Please critic my Great Lake Christmas Ale clone

[rjschroed]

I posted this in the recipe forum but got zero response. I figure in order for a christmas ale to be ready in time for the holiday season now is a good time to brew one. I don't usually do clone recipes but here goes:

Recipe: Great Lakes Christmas Ale Clone #1
Brewer: rjschroed
Asst Brewer:
Style: Christmas/Winter Specialty Spice Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.92 gal
Estimated OG: 1.069 SG
Estimated Color: 15.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 40.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 70.18 %
1.50 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 10.53 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 7.02 %
0.50 lb Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 3.51 %
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer [6.20 %] (60 min) Hops 20.9 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer [6.20 %] (30 min) Hops 16.0 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.00 %] (5 min) Hops 3.4 IBU
1.00 oz Ginger Root (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
2.00 tsp Cinnamon (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 7.02 %
1 Pkgs London Ale (Wyeast Labs #1028) Yeast-Ale

Constructive criticism welcome.

 

[Breck09]

Not sure how it will turn out but it is one of my favorite winter brews so if it does in fact work out let me know. Good luck.

 

[Woodbury419]

I had made a Great Lakes Christmas clone myself last year. My hop schedule was similar, although I did hold back a bit on the caramel malt and added more special roast personally. I also added the honey in the secondary. What's your mash Schedule?

 

[rjschroed]

All the research and scouring I've done has indicated that Great Lakes doesn't use much special roast or roasted barley, I may still be a little low on both but unless I hear a strong argument against those percentages I'm gonna go with it. I'm gonna do a single infusion batch sparge with a mash out. I'm thinking of going for 152 or 153 but I'm still a little up in the air about that. I don't think with that small amount of wheat a protein rest will benefit enough to warrant it. It's been the better part of a half of year since I've had the real deal and I don't really recall the body of it. My friend's and family all love this brew and it's becoming harder and harder to find so if it turns out good I'll definitely do it again. The trouble with holiday beers like this is that you really only wanna brew them once a year and usually one batch is enough. I'll have to keep good records of what I think could be different for next year but I'll definitely dig this thread back up when I start cracking them open in December to let everyone here know. How did yours turn out woodbury?

 

[Woodbury419]

Yeah, looking back on my recipe I did use more special roast. I did however used a modified single Decoction mash schedule. So I was able to hit three mash temps within that schedule. A short protein rest 120f on the to dextrinization rest 156f to a sacchrafication rest in the mash at 146f before I added the Decoction in the mash. Although I think my ginger wasn't that noticeable..I don't know why. It went quickly though. Had excellent retention too, when I get home from work I'll post my recipe and notes. I'm not too familiar with single infusion batch sparge myself. I also can't place what yeast I used then either off top my head. Do lemme know how it goes!

 

[bknifefight]

I am pretty certain they use orange peel in it too.

 

[rjschroed]

hopefully brewing this tomorrow. I went with the recipe above but I'm still not sure at what temp or duration I wanna mash. Open to any advice.

 

[firebird400]

At 1.069 you might want to make a decent starter, one packet of yeast may be under pitching.

If I would make this one I would use some other hops @ 5 min. I don´t like cascade

 

[rjschroed]

Personally i love cascade, different strokes for different folks though right. Great lakes uses cascade in this beer too. And I didn't mention it but I did make a 1 liter starter. Think I'm gonna mash at 154.

 

[firebird400]

different strokes for different folks though right.

True.

I might give something like this one a try but with Fuggles or Goldings at 5 min.

I have been looking for a spicy winter warmer, so I might even go for a higher ABV

 

[rjschroed]

I did tweak the recipe a little bit just the way I add the stuff at the end. I don't plan to drink any of this really until the holiday season so I won't even crack one of these to open to sample for probably 3 or 4 months but I'll be sure to let anyone know what I think and post the recipe the exact recipe if anyone is interest.

By the way firebird, I took a look at your brew system and I gotta say it's pretty awesome. I bet your turning out some great brews with awesome consistency on that thing.

 

[firebird400]

Thank you
I just finished doing my House Ale (originally a Dortmunder inspired ale) and hit the intended gravity to a point, 1.054 every time

 

[rjschroed]

I promised I'd post back here once I actually tried one of these, and since I'm giving some away tomorrow I figured I'd better try some.
Here is the recipe I used, I just used 4 or 5 cinnamon sticks, I may have actually weighed them out, but I don't recall, probably.


