Winter Seasonal Beer Holly (Christmas Ale)

[iceman1407]

So will the fact that my mash tun is only 5 gal create difficulty for me in maintain this??

 

[iceman1407]

What size batch is your recipe yield??

 

[jmo88]

So will the fact that my mash tun is only 5 gal create difficulty for me in maintain this??

Probably. I'd estimate that roughly 2lbs of grain per gallon of your tun capacity is your max. You may be able to do a really thick mash, but you might be better off converting to extract or scaling it down.

What size batch is your recipe yield??

5gl

 

[jlauritz]

I'm planning on tweaking this recipe to use heather tips for some of the hops additions and Gallberry (a holly bush) honey.

 

[n240sxguy]

Is it going to hurt anything if this is fermented a little warmer than the 64 that you had in the recipe. I got it stated yesterday, and it I bubbling away, but it is 71 based on my little stick on thermometer. Is that too high? The yeast says 59-75 on the package. I just didn't want to screw up all that work. Also, what OG did you get. It may be somewhere in this thread, but I didn't remember. I hit 1.070.

 

[n240sxguy]

Also, it smells like bananas as it is fermenting. Is that good or bad? It smells really good! I've never used the US-05 yeast before, so I isn't know if that was one of it's characteristics or not. I know I've read of people having that smell; I just can't remember if it was good or bad they were talking about.

 

[Shuznuts]

Brewed this up on Sunday. My second AG. Went pretty smooth all things considering. Hit 1.082 for the OG. Thanks for the recipe. I can't wait to make the tea and, of course, drink the beer! Cheers!

 

[soup67]

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

Do you grind the bitter orange peel?

 

[jmo88]

Do you grind the bitter orange peel?

I buy the bitter orange peel from the bulk spice section of my Co-Op. it's dehydrated in small diced pieces. Just seek out a store with a really good spice section. I've never used orange zest or peel, so I can't comment on a substitution.

 

[soup67]

I buy the bitter orange peel from the bulk spice section of my Co-Op. it's dehydrated in small diced pieces. Just seek out a store with a really good spice section. I've never used orange zest or peel, so I can't comment on a substitution.

Sounds like you are using something quite different from the "bitter orange peel" I buy at my LHBS. Mine is brown, hard, woody, and would have to be crushed or ground. I've used it this way in some wit recipes.

Is what you use actually soft-ish and orange? If so, I think fresh zest would be better for this recipe than the bitter orange peel I've got.

 

[jmo88]

Sounds like you are using something quite different from the "bitter orange peel" I buy at my LHBS. Mine is brown, hard, woody, and would have to be crushed or ground. I've used it this way in some wit recipes.

Is what you use actually soft-ish and orange? If so, I think fresh zest would be better for this recipe than the bitter orange peel I've got.

Sounds like you'd be better off using zest in that case. Zest will be stronger. Since you're deviating, I'd add a little at a time to the tea until you feel it's right. It will probably work out to use half the amount of zest compared to the peel.

 

[soup67]

Sounds like you'd be better off using zest in that case. Zest will be stronger. Since you're deviating, I'd add a little at a time to the tea until you feel it's right. It will probably work out to use half the amount of zest compared to the peel.

Sounds right-- thanks. I will be bottling later this week.

How cool is it to have so many folks brewing your holiday recipe?

 

[jmo88]

How cool is it to have so many folks brewing your holiday recipe?

Surprising really. It's a solid recipe but process is more important to a good beer. Recipes are a dime a dozen but process is invaluable.

I brewed this last week and did some tweaks in hopes to get a higher FG and better malt character. I changed the base to Maris Otter and the yeast to NW ale yeast (an English style strain). I'll also be adding the tea to a keg this time around. So much for only changing one variable at a time.

 

[SimplyBeginning]

I brewed this last week and did some tweaks in hopes to get a higher FG and better malt character. I changed the base to Maris Otter and the yeast to NW ale yeast (an English style strain). I'll also be adding the tea to a keg this time around. So much for only changing one variable at a time.

I'm hoping to brew this in a week or two and keg it up as well. You mind posting what you do or would do different to keg it? Are you going to force carb, or still mix up that same tea with priming sugar and keg condition it? I suppose you could just do the tea sans sugar and force carb, but if you're making the tea and have the time, might as well keg condition, right?

 

[jmo88]

I'm hoping to brew this in a week or two and keg it up as well. You mind posting what you do or would do different to keg it? Are you going to force carb, or still mix up that same tea with priming sugar and keg condition it? I suppose you could just do the tea sans sugar and force carb, but if you're making the tea and have the time, might as well keg condition, right?

I'll be brewing the tea without sugar and force carbing the beer. Of course keg conditioning would be fine too but I don't do that with any of my beers.

 

[BrewPilot74]

This beer looks great and I can't wait to make it. I dont' have a French press. Will it be OK to make the tea, let it steep and just add it to the bottling bucket without the press?

Thanks!

