Heavy Winter Ale - Christmas Party in a Glass

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Count Porcula

Meat Mopper
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Sep 25, 2020
250
198
Weird things are happening here.

I tried St. Bernardus Christmas ale, and I was not thrilled because it tasted funky. I let it sit in the fridge for nearly two years, and I tried it again. Much better. The rough edges were gone.

I decided to make my own Christmas ale. I took a heavy wheat ale I had already created (Happy Halfwit), and I jacked up the OG to 1.100. Three pounds of table sugar. Special B. Sabro hops.

I tried it before it was done, and I thought it was too sweet and tasted like a pina colada, so I started over with less Sabro, Magnum added to the boil, and Citra for dry-hopping. In the meantime, I kegged the first beer anyway. Chilled it to 35 and added 3.3 volumes of CO2.

It's wonderful. The bite of the CO2 and the chilling took the edge off the sweetness. It's just a wee bit strong at a Beersmith-estimated 12.8%, but you can barely taste the alcohol. Fantastic head retention.

Now I have to come up with a name for the second ale, which is currently in the fermenting fridge.

I would say it seems impossible to make a bad heavy beer, but my first imperial stout is too sweet for me, so I can't say I've always ended up where i wanted.

24 12 16 Happy Halfwit Christmas Ale 1st recipe small.jpg
 
This is awesome! Stopped drinking real beer - drink NA beer now - but enjoy seeing this kind of stuff. What about naming it “Happy Fullofwit”?
 
To enjoy it, you have to be okay with a sweet, very strong beer. It's balanced, but definitely sweet. And the Sabro hops are pretty weird.

One bottle, and you're done for the day.

I was thinking of calling the new one "Get Blitzened," but something like that is already taken.
 
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"What made Rudolph's nose red" Beer. Sounds like something I would have to try about a 6 pack of over a few days. Sometimes letting them warm up just a little bit like a Bourbon County changes the flavor quite a bit.
 
I keep all my beers at 35 because I feel like I am fanatical enough without having half a dozen keezers at different temperatures. The nice thing about keeping them "too cold" is that the flavors change as the glasses warm up.
 
I just made the mistake of putting this in a regular-sized glass.

24 12 20 happy halfwit christmas ale in tulip small.jpg
 
I made a second one. So far, I'm calling it Reindeer Liniment Christmas Ale. Only 10% ABV, estimated by Beersmith.

I added aromatic malt to see if I could get a reddish color, and I used chocolate wheat to darken it. I dry-hopped with two ounces of Citra. I think it was Citra, anyway.

Really nice. One of these, a good wife, and a nice recliner are all you need.

This stuff is amazing. Anyone who tells you only the pros can make beer should be flogged.

24 12 23 reindeer liniment christmas ale small.jpg
 
To do that, I would have to be able to walk steadily.
 
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