12 Beers of Christmas 2020 Edition

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@TBC I'm going to drop out. Haven't had overtime in 6 months and it doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon. Rather drop out now then later. I'm going to brew the beer and bottle it anyway. Maybe fortune will favor the foolish by the end of the year.
 
I think I've lost the plot a little. How many open slots are there now which still need to be filled? Does anyone have a current count?
 
@Yeroc I believe this is correct.

Here is the list of Beers:

GROUP 1 (East Coast)

1) Caramel Quadruple @passedpawn
2) Spiced Cherry Dubbel @CaddyWampus
3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock @imasickboy
4) Juniper Rye Bock @jack13
5) Fruitcake Old Ale. @Hoppy2bmerry
6) Saffron Tripel @HopHeavy
7) Christmas Gruit @j1laskey
8) Honey Ginger IPA @CarLock Brewing
9) Crabapple Lambicky Ale @TBC
10) Gingerbread Ale @satph
11) Spiced Bourbon Stout @wstbrewing
12) Abbey Weizen @fourfarthing


GROUP 2 (West Coast)

1) Caramel Quadruple @jerbrew
2) Spiced Cherry Dubbel
3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock @grampamark
4) Juniper Rye Bock
5) Fruitcake Old Ale @Yeroc
6) Saffron Tripel
7) Christmas Gruit @yoop89
8) Honey Ginger IPA
9) Crabapple Lambicky Ale
10) Gingerbread Ale
11) Spiced Bourbon Stout @gunhaus
12) Abbey Weizen @TwistedGray
 
PianoMan said:
@TBC I'm going to drop out. Haven't had overtime in 6 months and it doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon. Rather drop out now then later. I'm going to brew the beer and bottle it anyway. Maybe fortune will favor the foolish by the end of the year.
Click to expand...
No problem buddy. Thanks for the heads up.
 
Wow, the West Coast group needs more participation. I hope more brews happen across this thread and don't just assume all the slots are filled (since it's filled up so fast over the last few years).

TBC said:
@Yeroc I believe this is correct.

Here is the list of Beers:

GROUP 1 (East Coast)

1) Caramel Quadruple @passedpawn
2) Spiced Cherry Dubbel @CaddyWampus
3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock @imasickboy
4) Juniper Rye Bock @jack13
5) Fruitcake Old Ale. @Hoppy2bmerry
6) Saffron Tripel @HopHeavy
7) Christmas Gruit @j1laskey
8) Honey Ginger IPA @CarLock Brewing
9) Crabapple Lambicky Ale @TBC
10) Gingerbread Ale @satph
11) Spiced Bourbon Stout @wstbrewing
12) Abbey Weizen @fourfarthing


GROUP 2 (West Coast)

1) Caramel Quadruple @jerbrew
2) Spiced Cherry Dubbel
3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock @grampamark
4) Juniper Rye Bock
5) Fruitcake Old Ale @Yeroc
6) Saffron Tripel
7) Christmas Gruit @yoop89
8) Honey Ginger IPA
9) Crabapple Lambicky Ale
10) Gingerbread Ale
11) Spiced Bourbon Stout @gunhaus
12) Abbey Weizen @TwistedGray
Click to expand...
 
Bump this up! There’s still a few more openings if anyone is interested. See the group 2 list below.

Here is the list of Beers:

GROUP 1 (East Coast)

1) Caramel Quadruple @passedpawn
2) Spiced Cherry Dubbel @CaddyWampus
3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock @imasickboy
4) Juniper Rye Bock @jack13
5) Fruitcake Old Ale. @Hoppy2bmerry
6) Saffron Tripel @HopHeavy
7) Christmas Gruit @j1laskey
8) Honey Ginger IPA @CarLock Brewing
9) Crabapple Lambicky Ale @TBC
10) Gingerbread Ale @satph
11) Spiced Bourbon Stout @wstbrewing
12) Abbey Weizen @fourfarthing


GROUP 2 (West Coast)

1) Caramel Quadruple @jerbrew
2) Spiced Cherry Dubbel
3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock @grampamark
4) Juniper Rye Bock
5) Fruitcake Old Ale @Yeroc
6) Saffron Tripel
7) Christmas Gruit @yoop89
8) Honey Ginger IPA
9) Crabapple Lambicky Ale
10) Gingerbread Ale @Ultryx
11) Spiced Bourbon Stout @gunhaus
12) Abbey Weizen @TwistedGray
 
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East Coast Caramel Quad is getting kegged this weekend. Been cold-crashing for a few days now. Gravity sample tastes great!

