12 Beers of Christmas - 2023 Edition

[kwilson16]

If you don't think 1 drop is strong enough post-fermentation, you can add another drop or two before bottling/kegging. But you can't take it back if it's too much.

True dat.

Working on label related to St Barbara's Feast Day and the Belgian/German tradition of cutting a cherry branch for the Christmas season starting on Dec 4th. She is also the patron saint of cannons and men that work with explosives.

 

[shetc]

Super excited about making the Spiced Cherry Dubbel!

The local orchard has "You Pick" cherries this weekend (sour and sweet).

The recipe blows past the Dubbel style guidelines. Randy Mosher says to add "a drop (no more!) of almond extract for extra depth" but does he mean to add one drop per glass? One drop doesn't seem like it would have any effect in 5 gallons. Thoughts?

View attachment 823189

Email Randy and ask him about the extract - he's happy to help.

 

[kwilson16]

Sent

"Hi Randy,

Thanks for your contributions to this great hobby! I am working on a recipe and a label for the your Cherry Spiced Dubbel to participate in the 12 Beers of Christmas 2023 on HomebrewTalk.com. I picked the St Barbara's theme because there is a Belgian/German tradition of cutting a cherry limb to start the holiday season on December 4th. She is also the patron saint of cannons and explosives. I substituted the hop profile (Styrian Goldings/Saaz) from your tripel. I had a few questions:

1) When you specify one drop of almond extract, is that per 5 gallon batch? That seems like a very small amount.

2) Is the almond instead of leaving the cherry pits in during fermentation?

3) I assume the finishing gravity will land a little higher. Maybe 1.025? Any other advice?

Here's the link to this year's effort:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/12-beers-of-christmas-2023-edition.725302/
Thanks again!"

 

[jerbrew]

Sent

"Hi Randy,

Thanks for your contributions to this great hobby! I am working on a recipe and a label for the your Cherry Spiced Dubbel to participate in the 12 Beers of Christmas 2023 on HomebrewTalk.com. I picked the St Barbara's theme because there is a Belgian/German tradition of cutting a cherry limb to start the holiday season on December 4th. She is also the patron saint of cannons and explosives. I substituted the hop profile (Styrian Goldings/Saaz) from your tripel. I had a few questions:

1) When you specify one drop of almond extract, is that per 5 gallon batch? That seems like a very small amount.

2) Is the almond instead of leaving the cherry pits in during fermentation?

3) I assume the finishing gravity will land a little higher. Maybe 1.025? Any other advice?

Here's the link to this year's effort:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/12-beers-of-christmas-2023-edition.725302/
Thanks again!"

Dude, I love this. I have sent out requests for advice from two breweries and have been taken aback at the transparency and helpfulness. One of them straight up sent me the recipe to the beer I was trying to duplicate and asking for advice.

 

[4_Sons_Brewing]

Clearly need to step up my label game.

 

[thetick]

Clearly need to step up my label game.

You and me both. Now I have a feeling of label inadequacy that I have to rectify by Thanksgiving!

 

[shetc]

I'm having a hoot using Microsoft Image Creater

 

[shetc]

Let the lagering begin.

 

[kwilson16]

Hand-picked some cherries this past weekend for the Spiced Chery Dubbel. I had never seen yellow cherries before, but they are delicious (very sweet). Dark reds are regular sweet cherries and the bright red are sours. Did some Market Research at Jessop's Tavern in Old New Castle, DE (Restaurant & Bar in New Castle, DE | Jessop’s Tavern) by drinking some Delerium Red.

 

[shetc]

Hand-picked some cherries this past weekend for the Spiced Chery Dubbel. I had never seen yellow cherries before, but they are delicious (very sweet). Dark reds are regular sweet cherries and the bright red are sours. Did some Market Research at Jessop's Tavern in Old New Castle, DE (Restaurant & Bar in New Castle, DE | Jessop’s Tavern) by drinking some Delerium Red.

I'm glad you picked that recipe, and that you have access to the required cherries. I thought about it but didn't think I could find the fruit. Looking forward to trying your brew.

 

[kwilson16]

Let the lagering begin. View attachment 823636

shetc,
This picture was so helpful. I have been experimenting with some no-oxygen transfers and I really didnt want to connect my CO2 bottle to the top of my fermenter because I can never get the pressure low enough on the regulator. But, I Just looked at how you connect the top of the keg with the top of the fermenter with two grey (gas) connectors. Sometimes, the simplest answers are the most brilliant. Thanks!

