What style am I Looking for?

I'm looking to brew a fairly big wintery brown ale for a Christmas party we're hosting in early Dec. I don't really want to go porter, and I'd like it a lttle on the malt side. I'm still a little green with the AG to formulate anything on my own and could use a little direction. Ideas?

 

I would recommend taking a look at the Scotch Ale style. Great big beers with very malty caramel flavors and little bitterness (35 IBU's at the most). Also known as a Wee Heavy. The ones I've had have been dangerously drinkable, although I haven't brewed my own just yet. I do have a recipe put together based on the chapter in Designing Great Beers and a mix/match of some of the Wee Heavy recipes here on HBT, I can post it later tonight to at least give you an idea of the ingredients involved.

 

+1 on a Wee Heavy. Also check out the Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer forum for more holiday ales. There are quite a few that use a brown ale as the base recipe.

 

You could also add some spices to a Belgian dark strong. They are also very malty with some rum/raisin/dark fruit flavors and a low bitterness.

 

I have a great recipe for a Strong Scotch Ale floating around. Can't remember where I got it. It's about 7.7% alcohol. It is conditioning now in bottles, but from what I have tasted it will be great. These beers are best aged however. If you brewed soon, it might be good for christmas.

There is a recipe under Spice/Herb/Vegetable by 'The Pol' for a Holiday beer I intend on making soon. It would certainly be ready for christmas. I like the looks of it because it is simple for a holiday beer, just a few different spices (allspice, ginger and cinnamon).

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions, time to do a little research...