Sessionable Christmas Pale

[BrannBrew]

I've just bottled my All grain Fimbolwinter V2 on Saturday which trying samples and the left over bottling beer, I found I wouldn't be able to drink all to many in one night. So I've thought of making a more sessionable xmas ale to go with the black ipa which I'll keg.

my idea is to make a spiced orange/citrus pale ale, this is what I've come up with so far.
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 10 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 12 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.038
Efficiency: 65% (brew house)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.045
Final Gravity: 1.009
ABV (standard): 4.81%
IBU (tinseth): 52.17
SRM (morey): 13.04

FERMENTABLES:
1 kg - United Kingdom - Munich (44.4%)
1 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (44.4%)
200 g - United Kingdom - Crystal 70L (8.9%)
50 g - United Kingdom - Crystal Rye (2.2%)

HOPS:
5 g - Magnum, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 21.25
5 g - First Gold, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.5, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 8.17
10 g - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 15.47
15 g - Amarillo, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.6, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 7.29
20 g - Ahtanum, Type: Pellet, AA: 6, Use: Boil for 0 min
30 g - Amarillo, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.6, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days
20 g - Ahtanum, Type: Pellet, AA: 6, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1.5 tsp - Cinnamon, Time: 0 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
1.5 tsp - Nutmeg, Time: 0 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
1.5 tsp - Allspice, Time: 0 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
1.5 tsp - Ginger, Time: 0 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
1.5 tsp - clove, Time: 0 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil

Ive tried the Pumpkin King before which I liked however Im finding it hard to get the right combo of hops/amount of spices that would mould together nicely.

 

[Leemond]

Sounds a treat!

I wanted to brew a lighter ale for Christmas too but have gone with just two hops with spicy and woody notes together with pale/golden promise malts.

I find a lot of winter / Xmas ales are darker but it's nice to find a lighter one in the mix at this time of year.

Fingers crossed both our brews turn out the way we want them :thumb:

 

[Gerryjo]

Hi BrannBrew,just wondering about the clove additional.Im wondering if it would give a slightly medicinal flavour to your beer.
On saying that I've got one is the fermenter with cardamom,orange peel and nutmeg.Should be interesting.🍺

Sent from my ALE-L21

 

[MickDundee]

I wish I'd gone down the pale ale route for my Christmas beer. I did DIY Dog Santa Paws and I'm not sure im a big fan - I've never had the original, thought it was based on a heavy but it's more like a stout and the smoked malt is a bit of an acquired taste!

I've started thinking about next year, I was thinking about either a piney IPA (maybe like Hoppy christmas toned down to Session strength) or a less hoppy ginger and spices based ale. I'd thought of a spruce beer (Christmas Spruce IPA anyone?) but don't know where'd I'd get spruce tips.

 

[BrannBrew]

Let us know how yours turn out. I was basing the spices on brewdogs pumpkin king and the recipe is still work in progress. As some of the hops are either out of stock or not listed within malt millers recipe builder Im going to have to go down geterbreweds custom kit. So by the weekend I'll have to finalise it for a 24th Nov brewday.

 

[Gerryjo]

Check out the hop chart and see if you replace the hops with similar bearing in mind if the AA's are lower or higher you can double or halve accordingly.I'll let you know how it turns out.

Sent from my Hudl 2 using Tapatalk

 

[BrannBrew]

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/419782/santa-panda is what I've finally come up with, abit unsure if it actually will turn out to be a spiced orange amber. The parts separately seemly would do.

 

[BrannBrew]

Just a quick update on the santa panda, I kegged most of it but have a few Xmas bottles to give to my dad and some testers before that. First test bottle tonight after about a 10 days conditioning. Very refreshing, especially after some hovering, a light Pale Ale with some citrus (more to come hopefully) and a hint of spice. Has a very faint nutmeg after taste. A good contrast to my other winter brew a full bodied black IPA. Roll on 2017 competitions!!

 

[Clint]

Pray tell.. .how did you master the hovering...?

Cheers

Clint

 

[Gerryjo]

I tried a sample last night and it's still carbonating but there is no orange flavour at all as the cardamom seems to have killed it as it is spicy then follows a hint of nutmeg but no raisins.On saying that there's a slight sharpness to it not unpleasant but I think it maybe the whiskey in which I had soaked the raisins in.
Not sessionable but certainly drinkable 🍺

Sent from my ALE-L21