 

[passedpawn]

shetc,
This picture was so helpful. I have been experimenting with some no-oxygen transfers and I really didnt want to connect my CO2 bottle to the top of my fermenter because I can never get the pressure low enough on the regulator. But, I Just looked at how you connect the top of the keg with the top of the fermenter with two grey (gas) connectors. Sometimes, the simplest answers are the most brilliant. Thanks!

Before you do that, ideally you fill the keg with sanitizer (e.g., starsan solution), then push that sanitizer out with co2. That ensures a) they keg is sanitized, and b) it's full of 100% CO2 before you begin the transfer from the fermentor.

 

[shetc]

Before you do that, ideally you fill the keg with sanitizer (e.g., starsan solution), then push that sanitizer out with co2. That ensures a) they keg is sanitized, and b) it's full of 100% CO2 before you begin the transfer from the fermentor.

 

[passedpawn]

you can do 4 at a time lol. Fill the first keg with sanitizer, connect the rest in serial, let it rip. Eventually, the last one will blow the sanitizer. When the last one is done blowing liquid, remove everything. Booom - four sanitized kegs full of CO2.

 

[passedpawn]

Gruit to keg. Tasted awesome.

 

[passedpawn]

... and, to glass. First try from keg with picnic tap, it's a keeper. None of the various spices I added are overwhelming. I can taste some of them - anise for sure.
Naming and label coming up next. Won't bother bottling until November.

1. 16 SRM
2. 8.8% ABV

 

[shetc]

I, too, decided to try an early sample of the Juniper Rye Bock. Kinda on the sweet side, which I assume is due to the amount of crystal malt. Rye and juniper are not overwhelming but not fully integrated yet - I hope lagering helps with that issue.

 

[GoodTimeCharlie]

I missed this year’s announcement but I had a great experience last year. Looking forward to continue reading about this year’s lineup/exploits. Please keep me in mind for 2024.

 

[mjdonnelly68]

... and, to glass. First try from keg with picnic tap, it's a keeper. None of the various spices I added are overwhelming. I can taste some of them - anise for sure.
Naming and label coming up next. Won't bother bottling until November.

1. 16 SRM
2. 8.8% ABV

View attachment 824624

Looks tasty.

 

[4_Sons_Brewing]

@GoodTimeCharlie We have one beer left if you’re interested…

 

[GoodTimeCharlie]

I thought it was claimed. Do I have enough time? If so, I’ll take it

 

[shetc]

I thought it was claimed. Do I have enough time? If so, I’ll take it

It's the Saffron Tripel so you have plenty of time.

 

[4_Sons_Brewing]

@kwilson16 ’s club was going to take the saffron triple if we had no takers.

@kwilson16 - has your club brewed this?

If not, any issues with @GoodTimeCharlie taking it on?

Thanks!

 

[mjdonnelly68]

Good morning all. Brewed my entry for the 2023 12 Beers of Christmas this weekend (the Spiced Dunkle Weizenbock). Decided to go all in on the "Christmas in July" theme for the brewery. It was all Christmas all the time in the third bay.

Pulled out a few of my favorite Christmas LPs to provide the atmospherics. Made for a delightful brew day and attracted a few curious neighbors as an added bonus. Good times.

Brew day went swimmingly. Hit the recipe right in the numbers and the spices at the end of the boil had the whole garage smelling like elf farts (in a good way).

Speaking of elf farts, I've been burned one too many times by spice additions in the boil, so I dialed back Randy's recommendations a bit. Hydrometer sample proved that the wort is still plenty spicy (with the caraway seeds surprisingly in the lead). Plan on having a tincture on hand at kegging to adjust to taste using the tried and true three sample/average out/scale up model of flavor additions.

Since this is a bigger beer I did a step starter for the Belgian Abbey II yeast (WY1762) so I had a nice slurry of healthy yeast. I must have been a good boy this year because the fermentation took off like a shot. Within the first 12 hours I had to switch from an airlock to a blow-off tube on my fermenter. First time I've ever had a 6g batch max out my 30L Speidel and it's still bubbling away frantically on day three - epic.

