Any good Christmas pudding type kits?

Davemc · Aug 7, 2016

Hi,

Come winter I really like JW Lees Plum Pudding beer. Having just re-started home brewing after a long lay off I am not up to date with all the kits available so does anyone have any recommendations for a good winter ale with a taste of Christmas pudding?

Plan on doing one in September and laying it down for Christmas.

Dutto · Aug 7, 2016

Here are a few tips from the Forum ...

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=37840

I reckon that sticking a jar of mincemeat (Note: For non UK Members this is NOT the same as "minced meat"!) in a brew before putting it to ferment would leave behind a "Christmas Pudding" flavour that wouldn't be overpowering.

However, due to the old problem of "So many beers and so little time!" I won't be trying it myself this year! :nono: :nono: :doh:

IainM · Aug 8, 2016

Make sure it isn't mincemeat with suet in though.

serum · Aug 8, 2016

Off topic but last Christmas i had a dark Belgian beer tasting and they go so well with Christmas pud or a mince pie. Westvleteren 12 and gouden carolus were perfect with it. I'm definitely doing that again this year. Old Tom was great with it too.

I wasn't massively sold on them but brewferm abdij or Xmas beer could be alright if you want a kit.

Davemc · Aug 8, 2016

I reckon that sticking a jar of mincemeat (Note: For non UK Members this is NOT the same as "minced meat"!) in a brew before putting it to ferment would leave behind a "Christmas Pudding" flavour that wouldn't be overpowering.

Thanks for the info. I have a Christmas pudding left over from last year, do you think that would work?

Dutto · Aug 8, 2016

Davemc said:
Thanks for the info. I have a Christmas pudding left over from last year, do you think that would work?

I've read that one somewhere on the Forum ... :thumb: :thumb:

... but either there was no feedback on how it worked out or I just can't remember it.

Here's a video of someone who actually did the deed and the reviews afterwards sound good ...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlAd7GbfOf4[/ame]

Enjoy! :thumb:

Grizzly299 · Aug 9, 2016

Try a Brewferm Abdij Kit, a nice high quality kit.

Produces a dark malty beer with notes of dried fruit.I made one for Christmas last year and was not disappointed.Its a good one to make and forget about until the holiday season.

http://www.art-of-brewing.co.uk/acatalog/BREWFERM-DARK-ABBEY--ABDIJ--BEER-9-litres-1.5kg-256.html

Noah · Aug 9, 2016

Have you tried Woodforde's Headcracker? It really fits the bill as a winter/Christmas brew and doesn't take as long as some to mature. I had one last night that I started at the end of May. Amazing, foamy head, plum pudding and butterscotch flavour, lacking a little in aftertaste but compares very well with some of the Belgian beers I've tasted.

I've just started another one off to keep me going into the New Year. I've not tried it but the Festival Belgian Dubbel looks good too and it makes 32 pints.

Davemc · Aug 31, 2016

I fancy doing the brewferm Abdij, but from what I have read and seen, it needs longer in the bottle to mature so may not be ready for Christmas.

As we have a Christmas pudding left over I have bought a Geordie Winter warmer and am going to put the pudding in this, add 1kg of brewing sugar and a further 500d of dark brown sugar and 500g of light brown sugar to raise the strenth and make it stronger.

Oppinons please on this idea? Also would you dry hop?

Dutto · Sep 1, 2016

Davemc said:
I fancy doing the brewferm Abdij, but from what I have read and seen, it needs longer in the bottle to mature so may not be ready for Christmas.

As we have a Christmas pudding left over I have bought a Geordie Winter warmer and am going to put the pudding in this, add 1kg of brewing sugar and a further 500d of dark brown sugar and 500g of light brown sugar to raise the strenth and make it stronger.

Oppinons please on this idea? Also would you dry hop?

I think dry hopping would confuse the issue with too many flavours; but I may be wrong, again. :lol:

Lidl are (were?) selling a sweet BBQ Treacle that you might consider using as an adjunct in place of the dark brown sugar. I always associate black treacle with Guy Fawkes Night (as bonfire toffee) but I think it may also add a Christmassy flavour to the brew.

