Winter Seasonal Beer Great Lakes Christmas Ale Clone

[Beernewb]

thanks fo the responses...I had two other try it and neither could pick up either spice...weird...I bought the sticks just for this, so it wasn't like they were laying around for a while and the ginger, i peeled the skin off and quartered.

 

[Sum1Stu]

Where does it say how much hops ?

Dont make me beersmith it

 

[two_hearted]

Where does it say how much hops ?

Dont make me beersmith it

It depends on the alphas of your hops. IBU Calculator Beer Bitterness | Brewer's Friend if you don't want to use beersmith.

My version of this recipe is:
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

It comes in a hair under 30 IBUs

 

[pietro1022]

and the ginger, i peeled the skin off and quartered.

that's probably part of it...surface area...I finely chopped the ginger in a blender

 

[Shinglejohn]

I know for a fact that Great lakes just peels it and throws it in the boil. Thats pretty much how i did it this year and it is nicley suubdued.

 

[Shinglejohn]

Where does it say how much hops ?

Dont make me beersmith it

Sorry sum, I dont do it by weight anymore, i do it by IBUs per addition.

 

[Bruegger]

thanks everyone for the info on the recipe. just brewed this and i'm waiting on the yeast to be ready. so far it smells just like great lakes christmas ale. i made a few modifications based on all the recipes given. i had to use lme as i don't have all the equipment for all grain yet(its also way to cold outside to brew). I lowered the amount of ginger to .7 oz and upped the cinnamon to 3 sticks( which was .3 oz). for the boil i did 5.25 gal. In the end i came up just over 20 liters in the bucket.

 

[Shinglejohn]

Im sure it will be a great beer Bruegger.

Sorry I missed your PM, my membership expired and temperarily lost my inbox space.

 

[MalFet]

We just had a big holiday party for my wife's work.

At the start of the night, we had:
20 bottles of good wine, 5 gallons of Pale Ale, and 5 gallons of this recipe.

At the end of the night, we had:
18 bottles of good wine, and 4.5 gallons of Pale Ale.

Everybody loved it, and the Clevelanders agreed it was an extremely solid match to the Great Lakes recipe. Thanks for the research Shinglejohn.

 

[andylyiv]

This is my first batch ever and I want to use this Christmas Ale recipe.

I pretty much have all the equipment already and have been doing a lot of reading on how to homebrew, but I have a couple questions about your recipe.

The hops you have listed are Hallertauer and Cascade, how many ounces should I use of each?

Also in one of your ingredients you list "1.25 lb Honey (Flame out) Sugar 9.20%" What does this mean? Put the honey in after the boil phase?

Also I bought liquid yeast. I've been trying to find instructions on how to make a starter for the liquid yeast without luck. How do I prepare the yeast? Do I just pour it into the fermenter? Or use some of the wort and put the yeast in that to heat that up first?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Shinglejohn]

Can a brewa' get a invite!

Great to hear!

We just had a big holiday party for my wife's work.

At the start of the night, we had:
20 bottles of good wine, 5 gallons of Pale Ale, and 5 gallons of this recipe.

At the end of the night, we had:
18 bottles of good wine, and 4.5 gallons of Pale Ale.

Everybody loved it, and the Clevelanders agreed it was an extremely solid match to the Great Lakes recipe. Thanks for the research Shinglejohn.

 

[Shinglejohn]

Andy, I pm'ed you.

 

[pkananen]

I brewed the extract version from page 2, and used 3 cinnamon sticks with 5 minutes left in the boil, and left in the fermenter until I kegged 3 weeks later. In my opinion, it was too much cinnamon. I should've waited until after the boil and chill.

 

[pietro1022]

Granted the temp in my house is around 65, but I have had this in the bottles for three weeks with minimal signs of carbonation. I've brewed and bottled about 30 brews, but none with this og (I was close to 1.095, and had around 72% aa after 2 weeks (pitched 2 vials of wl), secondary for 10 days. Tested a bottle after one week, two weeks, and three, and a faint "fffft" noise when I cracked it with little carb evident in the tasting. Just need more patience?

 

[Hop_machine]

These took about a month in bottles for me to really enjoy. I bottled half and kegged half and for some reason the bottled beverage was better...

 

[pietro1022]

These took about a month in bottles for me to really enjoy. I bottled half and kegged half and for some reason the bottled beverage was better...

Did u hit the right og listed in the recipe? I'm thinking (hoping) that I just need to give it more time since my og was higher, but I am worried since there is only a faint hiss when I open and very little palatable carbonation.

 

[Shinglejohn]

Pietro, I think the yeast is slow to carb. I have been kegging the last few batches but when i bottled i do remember them carbing slow. They did eventually carb up though.

 

[pietro1022]

Pietro, I think the yeast is slow to carb. I have been kegging the last few batches but when i bottled i do remember them carbing slow. They did eventually carb up though.