 

[xxR4fterm4nxx]

Hi,

I'm going to try this next week. It will be my first all grain attempt, in fact my first mashing attempt of any kind. Any words of wisdom? I'm just going to go for it, because this sounds like a fun brew to bring around the family this year.

 

[Shuznuts]

Bottled this last night. The beer itself tasted great. My FG was 1.010. Add the tea to it and the spice characters definitely come through nicely. Vanilla seems to be the dominant player. I used 1 Tbs of freshly grated ginger. I didn't have a french press, so after boiling everything for a minute or so, I just let the spices sit for about 20 minutes, cooled the mixture, then strained it into my bottling bucket (after sanitizing the strainer and funnel). It's gonna be tough waiting 2 months for it to age, but it will be worth it.

 

[jmo88]

Vanilla seems to be the dominant player.

Sounds about right, for now. It will be in the foreground for about a month and then it will blend nicely with the others. Let me know how that fresh ginger turns out when you sample it.

 

[kansas_cty_shfl]

I actually just stumbled across a 12er of this I forgot I had that I think is almost a year old. Should be interesting to see how it is after a year. To anyone thinking about brewing this do it! It's a great brew for the holidays.

 

[Deskjockey894]

Couple of questions on the tea:
Vanilla bean - Do you only throw the innards of the bean in the tea and leave out the casing? or should both be put in the tea?

Orange peel bitter - I'm hoping I can find this at the spice store I live near - but if not - using approx. 1/2 tsp of orange zest should be a decent substitute? Should the peel be sanitized first before zesting it?
Thanks

 

[jmo88]

Couple of questions on the tea:
Vanilla bean - Do you only throw the innards of the bean in the tea and leave out the casing? or should both be put in the tea?

I toss the casing in the tea as well. Splitting and scraping the insides is good practice though because the vanilla gets distributed really well in the tea.

Orange peel bitter - I'm hoping I can find this at the spice store I live near - but if not - using approx. 1/2 tsp of orange zest should be a decent substitute? Should the peel be sanitized first before zesting it?
Thanks

I don't know about using zest. I can't speak from personal experience but another brewer did this, just look a few posts back. 1/2 tsp should probably be tasty though. You should sample the tea with some of the beer. Just try to estimate the ratio of beer to tea, keeping in mind though that it will mellow with age. If it's an orange bomb, make another batch of tea.

The short boil will sanitize the zest.

Also, if you have a gourmet tea shop nearby where you can make your own blends , you might be able to find it there.

 

[BrewPilot74]

I've used zest in the past and it works great, but one word of warning -- make sure not to get any of the white part of the peel in the brew because it's extremely bitter! After doing that once I decided to start buying dried bitter (or sweet) orange peel from the LHBS. You can get an ounce for like two bucks. Plus I don't have a food scale and without that it's pretty hard to know how much peel to zest.

 

[soup67]

Orange peel bitter - I'm hoping I can find this at the spice store I live near - but if not - using approx. 1/2 tsp of orange zest should be a decent substitute? Should the peel be sanitized first before zesting it?
Thanks

I used an oz of zest in the tea for a 5g batch. By volume, it was closer to a tbsp.

Tasted great at bottling-- maybe a little strong on the vanilla and cinnamon, but I expect that to mellow over the next 6 weeks.

 

[stompbox]

Anyone convert this to an extract batch yet?

 

[Shuznuts]

Just brewed this over the weekend- I adjusted it to be a Partial Mash, using 2.5lbs of 2 row and 6.6lbs of Briess Light LME.

I think you need to do a partial mash for the specialty grains. Otherwise, this is the best iteration I could find using extract.

 

[Faseel]

Im sorry, I can't find what yeast is prefered? Thank you!

 

[jmo88]

The original recipe is for safale 05. So far that's the best, but I have one still aging made with Wyeast Northwest Ale yeast that I can't yet report on.

 

[nduetime]

Fermentables
US 2-Row Malt 13lb 0oz (84.1 %) In Mash/Steeped
UK Medium Crystal 8.00 oz (3.2 %) In Mash/Steeped
Belgian Special B 8.00 oz (3.2 %) In Mash/Steeped
German Wheat Malt 4.00 oz (1.6 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Chocolate Malt (350L) 3.20 oz (1.3 %) In Mash/Steeped
Sugar - Honey 1lb 0oz (6.5 %) End Of Boil

jmo88...do you think substituting brown sugar or molasses for the honey would work? What qualities does the honey impart in this recipe, besides sugar to bump up the OG? Does the honey come through all the spices in the end?

 

[jmo88]

jmo88...do you think substituting brown sugar or molasses for the honey would work? What qualities does the honey impart in this recipe, besides sugar to bump up the OG? Does the honey come through all the spices in the end?

The honey comes through. It adds a subtle honey aroma and flavor. I tried a friend's braggot the other day for the first time and it reminded me of this beer, and considering the amount he used for the braggot, I'd say the honey in this beer comes through pretty well considering it only a pound. I've used both brown sugar and molasses in other beers and I feel you'll end up with a much different beer.

I add the honey at about 180-190F once I start cooling.