so what are people brewing for the holidays???

[bperlmu]

just curious....what are people brewing for the holiday season? one of my favorite parts of homebrewing is being able to create special beers for special occasions....
i brewed a spiced dubbel this afternoon, and just bottled an oatmeal stout.

just wondering what other people have going on....

 

[mrk305]

I am brewing a blonde tonight. I have so many darker beers on hand right now, like Orphy's recipe for Hobgoblin, Fat Tire, my Black Hole Stout are all aged and ready to drink. One week old are Cats Pajama and an IPA with lots of cascade hops and a 6 gallon batch of Apfelwein. I figured a blond would round out the selection. Using Northern hops for flavoring and Saaz for aroma.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I brewed a Winter Warmer with a ton of spruce extract. It's aging right now, and I'm not sure that it'll even be drinkable by Christmas. In fact, I'm not sure that it'll be drinkable...ever.

In the meantime, there's a sweet batch of Dude's Lake Walk Pale that's about to go into kegs. I've still got a little pumpkin ale left, and I'm thinking about an 80/- next.

 

[landhoney]

I want to brew something like Fantome's Noel, a dark-spiced-sour saison.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/738/2204

 

[the_bird]

Kinda late to get going on holiday beers now, especially since they're usually bigger and anything with spices is usually going to want extra time to age and mellow. I've got an oatmeal stout to bring along to the in-laws for x-mas, I might try and whip up a quick pale ale to bring along too but I'm doubtful it'll be ready in time.

 

[landhoney]

Kinda late to get going on holiday beers now, especially since they're usually bigger and anything with spices is usually going to want extra time to age and mellow. I've got an oatmeal stout to bring along to the in-laws for x-mas, I might try and whip up a quick pale ale to bring along too but I'm doubtful it'll be ready in time.

Mine's for next year's holiday season.

 

[tbulger]

Its a perfect time to make altbier if you have a basement. I love altbier, made one today and will prolly get another one going in the weeks to come.

 

[surfbrewer]

I brewed an "Old Ale" style beer. It is currently in the keg aging and it tasted great when I transfered it. It is an adaptation of a recipe that I have been wanting to make for quite a while.

It is a big, dark, ale bordering on a barley wine. Although when I transfered it it was much mellower than I had anticipated. Which is good since I don't have a ton of time to let it age before the holidays. If anyone tries it, let me know how it turns out for you.

BeerTools.com Recipe Results E-mail

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Abominable Xmas Ale
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General
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Category: Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer
Subcategory: Winter Specialty Spiced Beer
Recipe Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5 gal.
Volume Boiled: 7 gal.
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Total Grain/Extract: 19.75 lbs.
Total Hops: 5.0 oz.
Calories (12 fl. oz.): 416.5
Cost to Brew: $43.13 (USD)
Cost per Bottle (12 fl. oz.): $0.81 (USD)

Ingredients
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12 lbs. English 2-row Pale
5 lbs. German Vienna
.75 lbs. Honey Malt
1.5 lbs. Crystal Malt 60°L
.5 lbs. English Chocolate Malt
1 oz. Yakima Magnum (Whole, 14.50 %AA) boiled 90 minutes.
2 oz. Styrian Goldings (Pellets, 6.00 %AA) boiled 60 minutes.
2 oz. Styrian Goldings (Pellets, 6.00 %AA) boiled 15 minutes.
Yeast: White Labs WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

Notes
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Primary - 7 days,
Secondary - 14 days
Conditioning in the keg/bottle - As long as you can wait

Vital Statistics
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Original Gravity: 1.103
Terminal Gravity: 1.020
Color: 24.96 SRM
Bitterness: 130.4 IBU
Alcohol (%volume): 11.1 %



Actual OG was 1.090 and the FG ended up at 1.016, which equals an abv of 9.7%. Single step infusion @ 154 for 60 min.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Up next for me is an Altbier, as a matter of fact. I have all the malt and hops for it, but not the yeast.

So maybe I'll do an ESB. I have all the hops and yeast for it. I just don't have the malt.

Or yooper chick's DFH60. But I don't have the hops for that.

Gah. I need to plan ahead more.


I will probably brew an alt with German hops, Belgian Pils as a base, and English Ale yeast. I'll shoot for a high gravity and call it Ctrl Alt Delete

 

[Kevin Dean]

I made apfelwein for the "holiday". 15 gallons of it for my office party on the 8th. I'm sure it will be a hit.