All in all an excellent brew day. Very interested to see how this beer turns out and equally excited to share it with the group.

 

[kwilson16]

@kwilson16 ’s club was going to take the saffron triple if we had no takers.

@kwilson16 - has your club brewed this?

If not, any issues with @GoodTimeCharlie taking it on?

Thanks!

Take it, @GoodTimeCharlie! We have not brewed it. So lucky. I was headed to Lancaster Homebrew today to get the ingredients.

 

[4_Sons_Brewing]

Thanks for the reply @kwilson16

@GoodTimeCharlie - please confirm you're in and we'll lock down the 12!

 

[GoodTimeCharlie]

I’m in.

Awesome. Should be fun. Did the fruit cake old ale last year.

 

[shetc]

Good morning all. Brewed my entry for the 2023 12 Beers of Christmas this weekend (the Spiced Dunkle Weizenbock). Decided to go all in on the "Christmas in July" theme for the brewery. It was all Christmas all the time in the third bay.

Pulled out a few of my favorite Christmas LPs to provide the atmospherics. Made for a delightful brew day and attracted a few curious neighbors as an added bonus. Good times.

Brew day went swimmingly. Hit the recipe right in the numbers and the spices at the end of the boil had the whole garage smelling like elf farts (in a good way).

Speaking of elf farts, I've been burned one too many times by spice additions in the boil, so I dialed back Randy's recommendations a bit. Hydrometer sample proved that the wort is still plenty spicy (with the caraway seeds surprisingly in the lead). Plan on having a tincture on hand at kegging to adjust to taste using the tried and true three sample/average out/scale up model of flavor additions.

Since this is a bigger beer I did a step starter for the Belgian Abbey II yeast (WY1762) so I had a nice slurry of healthy yeast. I must have been a good boy this year because the fermentation took off like a shot. Within the first 12 hours I had to switch from an airlock to a blow-off tube on my fermenter. First time I've ever had a 6g batch max out my 30L Speidel and it's still bubbling away frantically on day three - epic.

All in all an excellent brew day. Very interested to see how this beer turns out and equally excited to share it with the group.

View attachment 824971

I got a good laugh from this message as my wife insists on watching HGTV Christmas in July

 

[mjdonnelly68]

I got a good laugh from this message as my wife insists on watching HGTV Christmas in July

I still prefer 'Halfway to St. Patrick's Day' but 'Christmas in July' has its charms.

 

[Beekeeper]

you can do 4 at a time lol. Fill the first keg with sanitizer, connect the rest in serial, let it rip. Eventually, the last one will blow the sanitizer. When the last one is done blowing liquid, remove everything. Booom - four sanitized kegs full of CO2.

View attachment 823745

Can you 'splain this to me, 'cause I am having a difficult time understanding how to do this.
Assuming that the 1st keg is full of sanitizer, the incoming gas will push its liquid out into the 2nd, but if that enters the 2nd keg on the gas-in post, the keg will contain only a small amount before spitting it out of the liquid out tube, and only sanitize the bottom of the bowl. If instead it enters the 2nd on its liquid post, then the second key will fill with liquid sanitizer (Good!) but will fill with the 5 gallons of the first before blowing gas. How can you get a cascade to function beyond 1 downstream keg?

 

[passedpawn]

Can you 'splain this to me, 'cause I am having a difficult time understanding how to do this.
Assuming that the 1st keg is full of sanitizer, the incoming gas will push its liquid out into the 2nd, but if that enters the 2nd keg on the gas-in post, the keg will contain only a small amount before spitting it out of the liquid out tube, and only sanitize the bottom of the bowl. If instead it enters the 2nd on its liquid post, then the second key will fill with liquid sanitizer (Good!) but will fill with the 5 gallons of the first before blowing gas. How can you get a cascade to function beyond 1 downstream keg?

hmm, I see what you're saying. Let me look into it this weekend (if I remember haha). I feel pretty certain it worked, as it took at least a minute or two before it started spitting out the last keg. It's possible I've been lying to myself, wouldn't be the first time.

Anyway, you can see the color of the disconnects there - white is gas, black is liquid. So you can see how I had them sequenced.