Hope this helps and please keep us posted on progress. :thumb: :thumb:

Clint · Sep 3, 2016

Anyone tried the Festival winter spiced ale? Sounds just the job...could be what I'm looking for..

Cheers

Clint

Davemc · Sep 4, 2016

So I started the pimped Geordie winter warmer today.

In went 1kg of brweing sugar, 500g of dark brown, sugar, 500g of light brown sugar and one of Aldi's Christmas puddings. I added all the sugar and puddings with the kit and hot water and gave this a good stir to disolve everything - the pudding was broken up by hand. After adding the cold water there was a slight scum on the water which I presume is from the Christmas pudding.

Starting gravity was 1056.

I will keep you posted on how it progresses.

Pirate_Pete · Sep 5, 2016

Davemc said:
So I started the pimped Geordie winter warmer today.

In went 1kg of brweing sugar, 500g of dark brown, sugar, 500g of light brown sugar and one of Aldi's Christmas puddings. I added all the sugar and puddings with the kit and hot water and gave this a good stir to disolve everything - the pudding was broken up by hand. After adding the cold water there was a slight scum on the water which I presume is from the Christmas pudding.

Starting gravity was 1056.

I will keep you posted on how it progresses.

If you watch the video, go to youtube to watch it. There's only a few replies to the video. One asks if he'd do anything different. He says something about there being a layer of fat from the pudding on top of the wort. He says he would have removed that.

Davemc · Sep 5, 2016

Pirate_Pete said:
If you watch the video, go to youtube to watch it. There's only a few replies to the video. One asks if he'd do anything different. He says something about there being a layer of fat from the pudding on top of the wort. He says he would have removed that.

Ah, I didn't read the comments. Mine has a good head of yeast so I suppose its too late to skim the top now.

Pirate_Pete · Sep 5, 2016

Davemc said:
Ah, I didn't read the comments. Mine has a good head of yeast so I suppose its too late to skim the top now.

After I watched the video I was wondering if you could make the beer but instead of adding a Christmas pudding. Add the ingredients that go into a Christmas pudding but without the fatty bits.

* I only have a basic idea about the ingredients of a Christmas pudding. I don't like them. When I was a kid and the pudding was dished out I only had the clotted cream. :lol:

Davemc · Sep 13, 2016

I have transferred the brew into secondary fv today after 9 days in the primary. Obviously no idea how it will turn out yet but the first thing to note is that if I did this again I would break the pudding up and put it in a nylon or muslin bag. Syphoning was difficult due to the amount of submerged and floating material.

Davemc · Oct 2, 2016

Today I bottled the Geordie Winter warmer which I added kg of brewing sugar, 500g or dark brown sugar and 500g of light brown sugar with an added Christmas pudding lobed in for primary fermentation. It had 10 days in the primary then was racked off into secondary fv and left for 2 weeks.

I drew some off before transferring into the bottling bucket and priming and whilst it is still quite green, you do get the strenght and can smell the Christmas pudding spices and definitely taste them though they are not overpowering. I am fairly hopeful this will turn out to be close to what I was hoping for. Aiming not to touch this until December so it will have time to mature and let the flavours develop.

Robin54 · Oct 2, 2016

Davemc said:
Today I bottled the Geordie Winter warmer which I added kg of brewing sugar, 500g or dark brown sugar and 500g of light brown sugar with an added Christmas pudding lobed in for primary fermentation. It had 10 days in the primary then was racked off into secondary fv and left for 2 weeks.

I drew some off before transferring into the bottling bucket and priming and whilst it is still quite green, you do get the strenght and can smell the Christmas pudding spices and definitely taste them though they are not overpowering. I am fairly hopeful this will turn out to be close to what I was hoping for. Aiming not to touch this until December so it will have time to mature and let the flavours develop.

Naturally, the next question is, did you use cheap bog standard pudding or go for a "Luxury Pudding" with extra brandy? :doh:

Davemc · Oct 2, 2016

It was a bog standard christmas pudding from Aldi.

Razor · Oct 2, 2016

Clint said:
Anyone tried the Festival winter spiced ale? Sounds just the job...could be what I'm looking for..

Cheers

Clint

I'll be starting this in the next couple of days. Hopefully it's not too late for good in bottle conditioning by Christmas.

Any good Christmas pudding type kits?

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