Is it too early to be thinking about a festive brew?

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I've been asked by a friend to do a Corny-full of festive ale for his Christmas party... I've not done anything similar before.
Do they take a long time to condition- and if so, is it too early to start thinking about getting it brewing?

Also if anyone has any particularly good recipes I'd be very grateful for pointers. He wants a malty, spicy dark beer but not too strong (say 5% abv)

Thanks!

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I've been asked by a friend to do a Corny-full of festive ale for his Christmas party... I've not done anything similar before.
Do they take a long time to condition- and if so, is it too early to start thinking about getting it brewing?

Also if anyone has any particularly good recipes I'd be very grateful for pointers. He wants a malty, spicy dark beer but not too strong (say 5% abv)

Thanks!

Nope! I did last years Christmas ale this time last year, it turned out rubbish for some reason but the year before it was lovely. My recipe.


Going for 17l in the FV again.

3.5kg Maris Otter
400g Biscuit
280g CaraMunich 1
240g Dark Crystal
80g Carafa special 1
80g Torrified Wheat

In at 70c mashed at 65ish. Boiling for 70mins.

18g Challenger & Styrian 10g @ 60

18g Challenger @15
Protofloc tab @15

8g Star Anise @10
1 teaspoonNutmeg
1 Cinnamon Stick

400g Candied sugar @5 mins

18g Fuggles @Flameout

Cooled and Wyeast 1028 London Ale pitched at 22c (starter this time)

Hit the OG dead on at 1063, IBU 26.8.

Wort tasted sweet, really sweet with a hint of nutmeg.

 

[Clint]

I don't mind spicy or festive type beers but I won't be brewing 40 pints again..they usually take a bit of extra effort and ingredients but I get a bit of an overload between Christmas and New year and it seems to drone on a bit..I think its a good idea its for a party.

 

[An Ankoù]

I've been asked by a friend to do a Corny-full of festive ale for his Christmas party... I've not done anything similar before.
Do they take a long time to condition- and if so, is it too early to start thinking about getting it brewing?

Also if anyone has any particularly good recipes I'd be very grateful for pointers. He wants a malty, spicy dark beer but not too strong (say 5% abv)

Thanks!

Here's one to be going on with.
https://www.castlemalting.com/Castl...d=RecipeViewPdf&RecipeID=253&Language=EnglishHere's another, a bit stronger.
https://www.castlemalting.com/Castl...nd=RecipeViewPdf&RecipeID=90&Language=EnglishThis looks interesting.
https://www.gladfieldmalt.co.nz/new-improved-brewing-recipes/#Gladfield-Xmas-Beer-(Spiced-Old-Ale)No shortage of good recipes for Christmas. It's not too early to get started. Not too early at all. Some of these benefit from 6 months conditioning.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Oh I like the sound of that Belgian Christmas Ale.

 

[DocAnna]

I'm going to try my winter wassail again, but this time work on achieving better hop extraction as I really think that could have been better. It tasted so much better after a couple of months so it's good to be reminded about this now!

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I'm going to try my winter wassail again, but this time work on achieving better hop extraction as I really think that could have been better. It tasted so much better after a couple of months so it's good to be reminded about this now!

That's another that sounded good!

 

[foxbat]

It's not too early at all. I wouldn’t personally entertain the use of any adjuncts - leave that to the mulled wine. A McEwans No.1 Champion, Old Peculier or Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale style ale would be my choice.

Old Peculier...

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Nope! I did last years Christmas ale this time last year, it turned out rubbish for some reason but the year before it was lovely. My recipe.


Going for 17l in the FV again.

3.5kg Maris Otter
400g Biscuit
280g CaraMunich 1
240g Dark Crystal
80g Carafa special 1
80g Torrified Wheat

In at 70c mashed at 65ish. Boiling for 70mins.

18g Challenger & Styrian 10g @ 60

18g Challenger @15
Protofloc tab @15

8g Star Anise @10
1 teaspoonNutmeg
1 Cinnamon Stick

400g Candied sugar @5 mins

18g Fuggles @Flameout

Cooled and Wyeast 1028 London Ale pitched at 22c (starter this time)

Hit the OG dead on at 1063, IBU 26.8.

