Great Lakes Christmas Ale

[dhathazy]

MMJFan,
Have you tried any more bottles since you last posted on 10/4? At that point you had indicated they were not fully carbed yet.

Going to brew this weekend and I am down to either this or a holiday type stout.

 

[MMJfan]

MMJFan,
Have you tried any more bottles since you last posted on 10/4? At that point you had indicated they were not fully carbed yet.

Going to brew this weekend and I am down to either this or a holiday type stout.

I have and they have mellowed out a bit on the sweetness from the honey, but I still think my original recipe had too much. My post #22 on this thread is the updated recipe I used to brew batch number two of this (I'm planning on giving some sixers as holiday gifts which is why I already brewed 2 batches of this ). I cut back on a 1/2 pound of honey on my 2nd batch.

 

[dhathazy]

Thanks MMJfan, I did see the revised recipe. I just need to make a decision on what to brew. So much brewing to do and too little time! Thanks, Dave.

 

[tevis42]

MMJFan,

Did you start the boil with 6.75 gallons of water or did you add a gallon or two of water to the end once it was in the primary? I'm not entirely sure my question matters (I have a 10 gallon brew kettle) but I was just curious! Thanks!

Also, I was born and raised in Brunswick, OH...familiar with that area? Cheers! Thanks for the recipe!

 

[MMJfan]

tevis, I start the boil with 6.75 gallons of water. I don't like to add water at the end when racking to the fermenter. Just a personal preference...

 

[MMJfan]

Thanks MMJfan, I did see the revised recipe. I just need to make a decision on what to brew. So much brewing to do and too little time! Thanks, Dave.

No problem. This is so true. I'm not a big stout guy so this is probably going to be my only holiday beer I brew, although I do love Sierra Nevada's Celebration IPA which I might have to try.

 

[kiwi4president]

Just brewed this up. Smells delicious. Do I need a blowout tube for this? Fermenter is in the closet and I would rather not have to do an extreme load of laundry.

 

[SandstoneCityBrew]

How do you do that? I don't see anything that allows me to add to the recipe dropdown.

Here is my updated version of the recipe:

CHRISTMAS ALE RECIPE:

RECIPE SPECS:
--------------------------------------------------
BATCH SIZE: 5.50 GAL.
BOIL SIZE: 6.75 GAL.
ESTIMATED OG: 1.075
ESTIMATED FG: 1.018
ESTIMATED IBU: 29.4
BOIL TIME: 60 MIN.

INGREDIENTS:
--------------------------------------------------
9 LBS. 3 OZ. PALE LIQUID MALT EXTRACT
1 LBS. WHEAT LIQUID MALT EXTRACT
14 OZ. CARAMEL/CRYSTAL MALT 40L GRAIN
3 OZ. CARAMEL/CRYSTAL MALT 60L GRAIN
1 OZ. ROASTED BARLEY

1.5 OZ. HALLERTAU (4.3%) HOPS PELLETS (60 MIN.)
1.5 OZ. HALLERTAU (4.3%) HOPS PELLETS (30 MIN.)
1.0 OZ. CASCADE (5.0%) HOPS PELLETS (5 MIN.)

1.25 OZ GINGER ROOT (SKINNED AND CUBED) (60 MIN.)
1.25 OZ CINNAMON STICKS (60 MIN.)
1.0 LBS. HONEY (FLAME OUT)

YEAST - WYEAST 1028

If I don't have the equipment to do a 6.5 gallon boil, do I need to adjust the hop addition times at all?

 

[MMJfan]

Just brewed this up. Smells delicious. Do I need a blowout tube for this? Fermenter is in the closet and I would rather not have to do an extreme load of laundry.

A blowoff probably wouldn't hurt...

 

[MMJfan]

If I don't have the equipment to do a 6.5 gallon boil, do I need to adjust the hop addition times at all?

I'm no expert, but I would think the hop addition times would be the same regardless of the volume of the boil. The actual hop amounts would vary depending on the volume.

fwiw, when I started homebrewing, I did mostly kits and they were for mostly 3 gallon boils and I always did at least 6 gallon boils and never adjusted any of my hop additions and all my beers have turned out just fine.

