Holiday ale

[NHhomebrewer]

Does anyone have a good holiday ale extract kit they have had good luck with? I am really new to brewing and the simpler the better. I'd like something with a higher than normal ABV. Any suggestions and places to purchase?

 

[Ztp]

I just brewed Midwest supplies holiday ale. Still in the carboy but the samples have tasted very good.

 

[Smokenmirrors1]

Williams Brewing out of Cali has a nice Holiday Ale. The Belgian Tripel is great too. Greetings from Mount Washington.

 

[danorocks17]

it's not a kit, but this is my own recipe that people seem to really love

http://hopville.com/recipe/767922/christmas-winter-specialty-spiced-beer-recipes/ugly-sweater-ale

 

[cullen]

There's a very good recipe for "Holiday Cheer" in The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. I make it annually (though I make it in January and let it age) and it's very tasty. If you don't have the book, you can find the recipe by searching the book in Amazon. Then you can buy the book.

Brewer's Best has a "Holiday Ale" kit which sounds good based on the ingredient list, but I haven't tried it.

 

[DGibb]

it's not a kit, but this is my own recipe that people seem to really love

I am not able to do a full boil yet, Would you suggest a 2.5 gallon boil with half the DME up front and half at the 30 minute mark (for the late extract addition)? Also, is the total batch size 6 gallons or 5 gallons?

I am thinking about getting this started next week to be ready for the holidays.

What are your thoughts?

 

[danorocks17]

I am not able to do a full boil yet, Would you suggest a 2.5 gallon boil with half the DME up front and half at the 30 minute mark (for the late extract addition)? Also, is the total batch size 6 gallons or 5 gallons?

I am thinking about getting this started next week to be ready for the holidays.

What are your thoughts?

I think at that time I was doing partial boils, so like a 2.5 or 3 gal boil. I think i put all of the extract at the beginning, but you can do whatever you like. If you do later additions your hop utilization is obviously going to be higher. I always varied the recipe from year to year, and that recipe was last years. The only thing I would suggest is cut the ginger amount in half to 1/2 oz, but that's just my personal preference. I brew this for the annual xmas party my wife and I throw for friends and family and everyone (even those who don't drink craft beer) really like this brew :fro:

 

[DGibb]

So, I am thinking of brewing this this weekend. So the cinnamon, ginger, and orange go in for the boil, or what other part of the process? The recipe on hopville says 4ea orange zest. What do you mean by this?

Thanks!

 

[danorocks17]

So, I am thinking of brewing this this weekend. So the cinnamon, ginger, and orange go in for the boil, or what other part of the process? The recipe on hopville says 4ea orange zest. What do you mean by this?

Thanks!

I have done both full boil and last 15 min of boil. I liked the last 15 min better, didn't boil off so much of the flavors, but it still came out pretty good with the full boil. Do not use ground cinnamon, hahaha. also add the Honey in the last 15 min. that means the zest of 4 oranges, in Hopville talk.

let me know how it turns out!

 

[VillageBrew]

I just picked one up from my LHBS (HomeBrewUSA) that I am going to do tomorrow night. I will have to repost with the exact spice amounts (nutmeg, orange peel), but I have heard that it is off the hook! It is only 7.06 ABV but kicks a little harder.

http://homebrewusa.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=218

 

[DGibb]

I got the ingredients for a batch of the Ugly Sweater Ale (great name, by the way) yesterday, and I plan on brewing on Sunday. I did have to make some substitutions based on availability though. Listed below is the modified recipe, including notes on what substitutions were made where.

6 lb Amber DME
7 oz Crystal 60L
4 oz Belgian Chocolate Malt
2 oz Roasted Barley
1 oz English Black Patent Malt [LHBS didn't have 2 oz Amber Malt]
1 lb honey
2 ea cinnamon sticks
.5 oz ginger root
4 ea orange zest
1.5 oz Spalt Special pellet hops (bittering) [LHBS didn't have Willamette hops]
1 oz Spalt Special pellet hops (aroma) [LHBS didn't have Willamette hops]
1 vial California ale yeast

Spalt was one of the only comparable hops that my LHBS had for Willamette. Since you can sub Tettnager for Willamette, and can sub Spalt for Tettnager, I figured since their AA levels were approximately the same and had similar profiles, they would work.

Black Patent was substituted for Amber malt in smaller quantity so it would produce similar color without overpowering.

I will also be brewing partial boils - two 1.5 gallon boils with half the grains, malt, hops, honey, and spices in each boil to be combined in the fermenter.

Does this sound like it would work well? I plan on keeping good notes and reporting back to you. Thanks for the recipe!

 

[NorthRiverS]

This is my favorite so far.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAMS-HOLIDAY-ALE-P1597C183.aspx

NRS

 

[danorocks17]

I got the ingredients for a batch of the Ugly Sweater Ale (great name, by the way) yesterday, and I plan on brewing on Sunday. I did have to make some substitutions based on availability though. Listed below is the modified recipe, including notes on what substitutions were made where.

