It's a Wonderful Time for a Beer

Christmas Ale

The holiday season is upon us and its that time of the year when one of my favorite beer styles is out - The Christmas Ale, formally known as the Winter Warmer.  Two of my favorite examples of this style are Great Lakes Christmas Ale & Schlafly Christmas Ale.

Most would agree that this style of beer should be brewed with darker malts as part of the base, malt forward with some residual sweetness and have very little hop character.  This is not a hop forward beer - sorry IPA lovers!

Characteristic of the Winter Warmer or Christmas Ale is a higher ABV level (around 6-9%), hence the warming effect.  Typically provided by additional fermentable sugars from honey, molasses or dark candi-syrup.  Most, if not all, contain spices.  Not just any spice, but those we typically find in foods served during the holiday season; Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Vanilla, Allspice, Ginger, Clove & Orange Peel.

About two years ago I put together a recipe for a Christmas Ale, but to this day I haven't had the time to brew it.  I just seem to tweak the recipe, but haven't brewed it yet.  Oh well, there's always next year. For now I'm going to enjoy the commercial examples out there and dream about some new awesome piece of brewing equipment.

Knowing When to Dump a Beer

Knowing when to dump a batch of beer is as important as any other aspect of brewing.  I've been brewing beer for the last three years now and I've finally gotten to a point where I can taste my beer and admit its flawed and not worth drinking.

This week I dumped two beers, a Saison that's been sitting in my Keezer for the last 3 1/2 months and a Belgian Wit I made last month that I've been working to perfect.  I'm up to version 4 of this recipe.  I really tried to like the Saison - a lime and basil infused creation,  but the beer lacked balance.  The strong citrus flavor was just overwhelming.   It was supposed to be citrus forward, but not to that degree.  Funny thing I couldn't taste the basil, while others who tried the beer picked up on the basil right away.  Regardless I just couldn't drink this beer as it just wasn't any good.

I'm a big fan of Belgian Wit beers.  I've made this style of beer more than any other and have been working to improve on my recipe.  Around this time last year I took 3rd place at the Motown Mash with "Hazy Doggy Dayz" (Ver 1.5).  Version 2.0 was a little more malt forward and liked by my brewing club, but needed a little more wheat character.  Version 3.0 had about 50% raw wheat and fermented in the low 60's.  This batch went in the wrong direction quickly - too phenolic, some sulfur character and way over spiced - down the drain it went this week.  It wasn’t up to the level of the standards I’m trying to set for my beer.

It took a long time to get to this point, so don’t worry if your drinking beer that’s got some flaws.  Drink up and be thoughtful with each sip.  Think about how you can make it better.  Ask others to try your beer and ask for honest feedback.

Pumpkin Ale

What's Wrong with Pumpkin Ale?

Photo by Susanne Jutzeler from Pexels

Autumn is probably my favorite time of year.  Maybe its the cool crisp morning & night air.  Perhaps its the beautiful colors we experience in the Northeast US or the anticipation of the coming holiday season.  Nothing speaks fall to me more than the smell of pumpkin spice.  Yeah, you can say things are out of hand.  Pumpkin this and pumpkin that.  Starbucks released their famous Pumpkin Spice Latte a week sooner this year to take advantage of the mass appeal for all things pumpkin.  Heck, the super market even has pumpkin Humus, which my wife bought.  It wasn't very good. 😞