 

[remman4]

Made my take on this brew today:

4 gallon boil, 5.5 gallon total in primary

3 lb golden light DME 60 min boil
8 lb light LME at flameout
1/2 lb honey at flameout
1/2 lb dark brown sugar at flameout

steeped at 150 for 30 mins:
0.5 lb crystal 40
0.5 lb honey malt
0.5 lb belgian special B
0.5 lb special roast
0.1 lb roasted barley

hops:
1 oz 4.2% AA Hallertauer 60 mins
0.5 oz 6.2% AA cascade 10 mins
0.5 oz 6.2% AA cascade 5 mins

spices etc.
5 cinnamon sticks 50 min boil
1.25 oz sliced fresh ginger 50 min boil
~1/3 nutmeg seed ground 50 min boil
1 tsp irish moss 15 min boil
5 tsp Fermax yeast nutrient 15 min boil

all spices and hops removed after boil
Nottingham yeast

can't wait to try it!

 

[tevis42]

Thanks MMJ, I look forward to giving this recipe a whirl...I have a cider going for the wife ATM and I have a Rochefort 10 clone occupying the other carboy...maybe after the cider is bottled...

 

[dhathazy]

OK, I am placing my order to make this, and I got stuck on the yeast. My local store does not carry Wyeast. I am guessing the White Labs substitution would be WLP013, any thoughts?

Oh, I also noticed on the Great Lakes website that they also include Special Roast, so I did order some. Not sure if I am going to include any yet, might do a little more research.

The real thing may be hitting the shelves later this week, keeping a close watch!

 

[dhathazy]

Brewed this last night. Wow does that smell great when it is brewing! I never worked with ginger root before, man I love the smell of that stuff! I bought way too much and have a lot left over, any uses for this outside of brewing? I tasted some of my hydrometer sample and it is good, pretty sweet but I'm sure that will tone down after fermenting. Plan to bottle in three weeks and hope it is ready for Christmas Eve!

When I was done, I cracked open a real Christmas Ale that just arrived to my area. It was still "in the back" and the guy at the store was nice enough to give me a six pack. I guess he was not suppose to put it out yet! Limited supply this year?

 

[MMJfan]

Brewed this last night. Wow does that smell great when it is brewing! I never worked with ginger root before, man I love the smell of that stuff! I bought way too much and have a lot left over, any uses for this outside of brewing? I tasted some of my hydrometer sample and it is good, pretty sweet but I'm sure that will tone down after fermenting. Plan to bottle in three weeks and hope it is ready for Christmas Eve!

When I was done, I cracked open a real Christmas Ale that just arrived to my area. It was still "in the back" and the guy at the store was nice enough to give me a six pack. I guess he was not suppose to put it out yet! Limited supply this year?

I totally agree with you about the smell of this while it is brewing. By far the best smelling beer I brew. I too had never really worked with ginger either and was very surprised at how good it smells. Ugly looking but once you peel away the skin, the smell is so good!

My first batch was really sweet at first. But it's been about a month since I bottled it and it is really starting to mellow out nicely. I have a second batch that has been in the bottles for about a week and a half and I'm just going to let those ride as I still have over 2 cases of my first batch to go through!

Anyone notice there doesn't seem to be the craze over the GL Christmas Ale this year? I mean, in years past, if you didn't get to the store on the day it arrived off of the truck, you were SOL. And, the liquor store in my town would actually make a list so people could reserve a case off of the delivery truck. But just the other day, I was in our local super market and they actually had it on the shelves? I was kind of shocked?!

Personally, while I love the beer, it isn't what it used to be. I remember when it was pushing 10% abv and now it's barely over 7%? And, they charge more for a weaker beer? I'm more of a fan of Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale these days, but I'm also a big fan of this recipe as well!

 

[dhathazy]

Thanks again for posting this recipe, I am really looking forward to drinking this!

