Holiday Cheer...

[BeerLuvnGrl]

Well i had been thinking about doing a holiday type beer.. and i do not like pumpkin spice beers at all.. been searching and tweaking and looking ..

went out saturday and had a few beers and drank some Blue Moon Belgian White and fell in love with it...with that being said went back to looking and found a holiday beer that used a belgian white ale yeast...

this stuff smelled fantastic brewing.. and i am soo excited about it.. i hope that it turns out as good as it smelled and ill be able to give it as gifts for christmas as well as enjoy it myself!

so i thought id share the recipe and see what your thoughts were!

Holiday Cheer

1.0 lb Crystal Malt 20 L
0.5 lb Flaked Oats
1.0 lb Flaked Wheat

Steeped my grains in a step fashion with 2 gallons RO water with 1 tsp gypsum added, 113-133 for 30 mins, 150 for 10 mins, 158-160 for 15 mins then sparged with 168-170 (1 gallon)

12 oz extra light dry malt extract
6.60 lb wheat extract
1.0 orange blossom honey

2 tsp pure vanilla extract (55 mins)
1 tsp irish moss (15 mins)
1 oz ground coriander seed (15 mins)
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (10 mins)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (10 mins)
zest of 3 navel oranges (10 mins)

1.0 oz Kent Golding pellets (60 mins)
1.0 oz Willamette pellets (at flame out for aroma)

Wyeast 1214 Belgian White Ale (Belgian Abbey)

Its been in the fermentor for about 14 hours and has started bubbling some, i hope that it kicks off good by the afternoon.

I am thinking of adding a little more vanilla at bottling because im pretty sure that most of the vanilla flavor boiled off. I think just a bit at bottling would give it some of the hint of vanilla that i want.. i dont want it to taste like vanilla because i want it to taste kinda spicey with just a hint..whatcha think?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Looks good - sort of a Celis/Hoegaarden Christmas brew. I would've added the vanilla at flameout, and a whole ounce of coriander might be a little much. You could add another ounce or two of vanilla during clearing or bottling to bring the flavor out if it's lacking. I like the idea of a Christmas Belgian White. White Christmas Ale maybe?

EDIT: I like the idea so much, I'm gonna steal it and brew an AG version later this month!

 

[EvilTOJ]

I love this recipe as well. I'm going to borrow it and use it for my own nefarious purposes as well!

 

[BeerLuvnGrl]

if you do an AG please let me know...im seriously considering trying some AG and this one would be one..

it seriously smelled so good and has kicked off like crazy!! im super excited about it!

i have found that wheats are my favorite beer.. needless to say i love brewing them!

 

[Yuri_Rage]

BeerLuvn, here's my 15 gallon AG recipe:

White Christmas Ale
3 lbs Rice Hulls
9 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel
9 lbs White Wheat Malt
6 lbs Wheat, Flaked
1 lbs 8.0 oz Aromatic Malt
12.0 oz Oats, Flaked
3.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%]
3.00 oz Williamette [5.50%] (10 min)
1.50 tsp Nutmeg (Boil 10.0 min)
2.25 oz Coriander Seed, crushed (Boil 15.0 min)
2.25 oz Orange Peel, Sweet - Zest (Boil 10.0 min)
3.00 items Cinnamon Stick (Boil 10.0 min)
3.00 oz Vanilla Extract (Boil 0.0 min)
3 lbs Honey (1.0 SRM)
3 Pkgs Belgian Wit II (White Labs #WLP410)

I'm thinking a single step mash at ~154 will get the job done. Crossing my fingers on no stuck sparge. I may substitute all Goldings hops since I have a ton on hand. I'll brew in a couple of weeks when my fermenter is free.

How'd yours turn out?

 

[EvilTOJ]

I used BeerLuvnGrl's recipe as it shows above. It's in bottles as of this weekend, I can let y'all know how it turns out at Thanksgiving time. I'm also interested to know how BeerLuvnGrl's batch turned out.

