Christmas Brew Advice

[Nicknacknoo]

Hi All,

I'm looking for advice for a Christmas brew recipe. Id like to make a brew about 8 ABV.
Heres what I have

Loadsa Maris otter
Special B, Biscuit malt and cara aromatic malt 300g of each

30g challenger hops 6.6 AA, leaf
50g Prima donna home grown hops, leaf
80g Hallertau 4.7AA pellets
80g Styrian 3AA pellets
30g Spalt select 4.4AA leaf.

I'm still fairly new to AG brewing hence the request for help.


Thanks for any help and advice.

Also when deciding what hops to use is there a method or is it a suck it n see

Nick

 

[machin05]

My concern would be that there's not quite enough time to a big dark brew to condition in time for Christmas.

 

[Nicknacknoo]

Yes your right but I could brew a Christmas brew in name only and have it well into the new year. What yeast should I use.

Nick

 

[chuffer]

Hi All,

Also when deciding what hops to use is there a method or is it a suck it n see

In any brew it's worthwhile researching the different flavours that hops can offer. E.g. if you're looking for a fruity/citrus flavour in a pale ale then the US "3-C's" (Cascade, Centennial, Columbus) amongst others are a good bet. If you're looking for that traditional "earthy" bitter flavour then the British hops like Goldings, Challenger and Fuggles are a good bet.

For a christmas beer you'd probably aim for a relatively low hop profile as the focus tends to be on a sweeter/malty brew augmented with adjuncts/spices like cinnamon etc. So the hops are more about adding the right amount of bitterness in that situation imho

In terms of what quantities to use. First I'd determine the required IBU level (as mentioned above this will probably be relatively low for a xmas beer) relative to your OG. Then I'd use a brew calc spreadsheet or software to determine which/how much hops will achieve that IBU. You'll find links to such software in the stickies at the head of sub-forums

 

[chuffer]

As an example, in a recent xmas brew I did, the OG ended up as 1.065 and the desired IBU was 24. To achieve this my hops went in as:

Challenger 70 mins 20 g
Styrian Goldings 15 mins 25 g
EK Golding 15 mins 20 g
EK Golding 0 mins (Flameout/80oC until cooled to room temp) 30 g

 

[Nicknacknoo]

Brilliant, Cheers Chuffer you've been very helpful.

Nick