Christmas Ale help

[ZehBaron]

This weekend I'm going to be brewing a Christmas beer, which will be a holiday spin on a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. This is my first time brewing with so many additives, so I'd really appreciate any suggestions or critiques you might have. Here's the recipe so far:

Ingredients
5# Pale 2-Row
2# Munich
1# Special B
.5# Caramunich
3.5# Extra Light DME
1# Light Candi Sugar
1.5 oz Sterling pellets
Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity

Additives
1# Dried Plums (Secondary- 5.0 days)
1# Fresh Plums, pitted (Secondary- 5.0 days)
1 Cinammon Stick (Secondary- 7.0 days)
.25 oz Nutmeg (Secondary- 7.0 days)
1/2 Vanilla Bean (Secondary- 7.0 days)


I'll be adding the candi sugar to primary when the beer is about 75% attenuated. The dried plums will go into a strainer bag at the beginning of secondary, and after 5 days I'll pull them out and add the fresh plums for another 5. Following that, the spices and the vanilla bean are all going in for a week, and then I'll rack to tertiary to clear and bulk age.


So, what do you think? Will this be a winter warmer with hints of Christmas dessert, or is it a bit of flavor overcrowding? And is there a better schedule that you'd recommend for the fruit and spices?

Thanks everyone! Cheers!

 

[ZehBaron]

*bump*


Nothing? Come on, I know the recipe's not perfect...

 

[bknifefight]

I question how much the plums will do to the beer. Using the Special B and 3787 will give you plenty of dark fruit flavor (plum, raisin...) But other than that it looks good. My christmas ales have been basically spiced brown ales, I bet it would be great as a Belgian.

 

[jthoresen]

My Christmas beer is a Weizen Rye with cranberries and spices. I use 1/2 pound of cranberries at flame out. If I were to use any more cranberries it would mask the other flavors.

 

[ZehBaron]

Thanks for the replies!


jthoresen, are those fresh cranberries? What's the OG on that Weizen Rye?



This is why I've been hesitant to start using fruit...the effect it'll have on the beer seems hard to predict.

 

[bknifefight]

Well, the "effect" I'm predicting for the plums is that they would go unnoticed and it would kind of be a waste. I've used fruit in dark Belgians before but it was tart cherries and they really compliment it.

 

[jthoresen]

Thanks for the replies!


jthoresen, are those fresh cranberries? What's the OG on that Weizen Rye?



This is why I've been hesitant to start using fruit...the effect it'll have on the beer seems hard to predict.

I use frozen cranberries, if I were to use fresh I'd freeze them to get the skin to break.

The OG is 1.074

 

[rockfish42]

Make sure your dried fruit isn't treated with sulfite that could give you some problems with fermentation. Also consider making a tincture with the dried fruit and spices and adding to taste at the end of fermentation and clearing.

 

[LexusChris]

I like the ideas of the plums in the secondary!

For the spices, they will be competing with the prune/dark fruit flavors. I would consider upping the spices a bit. They may get lost in there.

I think the cinnamon could be 2-3 sticks and in the last 30 mins of the boil. Maybe even with the nutmeg. The vanilla beans in the secondary could be 1-2 full beans....

Really depends on how much you want to notice the 'christmas dessert' character..

Should be a tasty beer either way! Good luck!
--LexusChris

 

[bknifefight]

I think 30 minutes in the boil will make the spices fade more than if there were less of them. I think 10 minutes is a pretty standard maximum boil for spices and still have them shine. It's better, in my opinion, to go lighter on the spices than have something that is really sharp tasting and have to let it fade. Try it this year with less and then if it isn't enough, you'll know to up them for your next batch.

 

[ZehBaron]

Well I found organic prunes at the grocery store, so that'll make things easier...I was worrying I might have to dry them myself:cross:.

I may up the spices the tiniest bit, but what's the advantage of putting them in the boil? I would think the action of boiling as well as primary ferrmentation would only drive off the spice aroma. That's why I'm inclined to drop them in secondary; it seems like I'm toying with less variables that way.



Thanks for the continued advice.

 

[Tread82]

My problem with putting spices in secondary is that when you've done it there's no going back. I like making an extract from vodka. But. If you're not going to do that, I like boiling them for 10-15 minutes. It seems to make the spices integrate better with the beer. It is really really easy to over-spice a beer, especially with a nice Belgian yeast that is already complex as is.

 

[LexusChris]

All very good suggestions... Less spice on your 1st try at a recipe.. better to be subtle, then harsh & biting. Spice infused vodka is a great way to try different strengths in your beer... so much easier to formulate for next time.

As for boiling versus secondary soaking, I've pondered that one for a while too. Looking at various recipes on the net, you can see which method tends to be more common for a particular spice or another.

Some spices need the heat & time to release their flavors. Not all types of spice aromatics will boil off. Others are more fragile and do best in the fermenter.

My suggestions above were based upon my last Xmas brew, where I used 2 sticks of cinnamon (30 min), 5 clove buds (30 min), 3oz fresh Ginger (15 min), 3/4oz fresh orange zest (15 min) & 1# Orange Blossom Honey during whirlpool in a northern brown ale recipe. It came out really nice... the spices complement without overpowering.

I'm sure there are other ways to get good results too! Take good notes and post your results. I'd love to hear how it turned out!
--LexusChris