Wort tasted sweet, really sweet with a hint of nutmeg.

wow sounds amazing! Thanks

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Here's one to be going on with.
https://www.castlemalting.com/Castl...d=RecipeViewPdf&RecipeID=253&Language=EnglishHere's another, a bit stronger.
https://www.castlemalting.com/Castl...nd=RecipeViewPdf&RecipeID=90&Language=EnglishThis looks interesting.
https://www.gladfieldmalt.co.nz/new-improved-brewing-recipes/#Gladfield-Xmas-Beer-(Spiced-Old-Ale)No shortage of good recipes for Christmas. It's not too early to get started. Not too early at all. Some of these benefit from 6 months conditioning.

Oooooooh!! Many thanks AA :hat:

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Oh I like the sound of that Belgian Christmas Ale.

Yeah… but 8.5% that could get messy

 

[An Ankoù]

Yeah… but 8.5% that could get messy

I was thinking that too, but you could rework the recipe, keeping the proportions of malt, but reducing the target abv to about 6%. The dark candy sugar doesn't account for much in the 100 L recipe, but that could be replaced with a tablespoonful of treacle, or, even better, prime the bottles with dark brown sugar.
Chateau malts are available from thehomebrewcompany in Ireland. The Café light might be harder to get hold of, though. Time some of you started coming to France to pick up your duty frees and specialist malts.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I did last years Christmas ale this time last year, it turned out rubbish for some reason but the year before it was lovely.

When you say 'rubbish' do you mean bad, or just not as good as the year before?

I've been modelling the recipe on BeerSmith and it seems that if I cut out the sugar then it seems to get the OG down from 1068 to 1059 which is more like the strength I'm aiming for; do you think it would impact the taste much??

 

[pilgrimhudd]

When you say 'rubbish' do you mean bad, or just not as good as the year before?

I've been modelling the recipe on BeerSmith and it seems that if I cut out the sugar then it seems to get the OG down from 1068 to 1059 which is more like the strength I'm aiming for; do you think it would impact the taste much??

I got terrible efficiency, it came out at around 4% for some odd reason I just dunno what happened at all really. This meant that the spices really overpowered the rest of the flavours. I think it would affect the flavour as dark candy sugar does give a distinctive taste but I guess if you put less spice in it might be ok? The sugar would also dry it out a bit more too, I would guess it might be a bit sweet otherwise, but you could mash at a higher temp...

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I got terrible efficiency, it came out at around 4% for some odd reason I just dunno what happened at all really. This meant that the spices really overpowered the rest of the flavours. I think it would affect the flavour as dark candy sugar does give a distinctive taste but I guess if you put less spice in it might be ok? The sugar would also dry it out a bit more too, I would guess it might be a bit sweet otherwise, but you could mash at a higher temp...

Sorry lower temp meant..

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I got terrible efficiency, it came out at around 4% for some odd reason I just dunno what happened at all really. This meant that the spices really overpowered the rest of the flavours. I think it would affect the flavour as dark candy sugar does give a distinctive taste but I guess if you put less spice in it might be ok? The sugar would also dry it out a bit more too, I would guess it might be a bit sweet otherwise, but you could mash at a higher temp...

Ta - could you also confirm it's just 80g of torrified wheat... seems like a pretty small amount?

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I haven't got the book with me at the mo but I think so yeah.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

This meant that the spices really overpowered the rest of the flavours. I think it would affect the flavour as dark candy sugar does give a distinctive taste but I guess if you put less spice in it might be ok? The sugar would also dry it out a bit more too, I would guess it might be a bit sweet otherwise, but you could mash at a higher temp...

Hmmm ok maybe... keep half the sugar but increase the volume to 22L (without scaling)

BeerSmith predicts:

I've not done a recipe like this before so I'm grateful for alternative suggestions.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I reckon stretch to the highest abv you can, keep half the sugar like you say. It should be good