Came in at 8.7% (OG = 1.077, FG = 1.012). I was expecting a higher OG and was thinking about adding some DME to the fermentor, but never did it.

I'll get it carbonated and cleared and in a few weeks I'll post a pic of the final product in a glass. Then, bottling and aging in boxes. Woot. I'm not one to "age" beers, but the high-ABV ones seem to do OK with it. One of my best beers every was a scotch ale that spent 2 yrs in boxes.
 
I will be starting the East Fruit cake old ale as soon as I’m ready to package a wee heavy I have finishing up right now. Half the yeast from that will make a big healthy pitch for the old ale.
 
Also going to brew up a test batch of the christmas gruit this weekend to see how it ages! Lets get the west coast group filled up!
 
Just found this thread and became a Supporting Member to show I'm serious about participating. I'm new to the swaps and stuff, but would really like to share in activities like this.

I'd like to offer to brew the Group 2 (West Coast) #10 Gingerbread Ale.

If I'm still too new I'd be happy to wait and see if this second group fills...
 
West coast needs to get filled up. Maybe one of you west coasters should do a trade with Ultryx and get him locked in!

I think we should do a roll call / check-in so we can replace any dropouts--we lost a lot of people last year. A bunch of members have their profiles set so you can't see when they were last


I mixed up some tinctures for the East Coast Gingerbread Ale. From left to right: ginger, fenugreek and cinnamon/clove/nutmeg. Started with all whole spices and cracked them. I didn't get a picture of the vanilla extract.

I plan on brewing a brown ale with 100% maple sap tomorrow (no additional water added). I will add the extracts at bottling time and prime with maple syrup.

DSC_1811.JPG
 
satph said:
I plan on brewing a brown ale with 100% maple sap tomorrow (no additional water added). I will add the extracts at bottling time and prime with maple syrup.

View attachment 669848
Click to expand...

Maple sap. Cool. What’s the starting gravity of the sap? Did you tap the trees yourself or source the sap? What an interesting idea.
 
Yeroc said:
Maple sap. Cool. What’s the starting gravity of the sap? Did you tap the trees yourself or source the sap? What an interesting idea.
Click to expand...

I tap two trees each spring. You need to boil about 40 gallons of sap at 1 to 2% sugar down to 66% sugar to make syrup. So about 1.010. The sap itself doesn’t add much flavor, I have some other plans to add maple flavors to the gingerbread.

Chilled and in the fermenter.

F0E5A09B-B1EC-4A96-8F1F-CEA1CBC54DF2.jpeg
 
satph said:
West coast needs to get filled up. Maybe one of you west coasters should do a trade with Ultryx and get him locked in!

I think we should do a roll call / check-in so we can replace any dropouts--we lost a lot of people last year. A bunch of members have their profiles set so you can't see when they were last


I mixed up some tinctures for the East Coast Gingerbread Ale. From left to right: ginger, fenugreek and cinnamon/clove/nutmeg. Started with all whole spices and cracked them. I didn't get a picture of the vanilla extract.

I plan on brewing a brown ale with 100% maple sap tomorrow (no additional water added). I will add the extracts at bottling time and prime with maple syrup.

View attachment 669848
Click to expand...

I hope some people come in to fill the rest of the West Coast group. This seems like a really fun collection of beers to swap around! If someone wants to swap a few beers to determine my eligibility I'm happy too (it would also be helpful to have some rep), but if not I'm still in this for sure!

I'm currently working on my recipe and deciding how I want to brew this.

Edit: Just saw @yoop89's message. PM incoming.
 
Bump this up! There’s still a few more openings if anyone is interested. See the group 2 list below.

Here is the list of Beers:

GROUP 1 (East Coast)

1) Caramel Quadruple @passedpawn
2) Spiced Cherry Dubbel @CaddyWampus
3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock @imasickboy
4) Juniper Rye Bock @jack13
5) Fruitcake Old Ale. @Hoppy2bmerry
6) Saffron Tripel @HopHeavy
7) Christmas Gruit @j1laskey
8) Honey Ginger IPA @CarLock Brewing
9) Crabapple Lambicky Ale @TBC
10) Gingerbread Ale @satph
11) Spiced Bourbon Stout @wstbrewing
12) Abbey Weizen @fourfarthing


GROUP 2 (West Coast)

1) Caramel Quadruple @jerbrew
2) Spiced Cherry Dubbel
3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock @grampamark
4) Juniper Rye Bock
5) Fruitcake Old Ale @Yeroc
6) Saffron Tripel
7) Christmas Gruit @yoop89
8) Honey Ginger IPA
9) Crabapple Lambicky Ale
10) Gingerbread Ale @Ultryx
11) Spiced Bourbon Stout @gunhaus
12) Abbey Weizen @TwistedGray
 
Bump this up! There’s still a few more openings if anyone is interested. See the group 2 list below.

