Yuletide Tales of Brewing Past

by Harry Graham

"Christmas Cheer" is a beer for the season, but without the seasoning. Although not gastronomically correct, fashionably speaking, it contains no orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, mint leaves, cardamom, ginseng or other similarly obnoxious spices. The not so secret ingredient is Nestle's caramel, and lots of it.

Ingredients for 10 gallons all-grain:

25 pounds pale malt

2 pounds of 40L British crystal malt

5 pounds of Nestle’s caramels

2 ounces of Centennial, 9.0 alpha, for 90 minutes
1 ounce of Cascade, 5.7 alpha, for 45 minutes
1 ounce of Cascade, 5.7 alpha, for 20 minutes
1 ounce of Cascade 5.7 alpha, at end of boil

Mash: 155 ºF for 45 minutes, acidified with 1 TBS. citric acid.

Boil: Hardened with 1 tsp. gypsum.

O.G.: 1.074
F.G.: 1.030

Ingredients for 4 gallons extract:

7 pounds pale extract (from a box)

1 pound 40L Crystal malt, steeped for 30 minutes

2.5 pounds of Nestle’s caramels

1 ounces of Centennial, 9.0 alpha, for 90 minutes
0.5 ounce of Cascade, 5.7 alpha, for 45 minutes
0.5 ounce of Cascade, 5.7 alpha, for 20 minutes
0.5 ounce of Cascade 5.7 alpha, at end of boil

Boil: 90 minutes, add Irish Moss in last 30 minutes.

O.G.: 1.085
F.G.: 1.020

 

I have been brewing this recipe each Christmas since 1992. This year, Ken Stevens brewed an extract batch to match the all-grain recipe. The all-grain yield was 8 points lower than last year, so his O.G. was very close to the target. In past years, this beer has been extremely bitter, and well liked when it is young, but mellows very quickly, to become a kinder, gentler, and malty beer by January, and much better liked by Kim, if there is any left. I usually brew this beer the last week of October, give it a week to ferment, and a couple for secondary, two weeks to condition in the keg, and then it's ready to serve.

This year we experimented with three different ale yeasts from England. We used Gervin brand yeast in the extract, which attenuated very well. The all-grain batch was split between two yeasts: Brewmaker brand, and a generic strain. These are most likely targeted at producing low gravity bitters, and they did not attenuate all that well. I expect there will be some fermentation in the keg, if it doesn't get too cold. Both of these yeasts are also very inexpensive, running about a buck or so for a year’s supply (8-12 batches).

Two words of warning to the uninitiated:

1.) The caramel must be liquefied before adding it to the boil. This is easily done by heating it in the microwave for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir the wort briskly when adding the caramel so that it does not drop to the bottom of the kettle and burn.

2.) The primary ferment is very slimy due to the large amount of oils in the caramel. This is the only time I clean up my equipment with soap.

Fortunately, the oils do not affect the head retention, etc. Lots of gunk can be expected in the primary, so a secondary ferment is essential.