Winter Seasonal Beer Holly (Christmas Ale)

[Faseel]

Me too, with mine, the alcohol dominates the nose week 2 in the bottle, is it week 4 through 8 where the spices come back through?

 

[d50erock]

I just racked mine to the secondary to clear up. Had a gravity reading of 1.016. Hope to keg by next weekend.

 

[KNOTSANE]

The beauty of this spiced recipe is that the longer it sits in bottles, the more the flavors mellow and blend together. Now I brew this Christmas ale in September and it has a good 2 1/2 to 3 months to condition in the bottles. Talk about a wait worth waiting for. I just do a couple of other different brew around the same time to make sure I'm not tempted to drink all of these.

 

[adam01]

Wow, this thing sings cinnamon. Hopefully cold and fully carbonated its not as much.

 

[soup67]

Wow, this thing sings cinnamon. Hopefully cold and fully carbonated its not as much.

See the post above yours-- how long has yours been in the bottle. It really is cool how this beer changes and mellows as it matures.

 

[adam01]

Yes, saw it. It's kegged and about 4wks old. Hoping for the mellowing in two weeks.

 

[soup67]

Yes, saw it. It's kegged and about 4wks old. Hoping for the mellowing in two weeks.

Mine has been sitting in bottles at basement temps (65ish) for over 6 weeks. It is really nice now, but I think it is still improving. I brewed it for gifts. Wish I had made a double batch.

 

[Deskjockey894]

Hooowah - Just tasted my beer today - at the 6 week mark in the bottle, very smooth, all the spices coming in nicely, nothing overpowering, never made a beer before with a head this thick, great stuff. I cracked my first beer at 4 weeks, and it still had that hot alcohol taste at the end, i think the cinnamon exagerated this as well. 2 additional weeks made quite the difference. Will be interesting to see how incrementally better this will get over time.

 

[cborzio1]

This is going to be my next brew, it sounds awesome. All my calculations agree with your numbers assuming a 75% efficiency. I didn't see any posts regarding mash thickness however. I usually use 1.33qt/lb. Do you have any words of experience regarding mash thickness for this particular brew?

 

[Faseel]

Little fyi, thank you for this recipe its a big hit. Your timing on the flavor profile is dead on. Thank you!

 

[blackbird]

Bottled this up Dec. 1st and the flavors have really come together. The only changes I made to the recipe were that I substituted notti for the yeast and didn't add the honey. A friend tried one last night and thought it tasted and smelled of snickerdoodle cookies. The spices are very well balanced with the beer. I was worried after bottling because I thought the vanilla was extremely overpowering, but it has mellowed substantially. Thanks for the fantastic recipe Jmo. Definitely one of the best I've brewed to date.

 

[Homercidal]

Made this a while back, trying to finish it by the Holidays. Temp controller messed up and chilled my yeast. I brought it in the house but it never really got going. ended up pitching new yeast and it's fermenting away. Took a sample last night and although it's still a bit sweet, it's tasting like it might turn out nice after all.

A few more days and it should be pretty close.

I wonder if there is any reason to rack it into a different keg. It was still about 1.050 when I repitched. I wonder how many people drink from their primaries...

 

[redbirdjcd]

Spectacular recipe. We brewed this several weeks ago and bottled about a week ago. I can't wait to taste the "final" product. Planning on setting aside at least a twelve pack to age for a good while Since I'm sharing a 5 gal batch with two friends saving any more might be a challenge!

 

[jdozer]

Total noob questions, this will be my 3rd brew ever so bear with me. Number one, how much water are you mashing in? And how long? Number two, what temp is the boil? Thanks in advance, this sounds like an excellent beer!

 

[coonz]

What kind of yeast do I use for this brew?

 

[jdozer]

The yeast is s-05

 

[jmo88]

Number one, how much water are you mashing in? And how long?

I use 1.25 qts per pound of grain for all my beers and mash for about an hour.

Number two, what temp is the boil?

Uh.... serious?

 

[jdozer]

Lol, dumb question looking back. Thanks for the info. Looking forward to brewing this

 

[shoshin]

Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe!! I just bottled after 4 weeks in primary. It tasted AMAZING, both with and without the tea. I'll have to brew it again and just bottle it as-is, without the tea. More details:

http://home.kimusubi.net/beer/?p=68

How do you think this would fare with a Belgian yeast?

 

[petercarrjones]

Ooooh, love the idea of a Belgian yeast.

 

[AR-Josh]

Has anyone done a taste profile of this beer? Any pics? I'm wondering how much chocolate flavor is in it. I am also wondering what sweet orange peel instead of bitter would do. I am also thinking about coco nibs. Thoughts?

 

[AR-Josh]

Well...I'm going to give it a go. I'm going to rack this on to cocoa nibs in secondary. I won't make this until next month but now I have a plan.

 

[richkev]

Let us know how it turns out. Sounds pretty good, to me.

 

[DagoBrewer]

Hey Josh, im gonna try this with sweet orange peel too... Gonna brew it this weekend! Have you brewed it yet?

 

[AR-Josh]

Hey Josh, im gonna try this with sweet orange peel too... Gonna brew it this weekend! Have you brewed it yet?

I have not brewed it yet. I was thinking about brewing it this weekend...but it may have to wait as I'm busy.

 

[AR-Josh]

Hey Josh, im gonna try this with sweet orange peel too... Gonna brew it this weekend! Have you brewed it yet?

Did you brew and how did it turn out? Maybe I'll catalog my brew day of this whenever I get around to doing it.

 

[DagoBrewer]

I

 

[DagoBrewer]

I got busy and couldnt do it. Im gonna brew on thursday this week, ill let you know how everything went.

 

[jmo88]

Has anyone done a taste profile of this beer? Any pics? I'm wondering how much chocolate flavor is in it. I am also wondering what sweet orange peel instead of bitter would do. I am also thinking about coco nibs. Thoughts?

A late reply, don't make it over here as much as I used to...

The beer has very little chocolate character–think amber ale–since it's only 3oz (I'm not sure why I listed it as 3.2 oz, I'm really not that particular, honestly). Also, its a low lovibond chocolate. Most shops have it labeled as pale chocolate. It has an orangish hue somewhere between an Amber and a pale brown.

 

[MedicMang]

Brewday is thursday. Very excited.