Holiday Ale

Classification: spiced ale, holiday beer, all-grain, Anchor Our Special Ale

Source: Doug Roberts (dzzr@lanl.gov) Issue #317, 12/6/89

During the boil the spices combined with orange peel and malt made the house smell really good---kind of like a beer fruit cake. After smelling and tasting the wort, I think I've identified one of the Secret ingredients in Anchor's Christmas Ale: cardamom. I'm guessing they use 1/4-1/2 teaspoon per five gallons.

Ingredients:

7-1/2 pounds, Klages malt
1-1/2 pounds, crystal malt (90L)
1/4 pounds, chocolate malt
1/4 pound, black patent malt
1/2 pound, dextrin powder
1/2 cup, molasses
1 teaspoon, cardamom
1 teaspoon, cinnamon
1 teaspoon, ginger
grated rind of 4 oranges
1-1/2 ounces, Nugget hops (boil)
1 ounce, Willamette hops (finish)
Whitbread ale yeast
1/2 cup, molasses (priming)

Procedure:

Mash grains. Add dextrin (I was out of Cara-pils), 1/2 cup molasses, spices, boiling hops, and orange peel. Boil 1 hour. Add finishing hops in last few minutes. Strain into fermenter. Cool and pitch yeast.

Specifics:

O.G.: 1.045