12 Beers of Christmas 2012!

[biochemedic]

Is it tooo late to take the abbey weizen? Shoulda looked at the recipe, but oh well....i'll find that damn book.

All yours...just sent you a PM as well...

We're doing pretty well here, and I'm stoked so many people have stepped up so quickly!

Still looking for some brewers for the Juniper Rye Bock and Christmas Gruit...these are the only unclaimed beers left!

 

[biochemedic]

... if the person who made the dunkelweizen last year is here again, any advice you have for me would be appreciated. That was one of the prettiest beers I've ever seen. I could almost taste it.

The brewer who did this brew last year has the screen name Willum...you could probably PM him if you have any specific questions about the brew...

 

[MasterJeem]

Thanks

 

[Shuznuts]

I wanted to do this last year as well. Put me down for the gruit. Recipe (found on last years thread) looks amazing. I'll make it next month to give it plenty of time to condition, but I'll have to ship the beer out earlier than turkey day.

 

[biochemedic]

I wanted to do this last year as well. Put me down for the gruit. Recipe (found on last years thread) looks amazing. I'll make it next month to give it plenty of time to condition, but I'll have to ship the beer out earlier than turkey day.

Sweet! We just need a lager-capable brewer for the Juniper Rye Bock...

I got all my spices from Penzey's.

 

[Draygon]

Ok so I said I had an idea of a base stout to use for the spiced Bourbon stout so here it is.

I am at a hotel currently and on my kindle so no copy and paste from beersmith...anyways.

12 lbs Dark malt extract (going to do liquid for pricing)
6oz dingmans cara 8
5oz dingmans black malt
5oz chocolate malt
5oz cara III
12oz honey malt
12oz cara 45
3/4 lbs brown sugar
1oz magnum hops
1.5oz sterling hops
White Labs WL001

SG: 1.104
FG: 1.024 estimated
Target ABV: 10.7%


As I said..this one will make everyone very merry! I figure after the spice mixture it will come in around 11% ABV, give or take with my efficiency.

Merry Christmas! A few months early!

 

[SavoryChef]

I just brewed the Fruitcake Old Ale last night and it's going to be delicious. The recipe looked good even without the dried fruit and spices so I brewed 10 gallons so I can drink the regular Old Ale while the Fruitcake is aging.

 

[Draygon]

Sounds great! I cant wait to taste it, along with everyone else's brews as well.

 

[biochemedic]

So I had been thinking, and Draygon kind of beat me to it...I thought it would be a good idea, especially as there is a fair bit of flexibility in many of the recipes, for us to post what we actually did on our individual brews. I will provide a nice record our our group brew, and if any of us feel like trying to reproduce one of the others' brews, we will have a good starting point!

What I'm going to do is post my recipe, then I'll use the edit function to add brewing and tasting notes to the same post, so everything on the one brew is in one spot.

 

[usfmikeb]

The more I read this thread, the more I wish I was involved. This was fun last year!

 

[jtakacs]

wait, full already? i'd love to do the ginger IPA... are the names the ones that have it already?

 

[biochemedic]

The more I read this thread, the more I wish I was involved. This was fun last year!

Hmmm...there's still a Juniper Rye Bock unclaimed....

 

[jtakacs]

okay - just noticed, yeah - looks all full (except bock and i have zero experience so i'll pass on that) - if any ale dudes drop off for whatever reason, let me know via PM... nice project.

 

[biochemedic]

wait, full already? i'd love to do the ginger IPA... are the names the ones that have it already?

Yes...I will start keeping a list of "alternates"...

 

[biochemedic]

Here's what I have cooking...

Caramel Quad
Brewing Date: Sunday March 11, 2012

Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Anticipated SRM: 12.8 <---- is *much* darker due to the caramelized DME/Sugar portion and long boil
Anticipated IBU: 30.9
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
66.7 12.00 lbs. Pilsener Belgium 1.037 2
11.1 2.00 lbs. Amber Malt Great Britain 1.032 35
11.1 2.00 lbs. Munich Malt Belgium 1.038 8
5.6 1.00 lbs. Cane Sugar Generic 1.046 0 <--Caramelized
5.6 1.00 lbs. Generic DME - Light Generic 1.046 8 <--Caramelized

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.50 oz. Styrian Goldings Pellet 5.10 28.2 50 min.
1.00 oz. Saaz Pellet 2.60 2.7 15 min.

Yeast
-----
White Labs WLP500 Trappist Ale

Mash Schedule
-------------
Mash Type: Single Infusion
Saccharification Rest Temp: 148 Time: 60
Mash-out/Sparge Temp: 170 Time: 10

Notes
-----
Based on Caramel Quadrupel recipe (pages 125 and 166) from Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing (one of the '12 Beers of Christmas.')
The 1 lb of light DME and 1 lb of cane sugar are to be caramelized together and added to the boil.

 

[sfrisby]

Yes...I will start keeping a list of "alternates"...

After last year, excellent idea!

 

[Draygon]

Are we going to do 3 per brewer as was last year? Need to set this so that those of us that are already brewing can set aside the correct amount of bottles, before we drink them all

 

[sfrisby]

I think 3 bottles is a good way to go. That way we have the option of cellaring some.

 

[Shuznuts]

I agree with 3 bottles

 

[biochemedic]

Another +1 to three 12 oz longnecks. This worked well last year...pretty easy to pack and ship in relatively small boxes, and as was posted earlier in the thread, gave us the ability to try one or two, and still put one away for this year.

