:( Have to Dump a batch of Christmas Ale

[Rockindaddy]

Have to dump a batch of Christmas Brown Ale. It was a Newcastle clone recipe that I have brewed before with success, but this time I thought I would add some Cinnamon & clove for a Christmas Ale. I used 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of clove and put in the boil with 5 minutes left. Well, the result was not good. Came out way to strong and pretty much undrinkable. I think maybe just a pinch of each would have been enough. 5 gallons and about 20 bucks down the drain.

 

[mark7347]

Hang on to it for a year. I bet it gets better. Couldn't get worse!

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[sweetcell]

depending how strong it is, you could try diluting it. what if you made a second batch of the beer with no spices and mixed 50/50? would the spices be ok if they were only half as strong?

 

[poptarts]

Spices fade over time, bottle it and drink it next Christmas it will taste great.

 

[Conman13]

I've had great results adding cinnamon and clove to my boiling solution of priming sugar.

I use 1 stick of whole cinnamon, and 5-6 whole clove pieces. Lightly boil those for about 3-4 minutes, then strain them out before adding the priming solution to the main batch before bottling.

Spices do fade over time. I would hold on to that batch. Just shove it in the closet and forget about it for a few months.

 

[Conman13]

I've had great results adding cinnamon and clove to my boiling solution of priming sugar.

I use 1 stick of whole cinnamon, and 5-6 whole clove pieces. Lightly boil those for about 3-4 minutes, then strain them out before adding the priming solution to the main batch before bottling.

Spices do fade over time. I would hold on to that batch. Just shove it in the closet and forget about it for a few months.

 

[JonM]

Get a 12-pack of real Newcastle and pour glasses of a 50-50 blend while you wait for the spices to mellow out.

 

[Thundernick]

Atleast you didnt bottle it and then realize it's bad.

I made an ale last year, did all the work including bottling it.. 2 weeks later was all excited to crack one open.. tasted it.. and it was sour

 

[Braufessor]

If you have the space, and the beer is simply "overspiced" - I would let it ride til next year.

I have overspiced two beers - an x-mas ale and a pumpkin ale. Let both go 2 years. The x-mas ale actually ended up being really good. The pumpkin ale never did come around and I dumped it eventually. But, overspiced beer can end up being fine with some time. Worth a shot if you have space to let it sit.

 

[BUCKNUTS]

If you have the space, and the beer is simply "overspiced" - I would let it ride til next year.

I have overspiced two beers - an x-mas ale and a pumpkin ale. Let both go 2 years. The x-mas ale actually ended up being really good. The pumpkin ale never did come around and I dumped it eventually. But, overspiced beer can end up being fine with some time. Worth a shot if you have space to let it sit.

This. Spice flavors fade over time let that beer ride. The only time a spiced beer didnt come around for me was when I added to much to the bottling bucket the spices became very bitter in the bottles but in the boil and none in the bottling bucket should fade over time.

 

[Rockindaddy]

Atleast you didnt bottle it and then realize it's bad.

I made an ale last year, did all the work including bottling it.. 2 weeks later was all excited to crack one open.. tasted it.. and it was sour

No, I did bottle it. It's been conditioning for a couple weeks and I just cracked open my first one last night. I knew it was going to be strong when I bottled it, but was hoping it would mellow after carbonating. I think I'll take everyone's advice and let it sit for a year and see what happens.

 

[Thundernick]

No, I did bottle it. It's been conditioning for a couple weeks and I just cracked open my first one last night. I knew it was going to be strong when I bottled it, but was hoping it would mellow after carbonating. I think I'll take everyone's advice and let it sit for a year and see what happens.

Well I wish you the best of luck. Opening 2 cases of what was supposed to be amazing homebrew and dumping it down the sink is depressing...

 

[Cyclman]

I had the same exact thing with cloves in an Imperial Pumpkin. I used 1/2 the recipe, still came out too strong. 4 months later, it's remarkably better. This may be the last time I use clove, just not a big fan.

 

[KPSquared]

Don't ever dump a beer! I think I'd brew another spice free batch and mix them at drinking time or like was mentioned previously, Just give it a year.

 

[Thundernick]

I don't think it's possible to fix "sour" beer.. and mixing it with another beer is just going to bring the other beer down in my opinion

 

[KPSquared]

Ok... rotten beer is one thing. Over spiced beer is a whole other animal. I overshot the coriander ibn a wheat beer and it was not good but several months later it mellowed nicely!

 

[beerkench]

Don't dump it! I did a pumpkin beer too that tasted only of cinnamon after 1 month, but tasted really good around month 3. Spice flavor will go quite fast.

 

[jCOSbrew]

My x-mas ale uses 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp of each of the spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg) at the end of the boil. The result is a good malty brew w/ subtle spices. It is easy to over do it.