Merry Christmas! Ale

Classification: spiced ale, holiday beer, christmas ale, extract

Source: Philip Gravel (pgravel@MCS.COM), r.c.b., 9/13/95

Here's one that I've shared with other people and gotten favorable comments on. Brew it by the middle of October so that it has a couple of months to age so the spices to mellow out.

Ingredients: (for 5-1/2 gallons)

6.60 lb. Northwestern Gold LME
1.00 lb. Crystal 80L
0.50 lb. Chocolate malt
0.50 lb. Brown Sugar
0.50 lb. Honey
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer 7.8% 60 min
1.00 oz. Fuggles Leaf 3.8% 15 min
1 tsp cardamom
2 oz grated ginger
5 3 inch cinnamon sticks
Zest from rind of 4 large oranges
1 tsp Irish moss
3/4 c. Dextrose (priming)
Wyeast #1056 American ale yeast
Yeast nutrient

Procedure:

Prepare yeast starter. Crush specialty grains and steep for 30 min. Add LME, brown sugar, and bittering hops and begin boil. At 30 min, add honey, cinnamon, and cardamom and half of the orange zest and ginger. At 15 min, add Irish moss, flavoring hops, and remaining ginger and orange zest. Cool, aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 70-74^F. Rack to a secondary after 7 days and store at 70^F. After another 14 days, bottle beer.

Specifics:

IBU: 28 (Rager)