth absolutely kick's the ass of my last two extract versions of this recipe! I can't wait to bottle this brew and start drinking it!

Btw, I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I cut back on the amount of ginger I used. I was told by someone at Great Lakes that they use equal parts of ginger and cinnamon. So in my first attempts at brewing this I used 1.25 oz of ginger and 1.25 oz of cinnamon sticks. For this AG batch, I cut the ginger back to just .75 oz and kept the cinnamon sticks at 1.25 oz and I really think that is a good ratio. Oh, and I steeped the ginger and cinnamon in a muslin hop sack for the entire 60 minute boil and into the cooling stage and removed them when I racked to my fermenting bucket which was also recommended by Great Lakes...

 

Thanks for sharing that info MMJfan. I think I will do this same exact method when I brew it for next winter. I really like the idea of boiling the ginger and cinnamon for the entire time, just sounds like the flavors could meld together even more.

 

Three months later...this is really coming around. Thanks for recipe

 

I brewed this about 14 months ago, as my first batch by myself. I was a little nervous when it was first completed, as it didn't taste like the first time I had the actual beer. But now, I love it! It tastes amazing, but I only have 4 bottles left, and wished I had more. So I am going to age these, until next christmas!

 

I just finished off my last bottle This was a great beer and I can't wait to do it again next year! Thanks!!!

 

My supply is dwindling as well... Mine too was a great beer, but I'm not ready to look forward to the cold months of winter just yet. I'm going to enjoy the spring and summer as long as I can (if it ever gets here...)?!

 

Long time reader, first time poster and I hope it is ok that I have resurrected this thread. I have probably read and re-read this thread 3 times to make sure that I didn't skip over information that might have rendered this post useless (it probably is anyways). I want to convert this recipe to a Partial Mash recipe and brew it once before the Holiday Season so that I can fine tune it. Being from Cleveland and living in Miami, where we don't get Great Lakes's beers, I need something, other than LeBron, to bring me home for the holidays. However, I am wondering if the recipe that I have put together is converted properly. I have looked at this recipe, read this article, and looked over Ken Schwartz's paper but am still wondering if what I have put together is correct.

Here it is:
Recipe Type: Partial Mash
Yeast: WLP013
Yeast Starter: Basic
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.074
Final Gravity: 1.018
IBU: 32.82
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 11.6


5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US 44.1 %
4.00 lb Dry Malt Extract 35.3%
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 8.8 %
1.00 lb Wheat Malt 8.8 %
0.25 lb Special Roast 2.2 %
0.08 lb Roasted Barley 0.7%

Cascade (60 min) 27 IBU
Mt. Hood (10 min) 3 IBU

2 Cinnamon Stick (boil 60.0 min) Misc
1. oz Ginger Root (boil 60.0 min) Misc
1.25 lb Honey (Flame out) Sugar 9.20 %
1 Pkgs London Ale (Wyeast Labs #028/ WLP013) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Original Gravity: 1.074
Final Gravity: 1.018
Alcohol by Vol: 7.26 %
32.82 IBU
11.91 SRM C

Now I know that the IBUs are a bit high but am more concerned with the way in which the percentages of the grains changed as I add malt extract. Is this normal? Does the recipe look correct.

Also, I went to Great Lakes's website and noticed that they specify Mt. Hood hops. As they are a "descendant" of the Hallertau family it probably doesn't matter, but thought it might be worth noting.

Thank you for all of the help.

 

I have brewed this recipe 4 times and preparing to brew this again in a few weeks for x-mas season. This beer is very drinkable in 8-12 weeks but is much better with about 20 weeks or so of aging.

As for your recipe, the difference in percentages is because the percentages you are working with are by weight and not gravity points. DME has more diastic potential than the same weight of malted barley. I think your recipe looks good although I have found that I back off the cinnamon as I just don't like the taste of cinnamon all that much.

I used hallertau in mine the last time believe, but any bittering hop would work. I like it with a little higher IBU because it balances it all out a little bit i think.

 

Thanks for the help and the explanation! It now makes sense. Also, thanks for letting me know about the timeframe; I was thinking it needed some time to age but knowing that 20 weeks is optimal is quite helpful.