Need someone more creative than me at recipe formulation.

[The_General]

Where I grew up in PA, there's a popular holiday drink called boilo. It's a hot whiskey drink with honey, oranges, lemons, raisins, cinnamon, etc. There are as many recipes as there are people making this.

I've been kicking around the idea of making a boilo-ish beer. I've been thinking about a recipe based on maybe a low-hopped amber or a spiced holiday beer. I'm not sure how to get the citrus in there though. I'd imagine the sugar would ferment out and I'd just be left with the citrus flavor...kind of like the problem people run into when trying to make hard lemonade. Maybe it would have to be backsweetened with lactose? Any brainstorming would be appreciated.

By the way, here's a boilo recipe to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about.

1 bottle whiskey (any relatively cheap, blended whiskey will do)
Several oranges. Quantity depends on how much you wish to make. Use at least 4.
Same number of lemons
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups of honey
2 cinnamon sticks

Peel the oranges and lemons and cut into quarters. Squeeze the fruit into a pot, then throw in the remaining fruit pulp. Add some water (some people use ginger ale). Add the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the whiskey. Cook everything at a slow simmer, stirring constantly. This will take about 15-20 minutes. If necessary, add orange juice and a bit more water. The color should be a yellow-orange. Don't overcook; the name is misleading. You don't want to boil this. Then slowly stir in the whiskey. Be careful - this can catch fire if splashed on the stove. Keep adding whiskey to taste. It's not uncommon to use the whole bottle. Simmer for just a few more minutes once the whiskey is added.

 

[aseg]

I would use centennial hops for the lemon. some lemon zest at flame-out would help also. For the sweetness, I wouldn't go with lactose because it changes the body quite a bit. I would use melanoidin malts for that pure sweet, and also finish with some honey. Also use a low-attenuating yeast and (if you are all grain) a base malt with that yields high conversion rates.

I made a whiskey strong ale with a pint of Jim Beam and it was very whiskey-y. perhaps a week on sanitized oak chips in secondary would be sufficient to give you the whiskey-ness without drowning out everything.

If you wanted to get crazy (and really fun) you could use a belgian yeast that yields raisin esters at hot fermentation temps . . . as far as the actual use of oranges, lemons and raisins go, I'm not sure as I've never put them in a beer before. If I did, it would be in the secondary after tasting what the centenn and the yeast did.

good luck! Oh, and another name for "boilo" is "hot tottie" . . . there may be some recipes floating around with that name.

 

[GlenF]

Boilo Beer
13 lb 2-row
1 lb Crystal 40L
.5 lb Special B
Mash at 158 for an hour
Boil for 60min
.5oz Northern Brewer @ 50
1oz Willamette @ 20
1lb Honey @ 5
4oz orange zest @ 5
4oz lemon zest @ 5

Ferment for 14 days with Scottish Ale yeast

Soak 4 cinnamon sticks in some high proof whiskey. Add this mixture to secondary to taste. You can also add more orange/lemon zest if need be. Once you've got the spicing down, bottle or keg.

ENJOY!

 

[The_General]

Thanks for the help. I'll have to file this thread away and try making some for next Christmas. My Christmas beer this year was made months ago...a Troeg's Mad Elf clone.

I like the idea of using a Belgian strain to get some esters and adding oak chips to get some whiskey flavor without adding whiskey. I added about a pint of Jim Beam one time and found it overwhelming. As far as zest goes, would you recommend sweet or bitter orange? I'd lean towards sweet but I don't know that I've ever used either.

A little research shows that this isn't a totally original idea :
http://www.schlafly.com/beers/styles/no20--volume-2/

 

[The_General]

The special B in your recipe, GlenF...were you putting that in there for raisin-ish flavor?

 

[aseg]

I find that Special B also has a cinnamon kick to it too. I would definitely have that in my recipe.

 

[GlenF]

The special B in your recipe, GlenF...were you putting that in there for raisin-ish flavor?

Yes. The C 40 is for color and sweetness, as is the high mash temperature. I suggested the Scottish ale yeast because you'll still get some nice subtle fruit esters and a smoky phenolic versus clove and pepper from a Belgian yeast.
Also, I would use the zest of an actual orange and lemon. It will be fresher than dried.
Furthermore, I would make the tincture w/ the cinnamon in whiskey. I'm talking about a cup or so of whiskey and just adding it to taste...not the whole thing. You could easily soak some cubes in that as well as the spices.
But as always, your beer; your call. Good luck and have fun!

 

[The_General]

Thanks. Hmmm...so many things to consider. I probably won't make this for a few months but I'll be sure to resurrect the thread when I make it. One more thing though. Do you have any idea how many oranges and lemons it takes to get 4 oz.? I have no experience with this.

 

[GlenF]

I'd say use the zest of 2-3 whole orange and 1-2 whole lemons. That should get you a pretty solid citrus flavor/ aroma.