Christmas ale thinking of adding port?

[Hulpy]

So as the skies darken and the temperature drops, my thoughts are turning to this years Christmas ale.

Im thinking of a heavier ale kit certainly with a dark malt spray instead of brewing sugar and adding half a tin of thick black treacle, goldings hops bag.

But was thinking as an added specialty of putting 6 to 10ml of port per bottle. :idea:

My question is does anyone have any experience of this? Is there a danger of separation, should i add it at bottling stage or with the treacle after the first fermentation.

Which ale kit would people suggest?

Or would a better idea be to use plum jam and some water blended to a syrup give a similar but better effect? Im not too bothered about increasing the abv but would like some port notes in there.

Ps i apologise in advance to any purists who think my cross drink tampering would be an abomination to all things yeasty. :sulk: ( but my tequila lager was lovelly however i realise that is a very different kettle of fish)

All advice greatly appreciated! :hat:

Ps they laughed at the idea of toast!

 

[RobWalker]

buy a syringe and add it in the glass - you have the option to do both then and if it sucks, just stop adding it!

 

[graysalchemy]

If you do use port a stout or porter would be better. The idea of port and stout is part of the basis for my elderberry stout it gives a very moorish flavour to the stout. I added the juice of 1lb of elderberries per gallon at the start of fermentation so that the elderberries fermented and not just added flavour ( a lot of recipes using fruit are added at the end to maintain the flavour of the actual fruit).

However as I said i don't know how well it would work with an ale :wha: :wha: however some barley wines have quite a vinous quality to them.

 

[Hulpy]

buy a syringe and add it in the glass - you have the option to do both then and if it sucks, just stop adding it!

Already have a syringe from my tequila lager however the sryinge does tend to make guests cringe when on a binge! :lol:

.....

I'm here all week, try the fish!!! (boom boom) :whistle:

 

[HarrowBrew]

This may be a stab in the dark....Some years ago, in Waitrose, we chanced upon a bottled Ale that had port added to it. It tasted amazing. However, since then we have not managed to find it again.

Anyone any idea what it might have been? Does it still exist?

 

[RobWalker]

Not sure about that, but Oskar Blues make an Imperial Red called G'knight which is aged in port barrels and tastes very strongly of port. It's a really amazing beer, one of my all time favourites.

 

[dickiedavis]

Harrow Brew - I had that very same ale and have been searching for it again for years. It came in a black bottle with white writing and I'm pretty sure it had 'Ruby' in the tile in red. It was truly delicious but I couldn't find any even a week later.
It even inspired me to mix port with my HB Stout. Wasn't quite the same...

 

[HarrowBrew]

YES YES YES!!!!! THAT WAS THE ONE!!!!

It is such a shame.....