ALL GRAIN - Belgian Pale Ale + 1 Gallon Xmas Ale

[RobWalker]

Hey all.

Just brewing up a standard belgian pale ale for some christmas supping, it'll be good to have something everyone can enjoy but that I appreciate too.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 20.00 L
Boil Size: 22.89 L
Estimated OG: 1.047 SG
Estimated Color: 6.8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 19.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.70 kg Lager Malt (3.9 EBC) Grain 92.5 %
0.30 kg CaraGold (5.9 EBC) Grain 7.5 %
15.00 gm Northern Brewer [8.00%] (60 min) Hops 14.9 IBU
10.00 gm Northern Brewer [8.00%] (15 min) Hops 4.9 IBU

+ Mangrove Jack's Belgian Yeast harvested from my previous brew (an American IPA, my dad misplaced the yeast, so had to use this. found said yeast about 10 seconds after pitching, the sod.)

Single infusion BIAB as always, with a quick dunk-sprage in 2L water. 66c for 120 mins (happy to get some extra fermentables out of this one! and as I'm off work unwell, I'd better do some housework...)

I'm going to rack 1 gallon of this off and spice it for christmas. I'm not entirely sure how yet, but I'm thinking;

Molasses/Maple Syrup
A tiny bit of centennial dry hopping
Dried Lemongrass
Orange skins

That should give it a weird citrus flavour and a deeper colour...and 8 bottles seems a good amount. Nothing too complex, just a little spice profile - because of the pale nature of the beer I don't think typical christmas spices would taste great, especially stuff like cinnamon..

 

[RobWalker]

All wrapped up with 1.045 @ 20L

My scales ran out of battery so I just chucked a 5 minute addition in, about 20g.

Cheers! :

 

[morethanworts]

Nice Rob.

I've never liked mulled wine spices, but a gentle dose of those might be quite nice, as you say. Could unleash some on a DJ of my current Tripels... :hmm:

 

[RobWalker]

i have a feeling there will be an awesome approach, rather than just chucking generic xmas spices in, i'd much rather them be in a dark ale myself...but I got a good week before the ferment finishes and it's bottled and racked off, so hopefully think of something before then! :

 

[RobWalker]

Bottled today, tasting good and fermented very dry at 1.007 giving it 4.8% ABV! A little stronger than I aimed for, but not particularly unwelcome.

I also syphoned a gallon into a 2 gallon FV, and this is where things got interesting.

I missed my christmas brew this year as i've been too busy at work to plan ahead, and I'm too proud of my all grain setup to brew 2 gallon batches now, so I thought I'd transform a gallon of this. After reading up on what the Americans call a "flaming dr pepper" - half a beer and a shot of amaretto, topped up with a proof liquor and set on fire - I started imagining how I'd put together a beer inspired by this. Here it is...

1 Gallon Belgian Pale Ale. 400g Caster Sugar, caramelized (burnt flavour) and fermented to about 7%. 1 shot amaretto per glass (to be served in the glass.)

Yep that's a lot of sugar, but I think it'll be interesting and it's not obscenely out of style. Once fermented, it'll go away to be cold conditioned ready for christmas suppin'.

Cheers! :