Eddiebosox
Well-Known Member
So I recently made a Christmas ale, specifically Austin Homebrews Winter ale (2 row, pale chocolate malt, de-bittered black malt, flaked barley, dry English ale yeast and some bittering hops). I screwed up my volumes and it ended up finishing with 6.5 gallons of 6.7 ABV instead of the 5 gallons of the 8.9 the original one was supposed to be. I just finished main fermentation and I tasted it. It's kind of boring. Tastes like a fairly bland porter to me.
But I see this as an opportunity. If anything, it is a blank canvas for me to start working on spice additions. I am thinking of splitting it into two batches and trying out different spice batches. I need advice. What works well for a fairly bitter, dark ale, that is very close to a porter. I have some great Madagascar vanilla beans I want to use, but what else? Cinnamon, clove? Maybe even some mole (not "christmasy" but I recently had a mole porter and was blown away)? But how much and for how long in the secondary? I know its a fairly broad question, but any ideas would be appreciated.
But I see this as an opportunity. If anything, it is a blank canvas for me to start working on spice additions. I am thinking of splitting it into two batches and trying out different spice batches. I need advice. What works well for a fairly bitter, dark ale, that is very close to a porter. I have some great Madagascar vanilla beans I want to use, but what else? Cinnamon, clove? Maybe even some mole (not "christmasy" but I recently had a mole porter and was blown away)? But how much and for how long in the secondary? I know its a fairly broad question, but any ideas would be appreciated.