 

[Beekeeper]

hmm, I see what you're saying. Let me look into it this weekend (if I remember haha). I feel pretty certain it worked, as it took at least a minute or two before it started spitting out the last keg. It's possible I've been lying to myself, wouldn't be the first time.

Anyway, you can see the color of the disconnects there - white is gas, black is liquid. So you can see how I had them sequenced.

It's a rarity for me to have a few idle kegs at one time, and this week I do, so I had been wondering about how to save some steps. Thanks.

 

[shetc]

I, too, decided to try an early sample of the Juniper Rye Bock. Kinda on the sweet side, which I assume is due to the amount of crystal malt. Rye and juniper are not overwhelming but not fully integrated yet - I hope lagering helps with that issue.
View attachment 824675

Ooh, it's integrated now

 

[kwilson16]

Today was brew day for the Spiced Cherry Dubbel (aka St Barbara's Cherry Dubbel). I decreased the hops to ~22 IBU because 30 IBU seemed like it might clash with the cinnamon and cherries. I also used Styrian (Celeia) and Saaz on the late side instead of the recommend (Northern Brewer) for 60 minutes. My final gravity after adding the jaggery sugar at the end of the boil was 1.077. Beersmith predicts that the 10lbs of sweet/sour cherries will take the OG to a whopping 1.141, but I am not sure that I believe all of those cherry sugars will be fermented and I am not sure that I will ever know!

 

[kwilson16]

hmm, I see what you're saying. Let me look into it this weekend (if I remember haha). I feel pretty certain it worked, as it took at least a minute or two before it started spitting out the last keg. It's possible I've been lying to myself, wouldn't be the first time.

Anyway, you can see the color of the disconnects there - white is gas, black is liquid. So you can see how I had them sequenced.

I think it would work as long as you don't connect all the kegs at once. In other words, don't connect the third keg until the second is full of sanitizer and so on...

 

[mjdonnelly68]

Today was brew day for the Spiced Cherry Dubbel (aka St Barbara's Cherry Dubbel). I decreased the hops to ~22 IBU because 30 IBU seemed like it might clash with the cinnamon and cherries. I also used Styrian (Celeia) and Saaz on the late side instead of the recommend (Northern Brewer) for 60 minutes. My final gravity after adding the jaggery sugar at the end of the boil was 1.077. Beersmith predicts that the 10lbs of sweet/sour cherries will take the OG to a whopping 1.141, but I am not sure that I believe all of those cherry sugars will be fermented and I am not sure that I will ever know!

View attachment 826467

10lbs of Cherries - holy cow. I have fond memories of de-pitting 1lb of cherries a few years ago for a beer. Better pack a lunch!

 

[kwilson16]

10lbs of Cherries - holy cow. I have fond memories of de-pitting 1lb of cherries a few years ago for a beer. Better pack a lunch!

This cherry pitter has good reviews. Might be worth a shot.

Limited-time deal: Ordekcity Cherry Pitter Tool Cherries Corer Pitter Tool Stainless Steel Fruit Pit Remover for Cherry Jam with Lock Design https://a.co/d/9auyeqi

I want the cherry “meat” exposed anyway. I might try the sous vide method for pasteurizing the cherries after I pit them.

 

[shetc]

This cherry pitter has good reviews. Might be worth a shot.

Limited-time deal: Ordekcity Cherry Pitter Tool Cherries Corer Pitter Tool Stainless Steel Fruit Pit Remover for Cherry Jam with Lock Design https://a.co/d/9auyeqi

I want the cherry “meat” exposed anyway. I might try the sous vide method for pasteurizing the cherries after I pit them.

On the last few episodes of Basic Brewing, the hosts have been experimenting with a steam juicer to produce juice for brewing. I'm not sure if it applies to your recipe but it seems like a nifty way to extract flavor from fruits and veggies. A couple of more platelet donations and I'll have enough Amazon gift cards to get one

 

[hilljack13]

Just ran across this looking at "Similar threads" below. Any issues with limited experience for 2024? I like this bit of comradery and with being retired next year I would have plenty of time to practice brew one.

 

[kwilson16]

Just ran across this looking at "Similar threads" below. Any issues with limited experience for 2024? I like this bit of comradery and with being retired next year I would have plenty of time to practice brew one.

Welcome! Its not my project, but I got no issues with your participating this or next year. Maybe someone is close enough to you geographically that you could brew with them?