AG#7 - Christmas Beer

[SiHoltye]

Hello,

I plan to make up the following Christmas Beer w/e after next. In good time before I do, thought I'd post this recipe to run my thinkings through the JBK filter. It usually filters out the crud bits!

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (5.0 EBC) Grain 76.92 %
0.75 kg Brown Malt (130.0 EBC) Grain 11.54 %
0.75 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC) Grain 11.54 %
80.00 gm Fuggles [4.50 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 40.7 IBU
20.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.05 tsp Nutmeg (Ground) (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
0.10 tsp Vanilla Essence (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
0.25 tsp Cloves (Ground) (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
0.30 tsp Cinnamon (Ground) (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.27 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1.27 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
24.00 L London, England Water
2 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.060 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.93 %
Bitterness: 40.7 IBU Calories: 90 cal/l
Est Color: 35.2 EBC

Questions (there are always questions from me!): I plan to bottle this so what are peoples' experiences of bottling with Gervin (Danstar Nott), I've only used S-04 for bottling previously and have been happy with the resulting stable sediment (apart from when I added Isinglass!)

Cheers all.

[Vossy1]

I've personally found Danstar to be o.k/stable in the bottle especially when chilled.

PoP had good results with vanilla pods/seeds as per DaaB's advice.

[bconnery]

Actually for what you have I'd even consider leaving it out altogether.
If you want then I would definitely use vanilla pod if you can or else Vanilla extract as opposed to essence.
Nottingham will work fine for this beer and for bottling.

I think you've done a good job of keeping the spice levels down. This will be important given that you have a relatively short maturation time before christmas.
Mine took 5 months but I had more spices than you do there...

I would up the nutmeg a little. It isn't as dominant a flavour as clove and cinnamon, or at least that's how I found it...
This is what I had in mine, the amounts are larger but the percentages may give you some ideas anyway... I would stress again not to put this much in to a beer you are only making now...
2.5tsp nutmeg. 1.5 tsp cloves. 1tsp mixed spice. 6 cardamon pods crushed. 2 sticks + 1tsp cinnamon

I also boiled them separately in some water and honey, only because I read in a couple of recipes that this was a good way, and added them at the end...
I don't know if you've made one of these before but if you haven't don't be afraid if all you can taste for the first couple of weeks is clove and/or cinnamon.
That's what happened with mine and it was perfect come Christmas...

[SiHoltye]

Yeah I thought that too Daab, and may have been duped into it through all the talk of Xmas beer with the missus. Maybe it is Beer at Xmas, rather than Xmas Beer I should be thinking about.

I did buy some Vanilla Pod to make a substitute to the essence, but having read this forum for a while now, when PoP's name gets mentioned in reference to a recipe away from the usual ingredients, I'm beginning think again! That man sounds into allsorts!

Yeah the more I think about it the fewer flavoured beers I can think of I liked. If they were so great we'd be drinking variations on them year round.

I have a list prepared, Xmas Beer thank you but not required, all others one pace forward.

Thanks for the reality check.

(Edit) Thanks bconnery, Half of my easiness to back burner this Christmas brew is that I've considered and found more classic recipes I want to try before experimenting with usually non beer ingredients. Gonna do Festival Mild and Simmonds Bitter for instance, also a revised Brown Porter. I may brew this Xmas beer in a lull in Springtime, bottle it and forget it, that seems like a good plan for next year. Thanks for your input, I've printed this thread and diaried it for spring (- sad!).