Other than that, no holiday beers for me. I find I'm not too keen on most holiday ales.

 

[teu1003]

... no holiday beers for me. I find I'm not too keen on most holiday ales.

I agree ... I have bought, tasted (and made) so many obnoxious holiday ales that I have made Christmas a cider/wassail/wine holiday.

I have co-brewed 2 "winter warmers" the last 2 labor days to have it ready for Christmas. Last years was an over-the-top 8.5% cinnamony, clovey, orangy monstrosity that wasn't even close to being ready til march.

This years is a toned down 6.8% ale which brings new meaning to the word "nutmeg" ...

We have a winery around here named "Boordy" that makes a winter "wassail". We heat it with apples and oranges and a cinnamon stick and quickly forget all about "holiday beers".

 

[Orfy]

The goblin amongst others.

No Holiday Ales though.

 

[logank]

I have a spiced brown ale in bottles and a honey spruce lager in primary. Not sure when the lager will be ready, but If not for the holidays I'll still have it for the coldest part of winter.

 

[brewhead]

i have a merry masala in the keg now. nice and spiey for the holidays

 

[CplHunter]

Just bottled some Spiced Winter Ale from NB yesterday.

 

[Cheesefood]

Hey, Wilmington! I'm originally from Joliet.

I'm making beer for the holidays. I have a honey wheat brown and a hefe now and I'm making BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde next.

 

[SW Brewer]

I have a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale in the secondary now, and I just xferred my Yoopers DFH60 to the secondary today, and I just bottled my Ed Wort Stone IPA a few days ago. May brew one more (Ruination clone) before the holidays.

 

[Kubed]

Making cider, cider, and more cider for December.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I brewed my annual holiday porter about 6 weeks ago, I'll be bottling it this weekend so it will be well aged and well carbed by the holidays.

 

[david_42]

I was hoping I'd get into the 2005 barley wine, but the 2003 is still going strong. My next isn't seasonal, just a kit that has been in the freezer a long time.

 

[CBBaron]

Don't normally brew for the season but I do plan on brewing the 08.08.08 stout over the holidays and I'm considering brewing a spiced Old Ale this winter for next Christmas.
Craig

 

[Germey]

I've got my first batch of Apfelwein that I hope will be good for Christmas (about 6 weeks old and aging in keg.
I passed around my Chamomile Vanilla Mead at Thanksgiving for first tastes, and got rave reviews.
I decided to say F* the hops shortage and started a Double rye IPA last night. 6oz of Nelson Sauvin hops (11.7%), OG=1.10, inspired by Alpine Brewery's Nelson beer.
Can't wait...

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I've got another batch of my APA and a Robust porter that will be on tap next weekend. I've got my IIPA and my sweet imperial stout up to bat after that.

 

[uglygoat]

bottled about 25 22oz each of our belgian triple, and barley wine that we brewed last december. should be ready by xmas. also have a stout to bottle, and a scottish table beer in the bottles, but i don't know if they'll survive till the xmas season. other that that, sorta taking it easy.

 

[brewerdave]

I just put an Oatmeal Stout in the primary on Sunday. I thought it was going to blow the lid off of my fermenter last night! Crazy vigorous fermentation with Nottingham yeast!:rockin: I also have a Chocolate Stout that I'm going to give away as Christmas gifts. I brewed that batch about a month ago, so it should be nice and tasty by then. I've sampled a couple of the extra bottles, and man, that's good stuff. That's all I have for the holidays right now, thinking about a spiced ale, but with the recent fiasco with my Pumpkin Ale and the addition of waaaaayy too much nutmeg, I might rethink that one!

 

[mrfocus]

I got my holiday ale (recipe here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=423519&postcount=8) in the primary about a week ago. It'll be a bit young by Christmas, but I will give it a try. It will be a good winter warmer for the rest of the (very long) winter up here (January and February are quite cold). I also will be bottling some 8 week old Apfelwein this coming weekend, which is now crystal clear and quite good and that should be quite delicious over the holidays with some cinnamon and nutmeg. Yum.

 

[houndhome1]

I made a double batch of the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale for a holiday party. It's been sitting in bottles for three weeks so far. I have not tried this yet. I brewed it with faith. Hows does everyone like it as a hoilday ale.