 

[Draygon]

Here is the actual report for my beer, minus the vodka, bourbon and the pinch of black pepper...(which I will admit I am thinking pink peppercorns for the peppery sweetness instead of all black).

Recipe: B2 Spiced Bourbon Imperial Stout
Brewer: Brendan Hogan
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial Stout
TYPE: Partial Mash
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.52 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.98 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.106 SG
Estimated Color: 39.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 157.3 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type
12.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain
12.0 oz Vienna Malt (Briess) (3.5 SRM) Grain
6.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain
5.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain
5.0 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain
5.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain
12 lbs Dark Liquid Extract (17.5 SRM) Extract
12.0 oz Turbinado (10.0 SRM) Sugar
0.50 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop
0.50 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop
0.75 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice
1.50 oz Sterling [7.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast
2.50 oz Anise, Star (Secondary 0.0 mins) Spice
0.50 tsp Cinnamon Stick (Secondary 0.0 mins) Spice
0.50 oz Crushed Juniper (Secondary 0.0 mins) Spice
0.50 tsp Vanilla Bean (Secondary 0.0 mins) Spice
0.25 tsp Allspice (Secondary 0.0 mins) Spice
0.25 oz Coriander Seed (Secondary 0.0 mins) Spice

 

[Piratwolf]

Here's what I'm starting with. I'd be happy to hear any thoughts or suggestions.

Belgian Saffron Tripel Style: Belgian Tripel
Type: All Grain Calories: 245
Efficiency: 72 %
IBU's: 43.88 Boil Size: 4.38 Gal
Color: 6.2 SRM Batch Size: 2.50 Gal
Boil Time: 90 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Results
Brew Date: - 06/20/2012
OG: 1.075 FG: 1.018
ABV: 7.47 %
Serve Date: 08/14/2012

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp Estimated Actual
Primary 21 days @ 68.0°F 06/20/2012 06/20/2012
Secondary 20 days @ 70.0°F 07/11/2012 -
Bottle/Keg 14 days @ 70.0°F 07/31/2012 -

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
5.00 lbs 66.67 % Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 60 mins 1.036
1.00 lbs 13.33 % Briess Munich 10L 60 mins 1.035
1.50 lbs 20.00 % Cane (Beet) Sugar 60 mins 1.046

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
20.00 g 38.72 Mt. Hood 60 mins 6.00
10.00 g 19.36 Mt. Hood 15 mins 6.00

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.00 pkg Trappist Ale White Labs 0500

Additions
Amount Name Time Stage
0.50 oz Orange Peel 01 mins Boil
0.05 oz Paradise Seeds 01 mins Boil
0.50 oz Irish Moss 15 mins Boil

Mash Profile

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Light Body Infusion In 75 min @ 150.0°F

Add 8.40 qt ( 1.40 qt/lb ) water @ 162.0°F

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Carbonation
Amount Type Beer Temp CO2 Vols
7.2 psi Force Carbonation 36.0°F 2.20

Notes
2 grams saffron threads secondary

 

[sfrisby]

The first thing I would suggest is for a 2.5 gallon batch, assuming you are able to bottle a full 2.5 gallons, you only yield 26 bottles. At 3 bottles per person even if you don't want any of your own beer, you will need 33 bottles.

 

[Piratwolf]

You make an excellent point, sfrisby!

In fact, now that I think about it a little more, I may brew 10gal of the base wort and then split the batch to ferment with different yeasts. Depending on the outcome, I send 3 bottles each of the best batch OR one bottle of each type. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking Trappist (wlp500), French Saison (Wy3711), and an Abbey version (not sure which).

Do the participants have any preference? Anyone see problems with this?

 

[sfrisby]

I will be doing something similar. I brew a gingerbread porter every year. With needing a second batch for this, I intend to experiment a little and mix and match to everyone.

Also Pirate, if you have access to BYO, the most recent has a big article on Tripples that may interest you.

 

[Piratwolf]

I will be doing something similar. I brew a gingerbread porter every year. With needing a second batch for this, I intend to experiment a little and mix and match to everyone.

Also Pirate, if you have access to BYO, the most recent has a big article on Tripples that may interest you.

Thanks, sfrisby! I'll check it out.

 

[Draygon]

Brewing the spiced bourbon stout base today, have all the spices needed for it. Have to still buy the vodka and bourbon to mix in as well. I am going to go with high quality for both, and add in a bit more bourbon than the recipe states.

 

[biochemedic]

Brewing the spiced bourbon stout base today, have all the spices needed for it. Have to still buy the vodka and bourbon to mix in as well. I am going to go with high quality for both, and add in a bit more bourbon than the recipe states.

I do a couple of beers (vanilla porter, rye pale ale) using bourbon soaked oak chips, and I would say that bourbon is a pretty readily recognized flavor in beer, at least to me. I'd add incrementally to be sure you don't overshoot what you're looking for in flavor.

We're still looking for a last brewer to do the Juniper Rye Bock.....

 

[biochemedic]

Also Pirate, if you have access to BYO, the most recent has a big article on Tripples that may interest you.

Oh, and also the book "Brew Like A Monk" is an awesome resource regarding Belgian brews...

 

[RedBeard1]

Been thinking about the Honey Ginger IPA.The recipe says to ad 2lbs of honey to the secondary. Adding sugar at that point would just restart fermentation. Why not just add it to the primary?