I stopped at our local market again last night (here in PA only a select few grocery stores sell beer, yeah it sucks) and they still did not have it out on the shelves. While I was walking around, a nice young lady asked if she could help me. I asked her about the GL Christmas Ale, and once again she went to the back and brought me out a six pack. She said they did noy get as much as they ordered, who knows. I am thinking about making a run to East Liverpool, OH this weekend, about 30 miles from where I live. Probably a better selection and better prices. Depending what I find, might be buying my beer there from now on! Will definitely pick up some Celebration Ale too if I see it!

 

[mjb34500]

Thanks for the recommendation wilson. I was going to cut my Hallertau additions to 1 oz for each of the first two additions. I might also go with 1.5 oz of Cascade at 10 min and then the remaining .5 oz at 5 min.

I like the idea of making a tea but I think I'm just going to put the ginger and cini stix in a muslin sack for the whole 60 minutes like the guy from GL suggested.

dhathazy, I'm a big fan of GL xmas ale too. Just not a fan of the $12.99/6 pack price tag. I plan on saving around $140 brewing my own this year! BTW, I went to college near your neck of the woods at Westminster in New Wilmington, PA! I had some friends that went to Moon HS! Good luck with your pumpkin ale! What type of pumpking ale are you making? I brewed the Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale 3 weeks ago and will be bottling on Monday and I can't freaking wait to see how it turns out! Cheers!

Small world, MMJFan. I went to PS-Erie (Behrend) and grew up in Johnstown.

Great tips on the GL Xmas, plan to brew mine Thanksgiving day and have it nice and ready the week before Xmas.

 

[menkros]

Pairing advice, I drank GL Xmas ale with a slice of pumpkin pie, melody in my mouth.

 

[Squad1Guy]

I saw that your batch size is 5.5 gal and boil size is 6.75 gallons. I'm a little confused. Could you explain? I have to go to the brew shop to get bottle caps tonight and might look for ingredients. We've been brewing for just over a year- extract. Do you use a mashtun for this? Grain bags?

I totally just joined so I could ask that. I'm in Cleveland but my mom works in Wooster. I just drove past that new brewery on Tuesday but they weren't open yet.

I am in Cleveland too Another kindred spirit!!

I brewed and all grain BIAB batch using a slightly different recipe. I'm bottling this weekend. Hydro sample from last weekend tasted pretty great. I plan on buying a six-pack to compare.

 

[MMJfan]

I am in Cleveland too Another kindred spirit!!

I brewed and all grain BIAB batch using a slightly different recipe. I'm bottling this weekend. Hydro sample from last weekend tasted pretty great. I plan on buying a six-pack to compare.

I've too made the switch to BIAB. I'm planning on brewing my next batch AG using a recipe from this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/great-lakes-christmas-ale-clone-218147/

This recipe looks pretty similar to my extract. I'm still going to boil the ginger and cinnamon for the entire 60 minutes though.

 

[JoeCap09]

Brewed your updated recipe last saturday. Came up a little lower on the OG. Kegging next week. Can't wait to try.

 

[BeardedMan]

So if I wanted to do this with a 5 gallon boil instead of 6.5, would I have to change the amount of hops used? Also would I need to change the amounts of malt extract?

Where do you guys get that much malt extract without breaking the bank? On NB I only see the Alexander's Pale Malt extract and it is $16 for 4 lbs!

 

[remman4]

My LHBS has LME for $2.80/lb and it is fresh!


I wouldn't adjust anything for your batch and see how it comes out, then adjust next time based on your thoughts from this batch

 

[BeardedMan]

Ok some more noob questions:

Could I use 6.6 pounds of LME and use DME for the rest? Is the ratio the same or would I use less DME since it has no water in it?

Could I use all DME without noticing a difference?

How much priming sugar are you guys using?

The grains listed in the recipe are steeped before the "boil" starts, correct?

Should I remove the cinnamon and ginger before I put the wort into the primary or leave them in?

Thanks in advance and sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I do this correctly!

 

[MMJfan]

Ok some more noob questions:

Could I use 6.6 pounds of LME and use DME for the rest? Is the ratio the same or would I use less DME since it has no water in it?

