Winter Seasonal Beer Holly (Christmas Ale)

[Q2XL]

Does the fresh ginger root need to be grated?

 

[jmo88]

I've done it with both dehydrated diced Ginger and grated fresh. If you're using fresh I'd peel and grate it.

 

[pj_rage]

Been a week and a half since bottling. I know it's too early, but being my first beer, I'm sampling it along the way just for my own knowledge.

For anyone who is wondering...

Tried a couple on thanksgiving, 6 days after bottling. Carb was light but coming along. The vanilla was very forward. Tasted a little sweet still. Tried again on Saturday, I couldn't believe how much the spices had mellowed just in those 2 more days. The vanilla was still the forerunner, but it was getting a lot more balanced. Just tried one again last night, and the spices have really settled. They are getting a very nice balance now and have faded into the background a bit (in a good way). The only thing I'm not liking is a bit of an alcohol taste that is coming through, similar to the taste I was getting right before bottling (the spices + priming sugar seemed to mask it initially after bottling). It basically just tastes like it has a high alcohol content (which it does). I know they say big beers take a while to carb/condition, so I'm not worried about it yet, it will probably get better over time. Overall though, even with the slight taste of alcohol, I'm really digging it.

 

[fermenteverything]

I really like the vanilla taste in my christmas ale, I wonder how much would be too much.
2 beans, 3? 4? Maybe it would jsut get better...

 

[Q2XL]

I really like the vanilla taste in my christmas ale, I wonder how much would be too much.
2 beans, 3? 4? Maybe it would jsut get better...

Mine is still in the bottle so I don't know how it tastes yet. But I think putting less in is always best. If you put too much in it, it may be overpowering.

If you add 2 beans and that is not enought then you add 3 the next time you brew it until you get the taste that you like.

 

[Q2XL]

Mmmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmmm.....I gave this a taste 13 days into carbonation and it tastes great!!!! Could still use a bit more carbing up, but it was outstanding. A nice hint of all the spices. It should taste even better as time goes by.

Thanks for the tasty recipe.

 

[jmo88]

Mmmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmmm.....I gave this a taste 13 days into carbonation and it tastes great!!!! Could still use a bit more carbing up, but it was outstanding. A nice hint of all the spices. It should taste even better as time goes by.

Thanks for the tasty recipe.

I'm glad it turned out well for you. It certainly ages well. I've found the vanilla to dominate for 3 weeks or so and after that the other spices become more noticeable. It's a great beer at 3 weeks, but an awesome beer at 2 months.

 

[pj_rage]

It's been 3.5 weeks or so since I bottled mine and it's really pretty damn delicious at this point! One of my favorite Christmas ales I've ever had for sure. After only 1.5 weeks, I thought the vanilla was too forward, they hadn't really carbed up fully yet, and had a hot alcohol taste. But now, man, they are tasty! The spices are way more balanced and the carb is about right for the style. The hot alcohol taste is gone. And for finishing at 9.0% abv, the alcohol is hidden dangerously well!

Being my first all grain, and first with spices too, I am definitely surprised what a couple weeks in the bottle can do for the beer. I read so much that said not to worry, so I didn't, I just sampled along the way for education. Everyone is totally right when they say it just needs time, and especially jmo when you say that spices really act strange in beers and need time to mellow, it really surprised me just how quickly the spices started to fall into line and how much they changed on basically a daily basis.

I'm very happy with this recipe, and I think it's going to be a staple for Christmas now! In fact, I'm sure they will be even more delicious come Christmas time in another week and half, and you bet your ass I'll be drinking a few on Christmas Also going to be saving a few to try them after another month and again in a few months, just to see how early to brew this baby next year.

Thanks a lot jmo for sharing your great recipe, and Happy Holidays!

