Christmas Ale

Northern Brewer General
1

Happy Thanksgiving, which means I’m probably too late to think about a Christmas Ale, but oh well.
Anyone ever use NB’s Mulling Spices?

Here’s what I’m thinking about doing. (Note: this is for 3 gallons)

7lbs Golden Promise.
8oz Medium Crystal (55 SRM)
4oz Roasted Barley
1oz EKG (60 min)
??oz Mulling Spice.
Scottish Ale yeast (WY-1728)

BeerSmith says that’ll be 1.068OG and 28.7 IBUs

I’m questioning how much spice, thinking 0.25 oz? and whether to make it a flame-out addition or add to secondary. – I’m looking to reuse the yeast cake for a slightly stronger Scottish Ale, and am slightly worried about spices bleeding through.

I’m also considering MO for the base malt; but I’m not sure if it would support the spice, or get in the way…

2

Could do the make a tincture thing by adding the spice to some vodka and letting it sit for a few days. Then add it a little at a time to secondary rather than having it in a primary. That way when reusing the yeast from the primary there won’t be any spice in it. You can also add a little spice at a time to secondary to your liking. Read the second review at NB for the mulling spices.

3

Yea, that pinesol comment had me a little worried, but I was assuming (hoping) that was due to a hops problem.

You think a vodka tincture would work? Anytime I tried to make a tincture that included cinnamon, it just turned into nasty snot.

4

Here is one I experimented with in September. I just kegged it and it is pretty tasty. The base malt was what I had around (19 lbs of whatever base malt would be comparable. I was worried about adding the spices to the mash is a first, but it worked good for me because I wanted it very subtle. I also worried about getting a bitterness or too much flavor from mashing them, but that was not the case at all )

[quote]10 gallons

12.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 48.48 %
3.75 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 15.15 %
2.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 8.08 %
1.50 lb Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.06 %

1.50 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 6.06 %
1.00 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 4.04 %
1.00 lb Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 4.04 %

1.00 oz Perle [7.60 %] (60 min) Hops 10.6 IBU
2.00 oz Crystal [2.70 %] (15 min) Hops 4.2 IBU
1.00 oz Perle [7.60 %] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU

0.50 tsp Allspice (Ground) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
0.50 tsp Cardamom (Ground) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
0.50 tsp Cinnamon (Ground) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
3.00 tbsp Espresso ,Ground (Mash 60.0 min) Misc

2.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 8.08 %

2 Pkgs Belgian Style Ale Yeast Blend (White Labs #WLP575) Yeast-Ale
[/quote]

:cheers: Drinking a pint of it now