Mincemeat for a mince pie flavour?

[CJBrew]

Mixed Spice is the key. It's largely a combination of cinnamon and clove with some nutmeg.

I'd prefer to throw some cinnamon sticks, a few cloves and some chunks of nutmeg into the boil, rather than adding ground spices that can't be picked out easily and might not drop out naturally.

For your fruitiness, you could use about 500g of Special B malt and some Bramling X finishing hops.

Chris

[delboy]

You could try using some of the dark belgian crystal malts such as special-B which gives you a raisiny/plummy taste.
Some spices and away you go.

[Barley Water]

Dude, that's why God, in his wisdom, invented Belgian beer. If you want spicy, raisin/dried fruit flavors that sounds an awful lot like an Abbey Dubbel or Dark Strong to me. Actually, I add raisins to the Dubbel I do and it really works out nicely. Why not get thee to the local beer store and see if you can find a bottle of Chimay Red or several of the other Dubbels made over there and see how you like them. Yup, they are all quite a bit more alchololic than what you may be used to but if you are planning on drinking the stuff around the holidays, it helps with the stress especially when the bills come due. The yeasts those monks use can really add some interesting spice flavors to the beer as well. The major yeast suppliers have versions that are reputed to come from almost all the brewing monistaries so you have quite the selection to choose from. By the way, if you can get hold of some Achel Extra Bruin, you will be in for quite a treat. I almost choke up when thinking about how good that beer is, almost makes me want to give away all my worldly goods and join up (well ok, that might be a little extreme but you get the point).

By the way, I would not recommend adding anything to beer that has oils or fat in it. The last thing you want is to have an oil slick on the top of your beer, it just kills the head and looks bad. Also, if you elect to add spices, less is more if you know what I mean.

[Trunky]

[Blackaddler]

Graham Wheeler's mulled Winter ale looks interesting.

I might try something along these lines. Leaving out the sugar, and upping the MO, for instance.

[mysterio]

I would use only the spices, add them at the end of the boil. Use maybe, two or three teaspoons of all the spices together. Honestly I think it would be a good one off Christmas beer to share with your family. The fruit flavour you can get from the yeast so just use something with character.