Christmas Ale 2018

Great Lakes Christmas Ale Clone

Grain Bill / Fermentables

  • 10 lbs 2-Row Pale Malt
  • 1 lb Crystal 40L
  • 1 lb Wheat Malt
  • 0.5 lb Special Roast
  • 0.08 lb Roasted Barley
  • 1.25 lbs Honey

Hops

  • 1.5 oz Cascade (6.3 AA)
  • 1 oz Hallertau (3.75 AA)

Extras

  • 3 Cinnamon Sticks
  • 1.5 oz Ginger Root (Peeled & Cubed)

Yeast

  • Nottingham

Other

  • Whirlfloc Tablet
  • 1/2 tsp Gypsum

Target Stats

  • 6 Gallon Yield
  • OG 1.066
  • FG 1.015
  • ABV 6.77%
  • IBU 31.91
  • SRM 11.11

Final Stats

  •  7 Gallons
  • OG 1.055 (1.051 Tilt Uncalibrated)
  • FG 1.014 (1.007 Tilt)
  • ABV 5.51% (5.78% Tilt)
  • Mash pH 5.19
  • Efficiency 72%
  • SRM 9.99

Brew Day

Heat 9 gallons of water to 161°.

Gently dough in grains until all grain is covered by water.

Mash grains at 156° for 90 minutes.

Remove “grain bag“, rinse and allow grains to drain.

Bring wort to a boil, add 1.5oz Cascade hops, cinnamon sticks and ginger root and continue boil for 50 minutes.

Add 1oz Hallertau hops, whirlfloc and continue boil for 10 minutes.

Add 1.25 lbs honey at flame out.

Reduce wort temperature to 68° and take OG reading.

Sufficiently aerate and transfer to primary fermenter and pitch yeast starter.

Allow beer 1~2 weeks in the primary to adequately ferment and cleanup any diacetyl produced during fermentation.

Bottle or keg and hide it in a corner until Christmas.

Notes:

  • 2018-09-12, Brew Day
    • Mash pH 5.19
    • Mashed at 155° for 2 hours.
    • Pitched dry yeast into 86° wort, local groundwater is only 80s.  :/
    • Wort dropped to 57° after 8 hours. Fermentation chamber is set to 52° +/- 1°.
  • 20 hours, wort dropped to 51°, no gravity change.
  • 32 hours, Tilt is reading 1.050 and small yeast rafts have formed.
  • 56 hours, Tilt is reading 1.041 and krausen is approximately 1.5″ thick.
  • 4 days, Tilt is reading 1.027 and krausen is now 1.5~2″ thick.
  • Adapted from the 2017 Christmas Ale.
  • The extra cinnamon and ginger were exactly the right amount, the only thing missing was the Wyeast 1028 London Ale which rounds out the flavor of this beer.