Long-fermenting, high ABV Christmas Beer

[nlpavalko]

'Tis the season to think about Christmas beers, right? (Christmas in July is close enough!)

I'd like to brew a small batch (1 or 2 gal) Christmas ale or porter that is high in ABV (10% or higher) that I can brew now and bottle some time around November or December.

A few questions to ask though, never having done such a beer:

(1. Does higher ABV a simple matter of higher sugar content in the wort?

(2a. Is there a method to long fermentation -- meaning can sugar ferment over a long period or does the yeast eat those sugars all at once.

(2b. Will fermentation restart if a second batch of yeast is pitched?

(3. Does long storage in a secondary (five months or so) have any advantage beyond clarification?

(4. Any recipe suggestions from other forums, or ones you all have tried.

Thanks for all the help from a relative noob!

 

[sptaylor70]

1. Mostly, yes. It's also a function of how much of your wort is fermentable. For extract brewing, this is, for the most part, a fixed quantity.

2a. Yeast fermentation rate depends on several factors - variety of yeast (ale vs. lager), temperature, specific gravity of the wort, pitching rate, and health and activity of the yeast when pitched. For ale yeasts, fermentation is usually finished, regardless of the other variables, within about a week. Lager yeast takes longer.

2b. Not generally. Once the sugar is gone, the next yeast doesn't have anything to eat.

• Caveat 1. If yeast 1 was an ale yeast, and yeast 2 is a lager yeast, then the ale yeast will have left the melibiose (one of many wort sugars) and the lager yeast will have that to munch on.
• Caveat 2. Some yeasts are very highly attenuating, like champagne yeast. If yeast 1 is a low attenuating yeast, and yeast 2 is highly attenuating, then yes, yeast 2 will keep going.
• Caveat 3. Some yeasts are highly alcohol tolerant. So if you are fermenting a big beer, and start with a lower alcohol tolerant yeast (e.g. Wyeast London ESB), then the yeast might stop due to alcohol poisoning. Pitching a yeast with higher alcohol tolerance, (e.g. Wyeast Scottish ale) might then let you continue fermenting.

3. It depends. Sometimes, depending on the yeast you're using and the conditions (particularly temperature), the initial fermentation products will contain many unpleasant odors and flavors that the yeast can then clean up during a long stay in a secondary fermentation vessel.

4. Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde is a favorite. He has an extract version of it, if that's what you'd prefer, a few posts into the thread. There are several good Oktoberfest recipes, like Biermuncher's, Sieglaff's, and Ed Wort's. I've brewed Sieglaff's, and will be brewing Biermuncher's in a few weeks. They can be brewed with altbier yeast, or even US-05. And as for Christmas beers, there are some good weizenbock recipes. I've made a version of the Beer Barons' recipe that was great (until I messed it up in secondary and bottling).