Winter Seasonal Beer Great Lakes Christmas Ale Clone

[WiseEyes]

Here is what Mark Hunger, Manager of Brewing and Quality Control said to me on October 5, 2009 in regards to Christmas ale:

Honey, ginger, and cinnamon are all added in the boil. We use enough honey to raise the O.G. by about 2 degrees Plato.

Quote:
Originally Posted by WiseEyes
Do you think that the honey goes in the secondary rather than flame out at the brewry
I asked them that but they wont tell me.

Thanks, this site is awesome...

 

[WiseEyes]

Just checked mine after a week in primary and the gravity was at 1.012 (my starting gravity was 1.064). BTW, these numbers are spot on for what Beersmith said. Should I wait to secondary it for another week or pull it now? I don't want the gravity to go down any further.

I would pull it now if you don't want the gravity to go down much further.. By pulling it of the yeast cake you will slow down Fermentation. If you can it might be beneficial to cold condition it as well.

 

[kpr121]

I would pull it now if you don't want the gravity to go down much further.. By pulling it of the yeast cake you will slow down Fermentation. If you can it might be beneficial to cold condition it as well.

You cant exactly stop fermentation by pulling it off the yeast cake. There will still be yeast left in suspension that will eat away. Additionally you are asking for trouble by attempting to stop fermentation if you are planning on bottling. The yeast will pick back up and you have bombs on your hands.

Best to let it go where it will go. You fix FG by proper mashing techniques and proper yeast selection and pitch rates.

 

[cyberbackpacker]

Thanks, this site is awesome...

You're welcome!

 

[Shinglejohn]

So looks like this isnt going to be as much of a clone as I thought. Only had 10 lbs of pale malt (I do 10 gallons batches), so I had to substitute. Added 5 lbs of Munich and 2 lbs of light DME to get to 1.073. I think I should have dropped the crystal but its already been crushed and mixed so I'm stuck with it. Sparge is heating now.

Even if its not a GL Christmas, I think it should make a nice malty festive beer!

Sounds good to me!

 

[neoterics]

What style of honey are you guys using? Orange Blossom, Clover, Raw?

 

[Blackhawkbrew]

Just transferred to secondary after 10 days (my gravity was getting too low) and the taste was great! I'm leary about adding more spice for fear of overdoing it, so I think I'll leave it as is.

WiseEyes, I've never cold conditioned before. When should I drop the temp in my fermenter, and to what temp?

 

[WiseEyes]

Just transferred to secondary after 10 days (my gravity was getting too low) and the taste was great! I'm leary about adding more spice for fear of overdoing it, so I think I'll leave it as is.

WiseEyes, I've never cold conditioned before. When should I drop the temp in my fermenter, and to what temp?

Its dependent upon the yeast strain, but with nearly all ale yeasts if you get it into the forties your going to significantly slow if not completely stop fermentation and this will also clear your beer 2 or 3 weeks at those temperatures really helps my beers clear up

 

[CADragon]

How are people processing the ginger? I'm thinking of using a "hop bag" for the ginger and cinnamon to make it easy to separate. Should the ginger be sliced? chopped? micro-planed?

 

[cyberbackpacker]

How are people processing the ginger? I'm thinking of using a "hop bag" for the ginger and cinnamon to make it easy to separate. Should the ginger be sliced? chopped? micro-planed?

I actually quartered and crushed the ginger in mine. And I did indeed use a hop bag to facilitate removal of the ginger. The sticks I just threw in as they were easy enough to find, and did not pose a hazard of being drawn through the ball valve into the fermenter!

 

[Shinglejohn]

Just transferred to secondary after 10 days (my gravity was getting too low) and the taste was great! I'm leary about adding more spice for fear of overdoing it, so I think I'll leave it as is.

WiseEyes, I've never cold conditioned before. When should I drop the temp in my fermenter, and to what temp?

Transfering to secondary does not stop fermentation, make sure this thing is fully attenuated before bottling or your bottles could explode. It doesnt matter if the final gravity is a few points off.

also, go easy on spices.

 

[crazyseany]

getting ready to mah my grains! What happened to the amount of the hops used in the original recipe?

 

[l0ki346]

Trying to do a BIAB partial mash. I've got a 20L stockpot and I do 3 gallon boils. Along w/ 6.6lbs of Pale LME, Beersmith says:


Mash or Steep Grains

Mash Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2 lbs 5.5 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 22.8 %
15.0 oz Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 9.1 %
8.7 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.3 %
2.2 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 4 1.3 %
0.7 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5 0.4 %

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 13.17 qt of water at 152.2 F 148.0 F 75 min

Does this look right?

