Christmas Pudding Ale anyone??

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Mad Bob

Christmas Pudding Ale anyone??

Post by Mad Bob » Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:18 pm

I bought a couple of bottles of Young's Christmas Pudding Ale last year (not enough..should have bought a lot) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can imagine that a beer of this style and character will be quite difficult to copy. Nevertheless, if anyone has a recipe I do like a challenge.

bconnery

Re: Christmas Pudding Ale anyone??

Post by bconnery » Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:34 pm

If you search around, particularly US sites, you'll find a few recipes for Christmas beers.
Also If you liked the Youngs I'd recommend 3 Rivers Yummy Figgy Pudding Ale. Really christmas pudding beer. Lovely.

I made one a few years back that tasted like Christmas Pudding in a glass, but as it was for an Aussie Christmas I used a pale ale base.
If you were to use the same spices but add in some dark specialty malts I think you'd come close...

Mine was an extract beer but here's an AG version a guy by the online handle of citymorgue did based on it...
If you were to add in some rich specialty grains such as Dark Crystal, Special B, Caraaroma, anything that can give a good dark fruit flavour then I think you'd come close...

I boiled the honey and spices in a separate pot.
I used Macadamia Honey but something like Orange Blossom or any quite floral honey would be good.

Christmoose Ale

Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (L): 21.00 Wort Size (L): 21.00
Total Grain (kg): 4.95
Anticipated OG: 1.057 Plato: 14.02
Anticipated SRM: 8.7
Anticipated IBU: 35.3
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
60.6 3.00 kg. Pale Ale Malt (2-row) Australia 1.037 2
20.2 1.00 kg. Munich Malt Australia 1.038 6
6.1 0.30 kg. Wheat Malt America 1.038 2
5.1 0.25 kg. CaraMunich Malt Belgium 1.033 75
8.1 0.40 kg. Honey 1.042 0

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
20.00 g. Hallertauer Pellet 6.00 16.3 45 min.
10.00 g. Hallertau Hersbrucker Pellet 6.00 8.1 45 min.
25.00 g. Hallertauer Pellet 6.00 6.1 15 min.
20.00 g. Hallertau Hersbrucker Pellet 6.00 4.8 15 min.

Yeast
T-58 SafBrew Specialty Ale or equiv liquid yeast
juice & rind of 4 oranges. 2.5tsp nutmeg. 1.5 tsp cloves. 1tsp mixed spice. 6 cardamom pods crushed. ferment warm to get Belgian characterises
2 sticks + 1tsp cinnamon.
add spices and honey @ 5min

Extract version:
2kg LME - Light
1 kg DME - Light
0.13 kg Crystal 140
0.02 kg Dark Munich

Same hops and spices as above.

Eadweard
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 683
Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:17 am
Location: Woking

Re: Christmas Pudding Ale anyone??

Post by Eadweard » Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:33 am

I talked about Young's Christmas Pudding Ale with their ex-head brewer once. If I remember rightly it was a mix of stout and winter warmer with coconut flavouring added.

delboy

Re: Christmas Pudding Ale anyone??

Post by delboy » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:40 am

Eadweard wrote:I talked about Young's Christmas Pudding Ale with their ex-head brewer once. If I remember rightly it was a mix of stout and winter warmer with coconut flavouring added.
I thought i detected coconut in it.

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awalker
Under the Table
Posts: 1018
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2007 1:57 pm
Location: Colchester, Essex

Re: Christmas Pudding Ale anyone??

Post by awalker » Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:00 am

My first attempt a long time a go (ok only a couple of years)
Was some of a basic stout reciepe, demijohn worth
On top of a sainsburys deluxe xmas pud :roll:

It seemed to bring out all the flavours and I could and did do a good side by side comparison
With xmas and with out.
Fermenter(s): Lambic, Wheat beer, Amrillo/Cascade Beer
Cornys: Hobgoblin clone, Four Shades Stout, Wheat Beer, Amarillo/Cascade Ale, Apple Wine, Cider, Damson Wine, Ginger Beer

Mountain

Re: Christmas Pudding Ale anyone??

Post by Mountain » Sat Oct 10, 2009 6:46 pm

I did a Christmas spiced dark ale in July.
It's a good 8.5%, so I thought it would mature in time for the festivities.
-
I used pretty much the same spices and quantities as your brew.
Tasted one last week....er....then tasted another. It's very much like a porter with a spiced aftertaste and very warming. I'd perhaps go as far as saying slightly medicinal-but not in a bad way!!!
-
Anyway, I slept in and was late for work the next day #-o

JonsCravenBoozeHound

Re: Christmas Pudding Ale anyone??

Post by JonsCravenBoozeHound » Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:09 am

Hi,

apologies for the thread resurrection, but it's going to be "that most wonderful time of the year" before long and I'll need a drink or two to see it through ...

Already have a Abdij with tincture conditioning, but fancy trying a Christmas Pudding beer to use up my cake ingredient leftovers, basically follow a Pud recipe (but leaving out the suet ) .

I have 2 Woodforde kits to make up, Wherry and Great Eastern; which would be a better base (thinking Wherry as it's slightly darker)? Maybe add a tablespoon or two of black treacle as well...

And which would be best way to get flavour out of mixed peel, sultanas, spices? Another tincture/tea added to the wort, or a "bouqet garni" affair which I can leave in the FV and just fish out once things taste Christmassy enough?

pantsmachine

Re: Christmas Pudding Ale anyone??

Post by pantsmachine » Sat Oct 08, 2011 7:09 pm

You won't need much spice to achieve a ho-ho-ho character. I tried a xmas beer from a Scottisb mb last year and it was seriously overspiced. So much so that i only drank a 1/3rd of the pint(gasp,shock,horror)! I like the idea of a dark malty beer with a couple of pound of raisins, demera or muscova sugar, orange zest and maybe even a M&S xmas pud fired straight into the FV. Spices would be applied lightly in a small muslin bag towards the end of the fermentation and i'd especially go easy on the cloves! Good luck and i can't believe its getting towards THAT time of year again!

JonsCravenBoozeHound

Re: Christmas Pudding Ale anyone??

Post by JonsCravenBoozeHound » Sun Oct 09, 2011 7:49 am

Thanks PM, I'll be sparing wth the spices. I may have to draw the line at a whole Xmas pud though, wouldn't that make it a lttle greasy? Maybe I should split the kit and half/half it..

ta

pantsmachine

Re: Christmas Pudding Ale anyone??

Post by pantsmachine » Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:47 pm

I see where you are coming from John(good name) with regard to the xmas pud consistencty but you are not thinking of the poor yeasty beasties who like Tiny Tim are seriously 'onto plums' at the festive period. Givving them a xmas pud to eat will be a gastronomic extravaganza the like of which they have never seen. God bless them one and all.

Or, back in the land of sanity, Xmas beers at their best are about rich malty darkness, how you get there is half the fun!

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