X-Mas Ale 2018
Brewed: 10/21/2018 Kegged: 11/6/2018
Ever since I started brewing (way back in 2009), I've always brewed a seasonal X-Mas Ale Winter warmer. It is always a pretty big beer with lots of caramel and usually has a little extra spice or other flavor to add to the festivity. The 2018 version of the X-Mas Ale used a small amount of Peanut Butter extract to complement the nutty flavor that WY2072 American Ale II yeast tends to give my beers, I don't intend to overpower the beer with the peanut butter flavor. I am hoping it will be more of a accent note.
This version uses a little bit less color malts, lightening up the color this year. The resulting beer was less chocolate flavor and more caramel.
The beer was ready to drink by Thanksgiving and turned out fantastic. Holiday guests declared it their favorite of the SheppyBrew beers on tap. It had the perfect amount of peanut butter flavor. It was there, but not overpowering.
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 - 2018
| X-Mas Ale 2018 --- Batch 1 |
| Style | Winter Seasonal Beer | Batch Size | 6.50 gal | |||
| Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 8.75 gal | |||
| Brewhouse Efficiency | 70.00 | Boil Time | 60 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.061 SG | Estimated FG | 1.015 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 26.3 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 6.0 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.434 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 15.2 SRM |
|
|||||
| Measured OG: | 1.059 | Measured FG: | 1.013 | ||||
| ADF: | 78 | Measured ABV: | 6.0% |
Ingredients
| Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.00 g | Chalk (Mash 60.0 mins) | Water Agent | 1 | - |
| 13 lbs | Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 2 | 83.2 % |
| 2 lbs | Munich Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) | Grain | 3 | 12.8 % |
| 8.0 oz | Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) | Grain | 4 | 3.2 % |
| 2.0 oz | Midnight Wheat Malt (550.0 SRM) | Grain | 5 | 0.8 % |
| 0.500 oz | Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.20 %] - First Wort 60.0 min | Hop | 6 | 26.3 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 | - |
| 2.00 oz | Peanut Butter Flavoring (Secondary 3.0 days) | Flavor | 10 | - |
Mash Profile
| Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mash In | Add 19.53 qt of water at 163.7 F | 152.0 F | 60 min |
Batch sparge with 2 steps
(1.37gal, 4.38gal) 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.
60 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 flavoring extract.
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: | 10/21 | Strike Temp: | 172 | |||
| Mash Temps: | 150 156 158 154 | |||||
| Pre-boil OG | 1.050 (1.050 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | 9 (8.75 gal) | |||
| Actual Mash Efficiency | Pitch Temp | 66 | ||||
| Fermentation | ||||||
| Day 1: | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||