Midwest happy holiday ale

Hello fellow brewers, I just ordered a happy holiday ale kit from Midwest (they had a sweet deal may still, check it out) I was wondering if anyone has ever brewed this kit and if so how long before it was ready? Like if I brew it this weekend will it be done by x-mas time? That's only about six weeks. I don't have much experience with spiced ales and the instructions say age for months.

 

You can probably have it ready to drink by Christmas but it would be much better by Easter. You can put it into the fermenter this weekend, leave it there for 3 weeks, then bottle. That should give it time to carbonate. The flavors will be more balanced if you can leave it longer in the bottles. Chill what you intend to drink for Christmas for about 24 hours but leave the rest at room temperature and save as many as you can for later. The flavor balance of this will be a trade off between the flavor of the beer and the spices. Over time the flavors of the beer will get smoother but you will lose the flavor of the spice. I'd guess the prime flavor balance will probably happen in July.

Make sure you start the ferment at the cool end of the yeast's preferred range and then after 3 to 5 days, let it warm to room temp to speed up the yeast. The cool start will limit the byproducts that drinkers find objectionable and the warmer finish will allow the yeast to clean up most of those.

 

I made this kit last year and was disappointed because the spices were so strong. Didn't drink much of it. Even emptied several bottles over the summer because it still wasn't right. Found a few bombers in the back of the pantry, and now it's very good. Even shared it with the homebrew club, and they liked it as well. Be patient with it.

 

Thanks for the good info. I was thinking about giving some away for x-mas along with some other of my beers, so maybe I'll have to include a note to age this particular beer.