Winter Seasonal Beer Christmas Ale (Great Lakes Clone)

[bmock79]

Thanks for the replies fellas!

 

[Q2XL]

This marked my 70th beer brewed. And it tastes great!!! A bit thin in the mouthfeel but very tasty indeed. And at almost 9% for my brew, I am sure this will warm up the holidays enough for everyone to get along.

 

[ronstar55]

I brewed this on 10/21. I put honey in the boil, but not cinnamon or ginger.

Moved to secondary 11/4, added cinnamon sticks and ginger and wanted to add some more honey. But the honey I had left had turned solid, So I mixed it with water and microwaved it a bit. Then I thought that I might have diluted the batch with the watered down honey so I added a little Amber dme (without boiling).

When I put it in the secondary, I started getting airlock activity that lasted several days. After airlock activity stopped, I put the carboy outside to cold crash on 11/15. I bottled on 11/18.

Put a bottle in the fridge this morning 12/2 and tasted. Tastes great but very little carbonation after 2 weeks. I normally keg, so the cold crashing does not affect carbonation. But I read here that cold crashing can hinder carbonation when bottling because the priming sugar needs yeast to carbonate, and the yeast has been killed by the cold crash. Oh well - hopefully this will carb up ok in another 3 weeks.

 

[Q2XL]

Put a bottle in the fridge this morning 12/2 and tasted. Tastes great but very little carbonation after 2 weeks.

The same thing happened to mine recently. I had it bottled and tried it after about 2.5 weeks and very little carbonation...this never happened to me before. So, I brought it upstairs where it is a bit warmer 70-72F and gently swirled the bottles. I opened one today and was perfectly caronated. So, for me it took about 5 weeks to carb up. The warmer temps and swirling did the trick.

 

[Diesel48]

Are people fermenting this beer with the ginger in it? I added the cinnamon sticks and ginger at the end of boil. I poured the entire thing in to my fermenter and let it sit for 4 weeks. We then bottled and let it carb up. It has been carbonating for a few weeks, a little colder than normal so it has a bit to go yet. The beer really taste like ginger. Just wonder if I should have put the ginger in at a different time. I am sure it will fade with age but curious to what others have done.

 

[two_hearted]

Are people fermenting this beer with the ginger in it? I added the cinnamon sticks and ginger at the end of boil. I poured the entire thing in to my fermenter and let it sit for 4 weeks. We then bottled and let it carb up. It has been carbonating for a few weeks, a little colder than normal so it has a bit to go yet. The beer really taste like ginger. Just wonder if I should have put the ginger in at a different time. I am sure it will fade with age but curious to what others have done.

That's the way I do it. Did you grate your ginger or chop it up? It should smooth out with a little age. You can also add your spices in secondary if you want. I'm not sure the best way, but they all seem to work differently.

I like adding them at flameout, that way I can add more in secondary if it doesn't come through enough.

 

[two_hearted]

This marked my 70th beer brewed. And it tastes great!!! A bit thin in the mouthfeel but very tasty indeed. And at almost 9% for my brew, I am sure this will warm up the holidays enough for everyone to get along.

Wow, 70! Congrats, I'm glad you like it.

 

[Diesel48]

Cut the fresh ginger into slices until we had 2oz of it. I typically do not secondary my beers. I did add it at flame out.

 

[two_hearted]

Cut the fresh ginger into slices until we had 2oz of it. I typically do not secondary my beers. I did add it at flame out.

Nice. This first time I used ginger I grated 2 oz... PITA if you ask me. I only use secondary if I'm adding things like spices, fruit, wood.

 

[Trophy_Brew21]

This is the recipe that I used (Great Lakes Christmas Ale Clone) Any suggestions, i only had in primary fermentor for 2 weeks, and bottled just a couple of days ago. Has anybody here tried this recipe? Thanks

 

[davepeds]

any reason not to keg this? bottling is for the birds

 

[itsmillertime]

Thanks for the recipe. Can't wait to try this one. I get my supplies from Midwest Supplies online.

 

[two_hearted]

any reason not to keg this? bottling is for the birds

I can't think of one. Unless you're giving bottles away as Christmas gifts.

 

[Shinglejohn]

any reason not to keg this? bottling is for the birds

I keg It.

 

[pannell77]

I bottled mine to let them sit for awhile and let some of the flavors blend together a little better, I also brewed this in July and wanted to save it until winter time and not take over one of my kegs.

 

[Fuzzy_Ninja]

Brewed this last night. It was my first all grain brew. Pretty happy everything worked out well. OG came in a bit higher at 1.080.

 

[pannell77]

update on how mine turned out...not so much a great lakes clone, but it tastes spot on like the new Southern Tier 2Xmas

 

[jamieofthenorth]

Just got the ingredients for this and will be brewing it tomorrow. Thanks for posting the recipe, can't wait to try it.

