Christmas Beer Thoughts

[EtchyLives]

I'm thinking about changing out the yeast on a proven recipe and would like your thoughts. Yes, changing things to suit our needs/desires is what we do here but I'm looking for feedback on my thought process.

Background: My LHBS has a recipe called "Your Christmas Goose is Cooked" which I brewed two years ago - which was then drained at a party I held. The party was populated by non-craft beer drinkers so... yeah, good recipe. I've decided to get a head start on the beer this year in order to have some for Thanksgiving. However, my fermentation chamber is full and will be for two more weeks and a I REALLY want to brew this weekend. So I was thinking about doing a belgian yeast and fermenting it in my basement (ambient 68°F) without temp control. According to White Labs WLP500 fits the style (Christmas beer) and the medium temp profile should give me the flavor profile (spicy, fruity, light phenol) I desire so I'm inclined to do this.

So tell me I'm crazy and/or recommend some changes. Here's the recipe (which is supposed to use WLP001)

14 pounds Pale Malt
1.5 Pounds Crystal 60L
1 Pound Flaked Wheat
4oz Chocolate Malt
4oz Roasted Barley
1oz Cascade for 60min
.5oz Willamette for 60min
.5oz Fuggles for 60 min
1oz Kent Goldings for 1 min

Mash at 148°F for 75 minutes (adding the chocolate and roasted malt for the last 20 to avoid astringency)

Pitch Yeast at 68°, ferment in primary for 2 weeks, keg, carb, drink.

Is my thought process good? Or am I missing something critical?

 

[xben]

IMHO, a Christmas beer should contains few spices, such as cinnamon, seeds of paradise, vanilla bean, coriander, etc, so I would suggest adding a secondary fermentation to add them. OR, skip secondary and add spices to keg (never tried this, as I don't keg yet!)

 

[joshesmusica]

I mean it might be worth an experiment, do you have the possibility to scale it down so that you don't waste a big batch on something you weren't wanting. I like to do experimental beers about 25% of the time or less. This way if they're a failure, I still have 75% of my production that I will enjoy. If it's just a small experiment, I'll go ahead and do a 20-25L batch. If it's getting a little more on the wild side, I do 9-12L batches, split into three 5L fermenters.

But if it's a beer that I have a purpose for, I would rather not experiment on it. I'd rather do what I know works. A Christmas beer is something with a very big purpose. I've got my Christmas porter in the fermenter right now, and, in fact, will be adding my spices today: cacao nibs, cinnamon sticks, and some cloves that have been soaking in rum for a week. I'll then let that sit for another couple of weeks, and then let it bottle condition until Christmas time roles around. Last year I tried doing a really big Christmas stout, with the same spices. I didn't have great ferment temp control, and it ended up getting way too much fusels. It sucked and was majorly disappointing.

So my point is, considering you have big expectations for this, if it turns out bad, it will be just as big of a disappointment. So go small. Because I really don't believe the spiciness/fruitiness you'll get from a Belgian strain will be the type of spiciness/fruitiness you're really looking for in a Christmas beer.

 

[IslandLizard]

You're not totally off the wall. Perhaps 1.5# of C60 is a bit much. Maybe a pound of C60 plus half a pound of Carapils will work better? Or layer the crystals C40/C60/C120.

Take a look at the Great Lakes Christmas Ale recipe for ideas and comparison. That's one wonderful ale, and since I like my spice additions on the subtle side, I tweaked them a bit.

I would steep the 2 dark roasted malts on the side, sparge and add the dark liquor to the boil the last 5 minutes, or even at flameout to prevent cooked coffee flavors and as you said, astringency. I do that with a lot of dark brews (e.g., Porters).

As said before, if you're sure you're going to nail the brew, and your party will kick the keg, go for it. Otherwise 1 or 2 smaller batches make more sense. I still have a few bottles left from my GL Christmas Ale brew from 2012!

I think in general aging these types of beer helps a lot to meld the flavors, although I like the taste of fresh spiciness too, possibly from "dry spicing," just as dry hopping, added after fermentation has finished.

Definitely stick your fermentor in a tote filled with water covered with a thick towel, and keep cool with a couple frozen water bottles a few times a day. The cooler you keep it, the fewer fusel alcohols and off flavors need to be aged out, which as you know is a long slow process, and still not as good as doing it right from the get-go.

 

[EtchyLives]

These are all great suggestions and thanks for taking the time to respond with thoughtful comments.

Since the original recipe didn't involve spices I didn't even think about putting them in. Any recommendations for a very subtle Christmas spice blend? I'm not a fan of overpowering spice but there are a couple Belgian Christmas Ales that have just enough to make the beer pleasant. I'm new to adding herbs and spices and need some expertise. I've never had the Great Lakes Christmas Ale so I don't know how much impact their recommended spice regimen has on the final product.

The smaller batch idea sounds good. Perhaps I'll pick up two smaller (3 gal) carboys and split the batch with 1/2 normal and 1/2 spiced/Belgian yeast.

Thanks, again.

 

[IslandLizard]

You can use food grade buckets. Your local pastry bakery gets their icing in them. 3-4 gallons usually. I've been avoiding glass fermentors, for ease and their inherent danger of breakage-causing injury. The exception is for long term aging sours (1-3 yrs).

If you like some spice, be subtle, a little goes a long way. You can always add more, either through steeping in vodka or dry spicing. That GLCA thread has lots of comments and ideas on various amounts of spicing and tasting reports.

 

[joshesmusica]

These are all great suggestions and thanks for taking the time to respond with thoughtful comments.

Since the original recipe didn't involve spices I didn't even think about putting them in. Any recommendations for a very subtle Christmas spice blend? I'm not a fan of overpowering spice but there are a couple Belgian Christmas Ales that have just enough to make the beer pleasant. I'm new to adding herbs and spices and need some expertise. I've never had the Great Lakes Christmas Ale so I don't know how much impact their recommended spice regimen has on the final product.

The smaller batch idea sounds good. Perhaps I'll pick up two smaller (3 gal) carboys and split the batch with 1/2 normal and 1/2 spiced/Belgian yeast.

Thanks, again.

For my 25L porter, I used 5 cinnamon sticks, 150g cacao nibs, 5g cloves, and will use 1/4 tsp vanilla exract per 100ml beer, which will be approximately 300ml (about 24L at bottling time).

 

[EtchyLives]

All,

I just kegged this up and tasted the hydro sample and... it was everything I hoped and more. Thank you all for the input and here is what I ended up doing:

I followed the recipe from above but added 2 cinnamon sticks and an ounce of fresh cubed ginger to the boil. Then I fermented at ambient (69°F) and let the wort temp rise as high as it wanted. At one point I had temps at 81°F and was afraid I overdid it. I let it sit in primary for 5 weeks and kegged it yesterday with a blast of 30psi, purged, another 30psi and removed it from the gas. It will sit in my garage until 2 weeks prior to Thanksgiving when I'll put it on ~12psi to be served with Thanksgiving.

The hydro sample tasted a tiny bit "alcohol hot" and had all the spiciness I expected from the yeast and only slight hints of the ginger and cinnamon. I think another month off bulk aging in the keg will really blend everything well, mellow out the alcohol hotness and make the beer even better.

Again, thanks for the input. Once I get a full taste and some pictures I'll put this in the recipe database.