X-Mas Ale 2017
Brewed: 11/19/2017 Kegged: 12/9/2017
In 2017, the recipe reduces the OG and therefore the ABV.
I reduced the crystal malts a bit as well.
For flavoring, I am adding Blueberry extract to use us the extract that I used for the last Boo Berry Wheat recipe that I made. The blueberry flavor really compliments the rich caramel backbone, and comes through with a subtle enough character that if I didn't know it had blueberry flavoring in it, I wouldn't identify it as a blueberry beer.
It is, however tangibly different than the base beer.
The color come across darker than I intended / expected. If I hold the beer up to the sun, it is a nice ruby red color. However, in any normal lighting, it show up as black in pictures.
I think next year, I'm going to shoot for 15 or 16 SRM.
I used American Ale II yeast in the 2017 recipe because I had some harvested that I wanted to use up.
Despite being lower in alcohol, the beer is still be perfect for sipping by the fireplace on a cold winter evening with family and friends. In fact, perhaps less alcohol makes it even better IMHO.
For more about SheppyBrew X-Mas Ales, check out X-Mas Ales on my Blog.
For a list of all the X-Mas Ales on this website, see X-Mas Ales 2009 - 2017
| X-Mas Ale 2017 --- Batch 1 |
| Style | Winter Seasonal Beer | Batch Size | 5.50 gal | |||
| Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 7.71 gal | |||
| Brewhouse Efficiency | 70.00 | Boil Time | 60 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.058 SG | Estimated FG | 1.014 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 30.5 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 5.8 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.525 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 20.0 SRM |
|
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| Measured OG: | 1.058 | Measured FG: | 1.016 | ||||
| ADF: | 72 | Measured ABV: | 5.5 |
Ingredients
| Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.00 g | Chalk (Mash 60.0 mins) | Water Agent | 1 | - |
| 10 lbs | Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 2 | 78.4 % |
| 2 lbs | Munich Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) | Grain | 3 | 15.7 % |
| 8.0 oz | Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) | Grain | 4 | 3.9 % |
| 4.0 oz | Midnight Wheat Malt (550.0 SRM) | Grain | 5 | 2.0 % |
| 0.500 oz | Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.20 %] - First Wort 60.0 min | Hop | 6 | 30.5 IBUs |
| 1.00 Items | Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) | Fining | 7 | - |
| 1.0 pkg | American Ale II (Harvested) (Wyeast Labs #1272) [125.00 ml] | Yeast | 8 | - |
| 1.00 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) | Other | 9 | - |
| 3.00 oz | Blueberry Extract (Bottling 5.0 mins) | Flavor | 10 | - |
Mash Profile
| Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mash In | Add 15.94 qt of water at 163.7 F | 152.0 F | 60 min |
Batch sparge with 2 steps
(1.40gal, 3.86gal) of 168.0 F water
Make starter a couple days in advance of brew day.
3g chalk in the mash water. This should bring Denver water profile (as defined by BeerSmith) to
Ca=67,Mg=8,Na=21,SO4=50,Cl=23,HCO3=157
Mash as instructed.
90 minute boil making additions as instructed in recipe.
Cool wort to as close to 60F as possible. Add to fermenter. Aerate wort and pitch yeast.
Ferment at 60F for 24 hours or so. Try to keep fermentation between 60 and 65 for a couple days, then let the temperature go where it want to.
After the initial fermentation is done, rack to secondary fermentor along with blueberry extract.
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: | Strike Temp: | 170 | ||||
| Mash Temps: | 160ish down to 154 1 hour | |||||
| Pre-boil OG | 1.050 (1.048 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | (7.71 gal) | |||
| Actual Mash Efficiency | Pitch Temp | 64 | ||||
| Fermentation | ||||||
| Day 1: | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
Brewing Notes
11/19/2017 Brew day today. Everything went to plan. Into the fermentor before 11AM.
11/20/2017 Fermentation started up sometime yesterday. Going strong today 64
12/3/2017 Went into secondary yesterday with blueberry extract and a couple of scoops of sugar. Gravity was a bit higher than expected at 1.018. Tastes great, but I am hoping the beer will go a touch drier.
12/9/2017 Kegged. 1.016 and 5.5 abv. Perfect. Blueberry flavoring comes through with enough of a hint that it is fruity, but not enough that you'd necessarily think blueberry. Again, perfect. Gonna be a merry Christmas for me.
12/9/2017 Also bottled up the extra gallon. Didn't take gravity reading on this. 5 bombers.
12/16/2017 Tried it tonight. Just enough Blueberry to compliment the winter warmer caramel.
12/17/2017 This beer is significantly darker in color than I expected / intended. The flavor is perfect, so the color isn't an issue. Just surprised this didn't come out with a lighter color.
12/23/2017 This is delicious. 😋
12/26/2017 Had some on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Very tasty. My Christmas guests picked this as the beer to drink with Christmas dinner.
2/4/2018 Still have some for the Superbowl game. Happy birthday to me. Still a great beer with blueberry notes.
2/18/2018 Keg blew. It was a good Xmas ale this year.
3/5/2023 Tried this with a couple other years. No blueberry flavor left, but still a nice old ale flavor.
11/19/2017 Brew day today. Everything went to plan. Into the fermentor before 11AM.
11/20/2017 Fermentation started up sometime yesterday. Going strong today 64
12/3/2017 Went into secondary yesterday with blueberry extract and a couple of scoops of sugar. Gravity was a bit higher than expected at 1.018. Tastes great, but I am hoping the beer will go a touch drier.
12/9/2017 Kegged. 1.016 and 5.5 abv. Perfect. Blueberry flavoring comes through with enough of a hint that it is fruity, but not enough that you'd necessarily think blueberry. Again, perfect. Gonna be a merry Christmas for me.
12/9/2017 Also bottled up the extra gallon. Didn't take gravity reading on this. 5 bombers.
12/16/2017 Tried it tonight. Just enough Blueberry to compliment the winter warmer caramel.
12/17/2017 This beer is significantly darker in color than I expected / intended. The flavor is perfect, so the color isn't an issue. Just surprised this didn't come out with a lighter color.
12/23/2017 This is delicious. 😋
12/26/2017 Had some on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Very tasty. My Christmas guests picked this as the beer to drink with Christmas dinner.
2/4/2018 Still have some for the Superbowl game. Happy birthday to me. Still a great beer with blueberry notes.
2/18/2018 Keg blew. It was a good Xmas ale this year.
3/5/2023 Tried this with a couple other years. No blueberry flavor left, but still a nice old ale flavor.