 

[hunteraw]

yea, adding vanilla with 55 minutes remaining really seems like a waste - all those aromatics probably just boiled off. adding more would probably be a good idea, if you want some of that flavor.

sounds delicious!

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I brewed mine today - I think it's going to turn out really well. This is my second AG brew, and I was .004 points shy of the 1.056 I calculated. I'm happy with that after my abysmal 48% efficiency first AG batch.

I used all Goldings hops and kept the orange and coriander down to about 1.5 oz each. Also, I used about 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon in place of the cinnamon sticks. It smells great, and the color is about perfect for a Belgian white. I can't wait for it to be done!

 

[sailman]

BLG and I have just got around to the holiday cheer and were going to try it again before we pass judgement. We will keep you up to date.

 

[BeerLuvnGrl]

well i finally am gettin around to drinking my holiday cheer.. man its been a busy few months!!!

start from the beginning...

cloudy just like a wheat... pretty golden color with a hint of orange in it...not much head and definately not alot of carbonation..

to me it has a bit of an orange taste but all in all the taste i get is spicy... i feel that it is exactly what is it suppose to be.. not spicy as in hot..but spicy as in i can taste the coriander and the other spices.. no bitterness to it. a good mouthfeel

i like it. definately a good cold weather holiday beer..

i plan on giving it as some christmas gifts so we will see if others like it too...

i definately wish i had added vanilla at bottling so that it would have that sweet creamy vanilla taste to it as well..

i think serving it with an orange slice or even with an orange wedge dropped in the bottom would give it a nice holiday taste as well

my overall rating would be probably a 7 outta 10... not a beer to drink year round for sure but its good!

i look forward to hearing how others turned out!!

 

[homebrewer_99]

Citrus kills beer head...

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Citrus kills beer head...

Not necessarily a bad thing when you've got foam like this will produce! I drew a hydrometer sample today, and even that managed a creamy white foam top that would rival any of the commercial stuff out there. And it lingered! I had to wait about 30 minutes before I could read the hydrometer. This is going to be good beer!

 

[EvilTOJ]

Mine is currently in bottles, and it appears orangish and cloudy just like I expected. However, the only spices I can taste is orange peel and coriander. I should have added the other spices at flame-out though, because I'm pretty sure I boiled them away! I think definitely dry-hopping with a vanilla bean and a cinnamon stick for at least a week would add the other spices I'm looking for.

It was REALLY creamy while fermenting, but the head seemed to have, er, headed out whilst bottle conditioning.

My family loved it though and we drank about half the batch this long weekend, so I guess I'll just try again. Oh well

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Drinking mine right now! It's still about 2 weeks (minimum) too young, but I couldn't help it. It's REALLY good!

I get a nice, frothy, persistent white head, and the color is just a touch too dark for the style. The nose is a bit thin, but appropriately citrusy. The feel is full bodied, perhaps creamy or even oily. The flavor is strong citrus/coriander which will hopefully mellow just a touch with age. VERY reminiscent of Hoegaarden. The cinnamon/nutmeg/vanilla notes don't present themselves, and I don't miss them.

I doubt I'll brew this again as a holiday brew, but I will omit the cinnamon/nutmeg/vanilla, and brew it as a straight witbier, as the flavor is outstanding, even as young as it is. Quite pleased!

Oooh...just took another sip...perhaps the freshly grated nutmeg is pleasantly present...I may keep it in the recipe.

 

[Big "A"]

Though I am not the most experienced brewer I am an experienced Chef.
Aromatics when used should be left for the last few minutes of boiling.
10 min would be fine for everything but the Vanilla; that should be left for the secondary fermentor or when racking @ bottling. I made a Holiday ale (not wheat) with similar Aromatics. Next time try a tsp of cardamom. My Holiday ale just wen into bottle yesterday and it taste good enough to drink now without the bottle conditioning.