Here is the list of Beers:

GROUP 1 (East Coast)

1) Caramel Quadruple @passedpawn
2) Spiced Cherry Dubbel @CaddyWampus
3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock @imasickboy
4) Juniper Rye Bock @jack13
5) Fruitcake Old Ale. @Hoppy2bmerry
6) Saffron Tripel @HopHeavy
7) Christmas Gruit @j1laskey
8) Honey Ginger IPA @CarLock Brewing
9) Crabapple Lambicky Ale @TBC
10) Gingerbread Ale @satph
11) Spiced Bourbon Stout @wstbrewing
12) Abbey Weizen @fourfarthing


GROUP 2 (West Coast)

1) Caramel Quadruple @jerbrew
2) Spiced Cherry Dubbel
3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock @grampamark
4) Juniper Rye Bock
5) Fruitcake Old Ale @Yeroc
6) Saffron Tripel
7) Christmas Gruit @yoop89
8) Honey Ginger IPA
9) Crabapple Lambicky Ale
10) Gingerbread Ale @Ultryx
11) Spiced Bourbon Stout @gunhaus
12) Abbey Weizen @TwistedGray
 
Caramel Quad ready for bottling. Came out just as expected, though the 8% ABV is lower than I planned. But the flavors are there. You'll see. One of the things that I love about Belgian yeasts is that they will make a relatively high ABV beer seem very drinkable, not cloying or boozy. Danger! In Belgium them call this "digestible".

I was thinking about adding an oatmeal and raisin component to this (I have natural extracts to do just that), but I thought it would end up hiding the belgian flavor from the yeast.

Here's a picture from my grill platform (I'm smoking a turkey out there :) )

upload_2020-3-22_12-58-0.png
 
Got some frozen cherries to hopefully rack the dubbel on to some time today. The only cherries I could find were sweet cherries so I am thinking about adding a bottle of tart cherry juice also.
 
CaddyWampus said:
Got some frozen cherries to hopefully rack the dubbel on to some time today. The only cherries I could find were sweet cherries so I am thinking about adding a bottle of tart cherry juice also.
Click to expand...

IMO sweet cherries are better. It won't stay sweet. I think the Montmercey / tart berries make it too tart - at least my experience. I'm guessing the use of tarts comes out of the baking / cooking world, but they don't have do deal with yeast eating all the sugars.

(I could be wrong, but I used sweet cherry juice on trial 2 and it turned out better than the trial 1 with the tart).
 
passedpawn said:
IMO sweet cherries are better. It won't stay sweet. I think the Montmercey / tart berries make it too tart - at least my experience. I'm guessing the use of tarts comes out of the baking / cooking world, but they don't have do deal with yeast eating all the sugars.

(I could be wrong, but I used sweet cherry juice on trial 2 and it turned out better than the trial 1 with the tart).
Click to expand...

Did you use fruit and juice? I also have a couple bottles of black cherry juice that I’m assuming is sweeter than tart juice. I might try one of those then and see how it goes. Thanks for the tip!
 
CaddyWampus said:
Did you use fruit and juice? I also have a couple bottles of black cherry juice that I’m assuming is sweeter than tart juice. I might try one of those then and see how it goes. Thanks for the tip!
Click to expand...

Yea I used sweet cherry juice on trial 2. Trial 1, I used those oregon canned tart cherries. Perhaps I used too much. I think I dumped trial 1 - just too tart to drink. Good luck.
 
Racked my dubbel on to 2lbs (2.5 gallon batch) of dark sweet cherries this evening. I took a sample before racking and it attenuated down to 1.008. A good bit lower than expected, but the hydrometer sample tasted very good.

My goal was to ferment in the house where ambient would be at least 70f, but we had a cold snap come through right at peak fermentation so ambient got down to the mid 60s. The stick on thermometer showed around 72 at the most active time. I know a sample of still green Belgian beer may not be the best indicator, but I’m concerned I didn’t quite get the Belgian character I was going for. That’s why this is a test batch though!

Adjustments.JPG
 
02498153-3C94-4CFC-BF10-F9513C135233.jpeg

Fruitcake ale is in process. I’m contemplating making a pecan addition probably a tincture, is anyone on the East coast list allergic to tree nuts or peanuts since most packages warn about processing contamination? If so, I will nix this idea.
 
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