 

[petercarrjones]

It was an adventure doing my first all grain brew (mostly due to making a shoddy mashtun), but this was an awesome recipe to get started. I bottled on Sunday, so I'll give it about another week before I try it. But I can't wait! The samples I've had while testing specific gravity were great and the spice tea smelled awesome. I'm planning on using it for a New Years Day homebrew paired dinner. I've got a hoppy barleywine and this one. I'm not sure which will be for dessert and which will be for the main course (Other courses- jalapeno-peach hefe with quesadillas > SWMBO belgian blonde with seasonal salad > scotch ale and beef beer stew > Main Course? > Bananas Foster with ? > Mead afterdinner drink).

 

[KNOTSANE]

Just bottled up my batch of this beer. I made the tea and racked on top of it. Towards the end of bottling (about 7 bottles from the end) I pulled a sample to check the gravity. It was spot on. I tasted the sample out of the tube and it was nasty tasting. I tasted some out of the fermentor last week and it was really good. I realized i had some star san in the bottom of the bucket when I dumped the tea in, but can a little star san sour out 4.5 gallons of brew? It's hard to describe the taste, but it was harsh and stingy. (if that makes sense) Is this normal for this beer until it mellows out? Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[jmo88]

Just bottled up my batch of this beer. I made the tea and racked on top of it. Towards the end of bottling (about 7 bottles from the end) I pulled a sample to check the gravity. It was spot on. I tasted the sample out of the tube and it was nasty tasting. I tasted some out of the fermentor last week and it was really good. I realized i had some star san in the bottom of the bucket when I dumped the tea in, but can a little star san sour out 4.5 gallons of brew? It's hard to describe the taste, but it was harsh and stingy. (if that makes sense) Is this normal for this beer until it mellows out? Has anyone else experienced this?

This is not a very easy beer to make. More steps in a recipe just increases the chances that something can go wrong. I'm not sure why it wouldn't taste good to you during bottling. You could have picked up an infection, left a large quantity of StarSan in the beer, messed up the spicing process. Starsan is an acid and the more acidic something is, the more of a chance it will taste sour. I really don't think this was your problem though, unless you left a hefty quantity in there or didn't mix the proper proportions of the Starsan. Maybe it'll improve in a few weeks, but the beer should never taste nasty.

 

[kansas_cty_shfl]

The holidays have gotten in the way of my beer making and I couldn't get this one finished in time for Christmas like I originally wanted. However, this being my first all-grain I severely underestimated how much wort the grain would suck up and came up a full gallon short. Now I need some opinions from those that have been successful with this, with only 4 gallons should I dial some of the spices back or just leave them as is?

 

[pj_rage]

FWIW I haven't really liked the taste of any of the beers I've bottled yet after the priming sugar is added and it's going into the bottle. Before priming and especially after they are carbonated, they taste a lot better. I usually taste the last bit that didn't fit into a bottle, and it's usually kind of gross IMO. Especially with the spices not having time to mellow or anything, it could be worse. I did taste this one after priming but I can't recall exactly what it tasted like.

Either way, I wouldn't worry too much until you give it 3 or 4 weeks to carb up and try it again.

 

[jmo88]

The holidays have gotten in the way of my beer making and I couldn't get this one finished in time for Christmas like I originally wanted. However, this being my first all-grain I severely underestimated how much wort the grain would suck up and came up a full gallon short. Now I need some opinions from those that have been successful with this, with only 4 gallons should I dial some of the spices back or just leave them as is?

It'll turn out fine, I'm sure. Maybe it'll be a little stronger, from being more concentrated. It is a Holiday beer after all

The great part about the spicing method is that you can make sure the spices taste good and are properly balanced with the beer. Maybe just choose a smaller vanilla bean and a smaller cinnamon stick.

 

[SkylerChaBro]

Saved and written down. Next year this will be on the top of my list for October brewing.

I'm glad you are receiving such great reviews as well.

Merry Christmas all!

 

[KNOTSANE]

Well I had to sample one only after a couple of days in the bottle to see if what I tasted the other day was just me or not. I must have had a bad taste in my mouth when i did that sample after checking the gravity. Very much flat, but a nice flavor. Although I really cant taste all the spices, but I'm sure they will all come out when everything mellows out. I just though the vanilla would jump out. Still I think it will be just fine.