Gracias! I think this is the biggest beer I've done, so I'm probably a little impatient. Trying to find the warmest spot in ,my house, but it's difficult.

 

[Hop_machine]

Did u hit the right og listed in the recipe? I'm thinking (hoping) that I just need to give it more time since my og was higher, but I am worried since there is only a faint hiss when I open and very little palatable carbonation.

I was under by about 5 points...

 

[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 or something close? Thanks

 

[buckeyebrew]

Would this.still need to ferment.28.days.if.bottleing.since.the.beer.would need to be in.tue.bottles for two weeks to carb? Thanks for.the.recipe!

 

[Shinglejohn]

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 or something close? Thanks

That recipe is pretty much the same as this one.

 

[Shinglejohn]

Would this.still need to ferment.28.days.if.bottleing.since.the.beer.would need to be in.tue.bottles for two weeks to carb? Thanks for.the.recipe!

I dont usually have it in the carboy for 28 days, im not sure where that number came from. I usuay go about three weeks before bottling. You could bottle anytime after the gravity stabilizes, realistically.

 

[Beardo21]

My batch has been in bottles for about 6 weeks total now. It tastes great and it finally has a good amount of carbonation. More and more flavors continue to come out the longer it sits. I may dial back the ginger a touch next time I brew this, but thats just my personal opinion.Thanks again ShingleJohn for posting the recipe.

 

[andylyiv]

I brewed this last night. I pitched the yeast (non starter) at 85F. It was getting late and I was falling asleep. It's 19 hous later and I'm only getting 2 bubbles a minute from a bubbler type stopper. Did I screw up my beer? The posts here indicate it should be bubbling like crazy. Right now it's at 68F.

 

[Shinglejohn]

I brewed this last night. I pitched the yeast (non starter) at 85F. It was getting late and I was falling asleep. It's 19 hous later and I'm only getting 2 bubbles a minute from a bubbler type stopper. Did I screw up my beer? The posts here indicate it should be bubbling like crazy. Right now it's at 68F.

If you didnt do a starter, it will take up to 40 hours to get going. Dont worry, all is well!

 

[two_hearted]

I brewed this last night. I pitched the yeast (non starter) at 85F. It was getting late and I was falling asleep. It's 19 hous later and I'm only getting 2 bubbles a minute from a bubbler type stopper. Did I screw up my beer? The posts here indicate it should be bubbling like crazy. Right now it's at 68F.

You pitched a little warm, but not nearly hot enough to damage yeast.
One vial or smack pack of yeast isn't enough for this beer. Check out the wiki on starters Yeast Starters - Home Brewing Wiki and also check out mrmalty.com for how much yeast your batch will need.

This beer has a lot of spices that will help cover up any off flavors produced from stressed yeast.

 

[andylyiv]

Thanks for the replies. It was going crazy the other day, and fermenting, but now has slowed down and almost stopped. While it was going though it was producing strange odors. Kind of a grassy smell to it. I was reading John Palmer's book on "How to Brew" and he says the odors could be due to infection from bacteria. Guess ill just have to wait out the two weeks and have a taste to see if its ok.

 

[Shinglejohn]

Thanks for the replies. It was going crazy the other day, and fermenting, but now has slowed down and almost stopped. While it was going though it was producing strange odors. Kind of a grassy smell to it. I was reading John Palmer's book on "How to Brew" and he says the odors could be due to infection from bacteria. Guess ill just have to wait out the two weeks and have a taste to see if its ok.

You should read "The complete joy of homebrewing" by papazian . Its not as good as far as info on the brewing process but it definitely does a better job of getting new brewers to chill out.

His motto is "Relax. Dont Worry. Have a Homebrew!" This is good advice. Chances are that your beer is fine, and if not, its a learning experience and it will be next time. I have to emphasize that your beer is more than likely fine.

Go into the search option and type in "is my beer ruined?"

Youll see that this is a right of passage!

ps. the grassy smell during fermentation is from the hops. fermentation always has an odor, some beers more than others. Usually fruity or grassy, with lagers it can be a bit farty. RDHAHB!

 

[pietro1022]

Pietro, I think the yeast is slow to carb. I have been kegging the last few batches but when i bottled i do remember them carbing slow. They did eventually carb up though.

Quick follow-up to this, I roused the yeast by shaking the bottles/cases, moved the bottles to a place in the house where it is usually 70 degrees or more (shelf above the dryer in a closet), and after a week, I notice a lot more carbonation. A very good beer! Going to leave it up there another week/two weeks then age them in a 60 degree cellar. Getting some acetaldehyde and fusels (my recipe came out @ 9.3% abv). Hopefully those will mellow out after some aging.

For the people brewing this, that is 6 weeks before head-forming carbonation (no re-pitch @ bottling)
Thanks for the recipe and the advice!

BTW, would definitely add the spices @ the end of the boil next time, especially the ginger...didn't get much out of it by with secondary-only. Spice tea to secondary or boil.