Style: Christmas/Winter Specialty Spice Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.33 gal
Estimated OG: 1.069 SG
Estimated Color: 15.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 35.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 70.18 %
1.50 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 10.53 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 7.02 %
0.50 lb Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 3.51 %
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer [6.20 %] (60 min) Hops 18.3 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer [6.20 %] (30 min) Hops 14.1 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.9 IBU
0.36 oz Cinnamon Stick (Boil 1.0 min) Misc
1.00 oz Ginger Root (Boil 1.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 lb Orange Blossom Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 7.02 %
1 Pkgs London Ale (Wyeast Labs #1028) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 13.25 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 16.56 qt of water at 169.3 F 154.0 F

note that brewsmith didn't actually add any gravity calculations for the honey addition. Maybe someone who brews with honey more often than I can tell me how much I might have expected that to increase my OG.

It looks and tastes amazing, if your into the 12 dogs of christmas or great lakes, I'd try this recipe out. Even though I haven't done a side by side comparison (I will, 12 dogs will be out this week and great lakes, who knows) I'd say that if this is brewed well it's on that level.

 

[Zeppman]

How are you guys adding the ginger... minced, chopped?

 

[HomebrewMTB]

I am brewing a Great Lakes Christmas Ale clone right after Thanksgiving. I always look forward to this beer when I visit family in Ohio during the holidays and this year I'll try it myself. I'll be using this recipe:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/great-lakes-christmas-ale-clone-218147/

This recipe has the same ingredients as the ones posted in this thread with minor variation in amounts.

When I entered into Beersmith, it gives me 1.035 potential and 75% yield as the default for the honey. I'm not sure why it isn't coming up for you. I only have regular honey in the ingredients list under grain, maybe you added the Orange Blossom custom?

And I was going to grate the ginger as seen here:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSiMF97dMcA]Ginger Root : How Do I Grate Fresh Ginger? - YouTube[/ame]

 

[rjschroed]

It may or may not be relevant to anyone at this point but after tasting this one side by side with GLBC Christmas Ale it's pretty darn close. it was a little darker but I can safely say I would change the recipe some. . . knowing some of the things I know about how breweries operate I can admit that this is not a clone recipe but the resulting beer is very satisfying. I'll adjust the recipe and post again. . . when/if I brew it again next fall.

For what it is worth, I didn't bother doing much with the ginger. I don't remember exactly how it came but it had such a strong aroma that I didn't bother doing anything to it. The ginger and cinnamon don't play a big part in the taste of this beer. And I remember thinking about how good it was when i finally cracked one open at the beginning of October. I brewed it in the middle of July and would probably what at least a few more months next year. At the time I want to give those spices and honey plenty of time but it was, in my opinion, too much time(ironically, when i sent it in to a competition at the beginning of January some judge thought he detected young fermented honey and another speculated I used wildflower honey and then suggested I use orange blossom honey, needless to say i pretty much threw just about everything they said about this beer out the window, what a waste of entry fee).

Anyone else wanna share their experiences with their recipe?

 

[Mk010101]

What if you added the spices at the end of fermentation? Would that have kept them from disappearing so quickly? I've been wanting to make a spiced winter ale also and also want to find something that doesn't quickly lose the spice flavors, but maybe that's just the nature of aging beer with them. What kind of adjustments do you think you'll be doing with your recipe?

 

[rjschroed]

I suppose you could do that, I'm unsure of how it will react in the flavor department. Spices are so tricky to use in beer so make sure you do it in muslin bags and taste it daily as to not let it go over the top. What I can tell you is that the spices are still present in both taste and aroma, just not the same as it was a few months ago. The taste of it is still present but the aroma has since dissipated (which is one of the things that I like about GLBC). It's made to be drank for basically all of december, if I make it again I probably won't change much with the spices as much as with when I brew it for december consumption.

 

[bmock79]

I suppose you could do that, I'm unsure of how it will react in the flavor department. Spices are so tricky to use in beer so make sure you do it in muslin bags and taste it daily as to not let it go over the top. What I can tell you is that the spices are still present in both taste and aroma, just not the same as it was a few months ago. The taste of it is still present but the aroma has since dissipated (which is one of the things that I like about GLBC). It's made to be drank for basically all of december, if I make it again I probably won't change much with the spices as much as with when I brew it for december consumption.

So if you wanted this beer ready, say for the end of November/December when would you brew it?

 

[rjschroed]

End of august to the middle of september. And that might be on the early side

 

[Swilldog]

I have a similar recipe the only exceptions are 1.5 oz hallertauer 60 min and 1.5 oz hallertauer 30 minutes.

OG 1.072, FG 1.018, ABV 7.0, IBU 40.4, SRM 16, IBU/GU 0.56

 

[bmock79]

End of august to the middle of september. And that might be on the early side

sweet, thanks