6 lb Amber DME
7 oz Crystal 60L
4 oz Belgian Chocolate Malt
2 oz Roasted Barley
1 oz English Black Patent Malt [LHBS didn't have 2 oz Amber Malt]
1 lb honey
2 ea cinnamon sticks
.5 oz ginger root
4 ea orange zest
1.5 oz Spalt Special pellet hops (bittering) [LHBS didn't have Willamette hops]
1 oz Spalt Special pellet hops (aroma) [LHBS didn't have Willamette hops]
1 vial California ale yeast

Spalt was one of the only comparable hops that my LHBS had for Willamette. Since you can sub Tettnager for Willamette, and can sub Spalt for Tettnager, I figured since their AA levels were approximately the same and had similar profiles, they would work.

Black Patent was substituted for Amber malt in smaller quantity so it would produce similar color without overpowering.

I will also be brewing partial boils - two 1.5 gallon boils with half the grains, malt, hops, honey, and spices in each boil to be combined in the fermenter.

Does this sound like it would work well? I plan on keeping good notes and reporting back to you. Thanks for the recipe!

the grain substitution should be fine, I didn't put it in a program, but it might be a bit darker than mine, but that's ok. The only problem I see is the amount of ginger, that is a ****load of ginger! I'd do max 1oz, but recommend 1/2oz. But if you REALLY love ginger, go for it

 

[DGibb]

No, that's 0.5 or (1/2oz), not 5oz of ginger.

 

[danorocks17]

No, that's 0.5 or (1/2oz), not 5oz of ginger.

oh good, hahaha, i read that message in my email at work and for some reason it omitted the period hahaha. Good luck this weekend and for sure let me know how it went. I am getting ready to bottle my AG version of this for the first time, so hopefully it comes out as good

 

[zangung]

Brewers best has a hop nog I hear is very good

 

[DGibb]

I will have a lot of family to judge my beer over the holidays!

 

[danorocks17]

I will have a lot of family to judge my beer over the holidays!

no pressure! lol I ended up putting in your formulation with the black patent instead of the amber malt and it went from 23 SRM to 25 SRM, which I don't think it a huge difference. However, depending what kind of bitterness you want, you might want to think about adding 3lbs of the amber DME late, to increase your hop utilization. It's totally up to you though.

 

[DGibb]

Sounds like a good idea. I tend to do late extract addition anyway.

 

[NHhomebrewer]

How long do these beers need to age? Are you using a primary and secondary fermenter? And at what temperature? Thanks for all the great info. Will be bottling next week, so a brew day will commence shortly there after!

 

[danorocks17]

How long do these beers need to age? Are you using a primary and secondary fermenter? And at what temperature? Thanks for all the great info. Will be bottling next week, so a brew day will commence shortly there after!

to be honest I never have more than a couple past Jan or Feb, so I'm not sure if they age well. I always try to have them done by the time spring rolls around so I can do a fresh batch the following winter. I would guess that the spices would start to mellow and fall out if aged for very long, but that's just a guess.

 

[mike_23us]

I brewed the Brewer's Best kit "Holiday Ale" very good, probley going to go with hopnog this year

 

[DGibb]

I brewed the Brewer's Best kit "Holiday Ale" very good, probley going to go with hopnog this year

The idea of Hopnog, if it's a hoppy eggnog, does not appeal to me in the slightest.

 

[DGibb]

I brewed my Ugly Sweater Holiday Ale tonight. I had to use Spalt Special hops since my local LHBS was out of the hops in the recipe. All went well and my OG was 1.056 at 81 degrees Fahrenheit. It's currently sitting in my poor man's fermentation chamber that should drop it to 68 with 48 hours.

I am planning 14 days in primary, 14 secondary, and 21 bottled. That should set me up for the holiday season.

How does that sound?

 

[danorocks17]

I brewed my Ugly Sweater Holiday Ale tonight. I had to use Spalt Special hops since my local LHBS was out of the hops in the recipe. All went well and my OG was 1.056 at 81 degrees Fahrenheit. It's currently sitting in my poor man's fermentation chamber that should drop it to 68 with 48 hours.

I am planning 14 days in primary, 14 secondary, and 21 bottled. That should set me up for the holiday season.

How does that sound?

sounds pretty good, I know the OG sounds a little low, but you measured it at 81 and I know temp can throw off a hydrometer reading if it's higher than pitch temps. I've got a batch that I have primaried for over a month and I'm gonna bottle it soon. Let me know in a few months how the finished product turned out :fro:

 

[RiverBearBrew]

When I first started brewing I was using Mr. Beer kits and I got this one and tweeked it a little and it came out very good.

http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/253/nm/Christmas_Ale1

I didnt add the cherries cause I dont like cherry in beer. I used a 1/4 lb of brown sugar instead of the honey and I added the spices into the secondary.
Did 1 week in primary, 1 week in secondary and 2 weeks in the bottle. I liked it.

Joe

River Bear Brewing Co.