Could I use all DME without noticing a difference?

How much priming sugar are you guys using?

The grains listed in the recipe are steeped before the "boil" starts, correct?

Should I remove the cinnamon and ginger before I put the wort into the primary or leave them in?

Thanks in advance and sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I do this correctly!

You could do part LME and part DME and you could use all DME but it won't be the same amount as the LME. Here is a formula on how to convert a recipe that uses LME to DME and vice versa:

LME to DME * 0.89
DME to LME * 1.10

If you're doing part DME, I would take the 2.4 lbs of LME you would be subbing for and multiply that by 0.89 to get the amount of DME to add.

I started doing extract kits and they all came with 5 oz of corn sugar to use added to a cup of boiling and cooled water for priming at bottling. I've found that 5 oz is a bit much for 5 gallon batches as most of my beers ended up way too carbed. I've since been using around 4 oz added to a cup of boiling and then cooled water and seem to have much better results with carbonation.

The grains are definitely only steeped. You want the water temp you are steeping at to be around 150°-160° F and the grains are usually steeped for around 20-30 minutes. You do not want to let your water temp get over 170° or you can release tanins into your wort so do not boil your grains.

As for the spices, I would suggest removing the cinnamon and ginger at the end of the boil but this is a matter of personal preference. I would think you would get overwhelming flavors by leaving them in the primary (especially from the ginger) so I would recommend taking them out before racking your wort to primary.

Hope this helps and good luck in your brewing!

 

[BeardedMan]

You could do part LME and part DME and you could use all DME but it won't be the same amount as the LME. Here is a formula on how to convert a recipe that uses LME to DME and vice versa:

LME to DME * 0.89
DME to LME * 1.10

If you're doing part DME, I would take the 2.4 lbs of LME you would be subbing for and multiply that by 0.89 to get the amount of DME to add.

I started doing extract kits and they all came with 5 oz of corn sugar to use added to a cup of boiling and cooled water for priming at bottling. I've found that 5 oz is a bit much for 5 gallon batches as most of my beers ended up way too carbed. I've since been using around 4 oz added to a cup of boiling and then cooled water and seem to have much better results with carbonation.

The grains are definitely only steeped. You want the water temp you are steeping at to be around 150°-160° F and the grains are usually steeped for around 20-30 minutes. You do not want to let your water temp get over 170° or you can release tanins into your wort so do not boil your grains.

As for the spices, I would suggest removing the cinnamon and ginger at the end of the boil but this is a matter of personal preference. I would think you would get overwhelming flavors by leaving them in the primary (especially from the ginger) so I would recommend taking them out before racking your wort to primary.

Hope this helps and good luck in your brewing!

Thanks man! That was extremely helpful. Can't wait to brew this one.

 

[drunken_beard]

I'm making this recipe tomorrow, thanks for sharing! How much priming sugar should I use when it comes time to bottle?

 

[MMJfan]

I'm making this recipe tomorrow, thanks for sharing! How much priming sugar should I use when it comes time to bottle?

Here you go:

I started doing extract kits and they all came with 5 oz of corn sugar to use added to a cup of boiling and cooled water for priming at bottling. I've found that 5 oz is a bit much for 5 gallon batches as most of my beers ended up way too carbed. I've since been using around 4 oz added to a cup of boiling and then cooled water (70 degrees or so) and seem to have much better results with carbonation.

 

[drunken_beard]

Thanks! Apparently I missed that in the previous few posts. Doh! Anyway, I made a batch of this 2 days ago and so far it's perfect. You're right about the smell. If it tastes half as good as it smells I'll be one happy hombrewer.

 

[dhathazy]

There are also calculators out there where you enter the style of beer, size of batch, etc and it gives you a recommended amount of different types of sugar. I have used this on my past couple of batches and have liked the results. http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html.

My Christmas Ale is now two weeks in the primary. I think I'm going leave in one more week and then bottle. Can't wait to try this stuff! Going for a tapping of Pumking tonight at a local pub!