 

[itsme6582]

I was very impressed with this recipe last year. I don't know that my effort was a great clone but it definitely strongly resembled Christmas Ale. One thing to keep in mind is Great Lakes pumps this stuff out like crazy and the flavor is very different when it's fresh. As it ages the spices mellow out significantly. I always keep a six pack of Great Lakes for Christmas in July and it's nearly a different beer after aging for 6+ months. This will happen with your batch too. You might even notice a difference between a brand new batch and a batch that is only a few weeks older.

 

[jamieofthenorth]

Cool. Looking forward to it being ready. Brewed it multi-rest and it went really well. OG of 1.062. Pretty stoked.

 

[jamieofthenorth]

Bottled it this evening. OG = 1.062, FG = 1.012. Gave it a taste and I can tell this one is going to be awesome! Thanks again for the recipe. Really excited for this one to be ready and bottles to friends/family will be a greats present to give.

 

[jamieofthenorth]

Gave it a test after bottling for almost two weeks and while I'm new to all grain, I can tell this is seriously one of the best I've brewed to date. The only thing that sucks is that I was planning on giving away quite a few of these for Christmas presents.

 

[two_hearted]

Gave it a test after bottling for almost two weeks and while I'm new to all grain, I can tell this is seriously one of the best I've brewed to date. The only thing that sucks is that I was planning on giving away quite a few of these for Christmas presents.

Awesome! You can always brew it again!

 

[SpottedDogBrewing]

Brewed this on Saturday! Smelt great!

 

[lead13foot]

Recipe update for Fall 2011!

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 1028 or WLP013
Yeast Starter: Basic
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.072
Final Gravity: 1.018
IBU: ~30
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: ~15
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14
Tasting Notes:

Christmas Ale (Great Lakes)
21-B Seasonal/Winter Specialty Spiced Beer

http://www.beertools.com/

Original Gravity: 1.072 (1.026 - 1.120)
|===============#================|
Terminal Gravity: 1.018 (0.995 - 1.035)
|=================#==============|
Color: 14.71 (1.0 - 50.0)
|============#===================|
Alcohol: 7.09% (2.5% - 14.5%)
|==============#=================|
Bitterness: 28.6 (0.0 - 100.0)
|============#===================|

Ingredients:
12 lb 2-Row Brewers Malt
1 lb White Wheat
1 lb Crystal Malt 40°L
.25 lb Special Roast Malt
.15 lb Roasted Barley

1.5 oz Hallertau (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
.5 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
.5 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 5 min

1.0 lb Honey @ flameout
2 ea Cinnamon (stick) - add at flameout
2 oz Ginger (fresh) - add at flameout

Mash at 154 for 60min

Taste your hydro samples and evaluate spice character. You can toss a few cinnamon sticks and a few teaspoons of fresh ginger in secondary if you need a boost.

Mash at 154 for 60 min.

Don t have this in Virginia and was very excited to see your recipe after trying some in Ohio over Xmas time. Thanks for posting.

 

[SpottedDogBrewing]

Here is my attempt at the Christmas Ale! 9.4% maybe a little to much ginger flava! But delicious

 

[Powerturn11]

Would you go a little lighter on the ginger or did you add more than the recommend? I don't love ginger so I might dial it back a little bit anyways.

 

[DonnieZ]

Brewing this up this weekend. I have the grist, but I'm wondering if I should use a little more bittering hops. Maybe another half ounce of Hallertau?

Also, has anyone found 2 ounces of ginger to be too much? If so, how is your ginger cut/prepared? I would imagine throwing a 2 ounce chunk in won't give as much ginger character as if you thinly sliced or minced two ounces.

One more question.. Is everyone leaving the Cinnamon and ginger in from knockout to bottling?

I'm very excited about this one. The first non IPA I've brewed in a while, the first AG I'm going straight to bottle, and the first specialty beer I've ever brewed. Never had GLCA but this sounds delicious.

 

[two_hearted]

Brewing this up this weekend. I have the grist, but I'm wondering if I should use a little more bittering hops. Maybe another half ounce of Hallertau?

Also, has anyone found 2 ounces of ginger to be too much? If so, how is your ginger cut/prepared? I would imagine throwing a 2 ounce chunk in won't give as much ginger character as if you thinly sliced or minced two ounces.

One more question.. Is everyone leaving the Cinnamon and ginger in from knockout to bottling?

I'm very excited about this one. The first non IPA I've brewed in a while, the first AG I'm going straight to bottle, and the first specialty beer I've ever brewed. Never had GLCA but this sounds delicious.

There's been mixed results with the ginger. It can depend on the freshness and quality of what you buy. Time can heel too much, but erring on the side of less is always good. Its all about surface area. Grating it works...great, but can be a pain. You could also dice it up and throw it in.

In the other clone recipe thread of this beer, they are claiming that Great Lakes boils the spices for the full 60 minutes. I've not tried this. Time is your friend with the spices. You can always add more post fermentation if you're not getting what you want. Its harder if you over do it.

I do leave my cinnamon and ginger in during primary.

 

[two_hearted]

Don t have this in Virginia and was very excited to see your recipe after trying some in Ohio over Xmas time. Thanks for posting.

You're welcome! I hope you like it. I'm about to brew up a batch in the next week or so. Can't wait to smell the wort!