 

[jmo88]

Well I had to sample one only after a couple of days in the bottle to see if what I tasted the other day was just me or not. I must have had a bad taste in my mouth when i did that sample after checking the gravity. Very much flat, but a nice flavor. Although I really cant taste all the spices, but I'm sure they will all come out when everything mellows out. I just though the vanilla would jump out. Still I think it will be just fine.

Carbonation is a major player in bringing out these spices. It has a great nose to it, but it needs to be carbonated.

...perhaps a good New Year's beer

 

[petercarrjones]

Friends and family have all tried this and loved it. Even my Mom, who doesn't like beer and especially most of my other brews, drank her entire glass of this one. Success on Christmas Eve/Morn for the Holly Christmas Ale!

 

[Q2XL]

This beer is so damn good that I am brewing another batch tomorrow. Almost out of the first batch. This time I will remember to add the honey.

 

[KNOTSANE]

Being a spiced beer, I will definitely kick this batch off this year in late September or early October. The longer this beer sits in the bottles, the better it gets.

 

[wiseass121]

This is my first AG brew so please forgive my stupid questions, it's just being inexperience. In the ingredients listed honey is listed as the sugar, does this take the place of the priming sugar, if not how much priming sugar is needed?
Thanks for your help.

 

[jmo88]

The honey is to be added at flameout. I add the spices to the priming solution at bottling time. For the priming solution, I just use corn sugar. As for how much, I'd use a priming calculator to figure out how to get 2.2-2.5 volumes of CO2. You can probably find one online. I can't tell you how much sugar because I don't know the exact amount of beer you'll end up with at bottling. I always weigh it out rather than measure it by the cup, too. It's more precise that way.

I'll be kegging the Holly this year, so the process will be a little different. I'll post back to let everyone know the differences it made from bottling.

 

[jlauritz]

Make a tea prior to bottling by boiling a quart of the beer with the above spices and priming sugar for about a minute to combine.


When you use the quart of beer to make the tea, do you pull a quart from the batch you are about to prime?

 

[jmo88]

Make a tea prior to bottling by boiling a quart of the beer with the above spices and priming sugar for about a minute to combine.

When you use the quart of beer to make the tea, do you pull a quart from the batch you are about to prime?

Yes. You could use water, but I've always used the beer.

 

[n240sxguy]

I may have just missed this altogether, but what kind of yeast is used for this?

 

[jmo88]

I may have just missed this altogether, but what kind of yeast is used for this?

The recipe is for safale 05, or a cal ale liquid strain. This year, however, I will brew this with wyeast London Ale III to get a little more malt and sweetness. I've never used an English strain on this beer before, but I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[n240sxguy]

Ok. Great. I didn't have time to check back before I went to the brew shop, so I got Nottingham, us-05, and s-04. I figured it was probably one of those. Now I have some spares for future brews. What a shame.

 

[Homercidal]

It may be a little late to brew this for Christmas, but I've been thinking about doing one of these for a while. I hope to do a brewday this weekend and see what happens. It may not be ready in time for the Holidays, but maybe it will be good for the rest of the winter!

 

[n240sxguy]

I'm right there with you. Better late than never I guess. I picked up all my stuff yesterday. Gonna try to get this thing going Monday.

 

[jmo88]

You guys are fine, you got plenty of time. I am not brewing this until late in October and it will be on tap for the holidays. The reason I want it to be 2 months old at tapping is because of the ABV, not the spices. Part of the reason I like spicing at packaging is because you can get a really good idea what it will taste like by blending a small portion of the tea in a sample glass with the unspiced beer (roughly gauging the ratio of the final product). If you feel it is too strong for drinking without much aging, don't add the whole amount of tea. It really just requires some simple math and you can get a really close idea of what the finished product will be like. I've found that the vanilla will fade substantially quicker than the other spices during the conditioning process.

If any of you have used fruit extract at bottling or kegging, it is basically the same process.