 

[Shinglejohn]

getting ready to mah my grains! What happened to the amount of the hops used in the original recipe?

The hop amounts will vary depending on the alpha acid content of your hops, just match tghe IBU'S of each addition.

 

[dave5155]

is everyone throwing in the cinnamon sticks whole are are they grating them?

 

[cyberbackpacker]

whole, but I break them up into smaller pieces.

 

[Shinglejohn]

I just throw them in whole. its really just the outer layer that you want.

 

[Shinglejohn]

Brewed my 2011 batch today. This time I used the updated recipe adjusting the hops to hit 30 IBU and adding ginger and cinnamon sticks with 5 left in the boil. I peeled the ginger and just cut it in half and threw it in. Honey at Flameout.

 

[Jcoz]

Brewed my 2011 batch today. This time I used the updated recipe adjusting the hops to hit 30 IBU and adding ginger and cinnamon sticks with 5 left in the boil. I peeled the ginger and just cut it in half and threw it in. Honey at Flameout.

Did you post pitch temp and fermentation temp? Sorry if I missed it

 

[Mtitus6]

So after two more weeks in the secondary my ginger flavor was still overwhelming the cinnamon. I decided to add more cinnamon flavor by boiling three more sticks for five minutes in a cup of water. It currently is very spicy and I imagine will be for awhile. Thinking about bottling and busting out in July.

 

[Beernewb]

How are you guys getting a big beer like this from grain to glass in 6 weeks? I have problems with yeasty tastes in many of my beers after 5 or 6 weeks, they really get much better with age....I was thinking about trying to pull this off tis week, but i can't see any way it will taste decent by the holiday, even if it finishes out in 3-4 weeks.

 

[Beardo21]

How are you guys getting a big beer like this from grain to glass in 6 weeks? I have problems with yeasty tastes in many of my beers after 5 or 6 weeks, they really get much better with age....I was thinking about trying to pull this off tis week, but i can't see any way it will taste decent by the holiday, even if it finishes out in 3-4 weeks.

I brewed mine up this past Friday with plans of having it ready by xmas. Fingers crossed.

 

[crazyseany]

I brewed mine up this past Friday with plans of having it ready by xmas. Fingers crossed.

saturday mine will be in the fermenter for two weeks....i kinda screwed up and ended up with 6 gallons of 1.060 beer...i guess i should of kept boiling it...

oh well... think i should try to bottle this week end or wait another week?

i ended up having krausen coming out my airlock..( i used a half gallon starter i made...)

no more action now though...

 

[Beardo21]

Same thing happened with my airlock. I had to clean it out. My OG ended up at 1.075 before I pitched the yeast (this past Friday). I checked it yesterday and I was at about 1.020. I may rack to the secondary shortly.

 

[Beardo21]

I also decided to wait and add the cinnamon sticks and ginger root till the secondary. The owner at my local homebrew shop suggested soaking them in vodka before hand and then dumping the whole thing into the carboy. I'm afraid the vodka will kill the remaining yeast and/or drastically change the flavor. Has anyone done this before?

 

[Beernewb]

Everyone is out of wyeast 1028...go figure.

what's the next best sub for this? s-04?

 

[Beardo21]

Everyone is out of wyeast 1028...go figure.

what's the next best sub for this? s-04?

I used S-04 for mine. So far so good.

 

[Beernewb]

thanks, I found some 1028 at Annapolis Homebrew, they are shiiping it today and I should have it tomorrow.

S-04 is great yeast, I recently used that in an Old Ale and it finished in 4 days.

 

[Shinglejohn]

How are you guys getting a big beer like this from grain to glass in 6 weeks? I have problems with yeasty tastes in many of my beers after 5 or 6 weeks, they really get much better with age....I was thinking about trying to pull this off tis week, but i can't see any way it will taste decent by the holiday, even if it finishes out in 3-4 weeks.

I keg, so thats a little quicker. It carbonates at 42 degrees, so all yeast is dropped out by the time i tap it.

 

[Shinglejohn]

saturday mine will be in the fermenter for two weeks....i kinda screwed up and ended up with 6 gallons of 1.060 beer...i guess i should of kept boiling it...

Oh well... Think i should try to bottle this week end or wait another week?

I ended up having krausen coming out my airlock..( i used a half gallon starter i made...)

no more action now though...

rdwhahb!