Winter Seasonal Beer Holly (Christmas Ale)

[BPhad]

Brewed this today and used harvested wlp002

Looked and smelled great at end of boil

 

[morticus]

Has anyone tried just adding the vanilla bean to the secondary instead of the tea mix? I wonder if that would give it too much vanilla flavor? Thoughts?

 

[ThisKidsAlright]

Thanks for this recipe! I'm going to brew this Sunday to have it ready just in time for New Years Eve, but I have one question: the recipe refers to Medium Crystal malt. What lovibond would that be? Thanks!

 

[jmo88]

Thanks for this recipe! I'm going to brew this Sunday to have it ready just in time for New Years Eve, but I have one question: the recipe refers to Medium Crystal malt. What lovibond would that be? Thanks!

60L. I use Hugh Baird but most English Malts labeled medium will be around the lovibond. Love those English crystal malts...

 

[booduh13]

Alright so I'm pretty new to homebrewing but I've jumped In head first and love doing it so far. I only have 5 batches under my belt to date, 2 extract and 3 partial mash but all of my batches have turned out pretty good in my opinion and In the opinions of my willing taste tasters : )
Right now I'm working on making the move to AG but I'm not there quite yet.. I love the sound of this recipe and after reading through all the replays I want to try it out. But how do I convert an AG recipe into a partial mash??

I know a guy on page 2 or 3 did a partial mash but I have no idea where he pulled the amounts from... Like I said, I'm new to most of this so I would love some insight. Thanks!

 

[ThisKidsAlright]

60L. I use Hugh Baird but most English Malts labeled medium will be around the lovibond. Love those English crystal malts...

Thanks a lot!

 

[cpesko]

Does this recipe need to be altered for BIAB?

 

[BPhad]

Does this recipe need to be altered for BIAB?

I did it BIAB over weekend and hit 1.068 og
Mashed at 152 for 1:15 then did a mash out to 168 before lifting and draining/squeezing.

 

[cpesko]

I did it BIAB over weekend and hit 1.068 og
Mashed at 152 for 1:15 then did a mash out to 168 before lifting and draining/squeezing.

Thanks Look forwarding to brewing this weekend. :rockin:

 

[Fordzilla]

Looking forward to bottling this in the next week or so

 

[drewnasty]

Just brewed beer last night hit OG but only got 4 gallons after boil, first time doing AG in awhile, what are your guys opinion about topping off bad or good and I'm guessing it is going to effect the tea

 

[DagoBrewer]

Just brewed beer last night hit OG but only got 4 gallons after boil, first time doing AG in awhile, what are your guys opinion about topping off bad or good and I'm guessing it is going to effect the tea

I wouldnt top it off, just adjust when you make the tea. I just cracked one of these last nite after a few more weeks in the bottle. It tasted really good!!

 

[Bradthoc]

Single Step Infusion (67C/152F)

I don't have any brewer's software. Could someone tell me what temperature they had their water at to reach a mash temperature of 152? I plan on following this recipe as it is.

 

[DagoBrewer]

I don't have any brewer's software. Could someone tell me what temperature they had their water at to reach a mash temperature of 152? I plan on following this recipe as it is.

Theres plenty of free online calculators for this stuff. Brewersfriend.com is the one i use. It all depends on the temp of your grain and the heat loss to the tun, all of these are factored into the calculator. Check it out, its very helpful.

 

[jdozer]

Just sampled this, smooth and flavorful. Big vanilla now, will try again in a few weeks and see how it all comes together

 

[Lagerheaded]

Just brewed this up today. Hit 1.068. Looks and smells great. My first AG brew!

 

[brrman]

Mine is about 3 weeks in primary now. Gonna brew up the spiced tea this weekend I guess, and throw it in the keg to hopefully be ready for Thanksgiving. Might still be a tad green, but i bet it will taste great. Should be nicely aged by Christmas.

 

[atimmerman88]

I suppose it would be pushing it to have this brewed and bottle conditioned before xmas this year....

 

[tre9er]

I suppose it would be pushing it to have this brewed and bottle conditioned before xmas this year....

I'm probably going to try it. If I can get it to ferm, closely controlled with good pitch rate, in a week or 9 days, I can crash it and keg it inside of 2 weeks. That gives me about a month to condition.

 

[atimmerman88]

I suppose I could do that. I'd really like to give it a month in bottles.

I did a pumpkin ale that took nearly that long for the vanilla to mellow out, used 1 bean for 5.5 gallons.

 

[tre9er]

I suppose I could do that. I'd really like to give it a month in bottles.

I did a pumpkin ale that took nearly that long for the vanilla to mellow out, used 1 bean for 5.5 gallons.

Well you can always START drinking it a tiny bit near the holidays, treat it like a special occasion-only beer. But then it will be even better with every week.

 

[cpesko]

What kind of Honey has everyone been using for this?

 

[jdozer]

Cheap store bought honey

 

[betelgeuse4721]

Looks quite tasty

 

[stompbox]

Bottled this 3 weeks ago. I caved and tried one now. It is warm as piss, and still very flat but it tastes great.

Cant wait for it to carb and mellow!

 

[BPhad]

What kind of Honey has everyone been using for this?

I bought raw honey at Whole Foods
About $7 for 22oz

 

[richkev]

What kind of Honey has everyone been using for this?

I always try to use local honey from the Farmer's Market. It really helps out your local beekeepers and you can be confident that it hasn't been pasteurized or had anything added to it. Plus, I find it to be cheaper than store bought.

 

[Fordzilla]

Brewed this on October 28th, won't be able to bottle it until November 21st. Hopefully that will be long enough for this to be awesome by Christmas!

 

[cpesko]

So i am finally getting around to this beer hopefully tonight. Going to pick up the grains atleast this is my first all grain batch. Ended of buying a 70 qt Coleman last night instead of BIAB. (because i don't really have a pulley system) I just want to confirm 4.5 of strike water and should it still be a full sarge of 3.0 gallons?

 

[mike_in_ak]

There's a chart in Joy of Homebrewing. Was a small problem I had with this brew as my second AG. You may end up with more water in the brew pot than for a lesser grain bill, so you probably need to boil some of the water off before starting the 60 min brew cycle. So you don't end up with more wort than carboy.