Holiday Ale Recipe
Spiced Bourboned Oaked Holiday Amber
For 6.5 gallons final volume.
8 gallon run off, 90min boil.
Anticipated OG is 1060-1065
Mash efficiency is 75%
12lb American 2-row (or 7.5lb DME)
2lb crystal 40L
1lb crystal 60L
0.125lb crystal 120L
0.125lb chocolate malt
1.0oz Nugget (12%AA, pellets) 60-min
0.5oz Nugget (12%AA, pellets) 15-min
4.0oz American Oak Chips
8.0oz Bourbon/Whiskey (see comments below)
1/4 tsp cinnamon-ground fresh
1/8 tsp nutmeg-ground fresh
Mash in at 154F, 90 minute mash.
Boil for 30min, then start with 1st hop addition.
Irish Moss at 20-min mark.
Yeast WLP002 (or WY1028)
Use two vials of yeast or pitch a hearty dose of yeast cake from a previous batch.
Primary ferment at 68F for two weeks.
During primary:
Steam Oak chips in water steamer on high heat, 5 minutes. Steam chips, do not submerge.
Place oak chips and bourbon in a clean mason jar, cap immediately. Let sit in cool place during primary fermentation. Right before transfer to secondary strain the oak out, add spices to the bourbon, and shake well (This will sterilize the spices).
Rack beer to secondary, dump in oak bourbon spice mix. Secondary for two months at 68-70F.
Notes on secondary and Bourbon:
OK, so I don’t actually use bourbon, I have found that Johnny Walker Red Label is sort of smokey and hot, but when mixed with the beer it ages out to a smooth bourbon like quality. But this is where the extended secondary comes in, it really helps move that HOT nasty Red Label taste to the back of the beer, but it keeps a just noticeable supporting role. You can leave the oak chips in during secondary if you want a stronger oak flavor, it’s an experiment I haven’t done. When adding the bourbon mix, you can prime and bottle right away. Then bottle condition for two months and get the same effect. But there is something about bulk aging the entire 6 gallons together that just works for me.
Check out our Christmas Ale Recipe.
on October 23rd, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Quick question: When you say DME are you meaning Dry Malt Extract or Dark (liquid) Malt Extract? This recipe looks like something that I would really enjoy. How much does the hop flavor come through?
on October 23rd, 2007 at 7:43 pm
DME for me means Dried Malt extract. For any recipe I post, unless explicity labelled, I fully recommend using the lightest DME you can find for any recipe. Then get you flavor and color from specialty grains.
Good luck with the recipe!
on October 23rd, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Missed the question about the hops!
The hop flavor is just enough to balance the crystal malts out. There is some hop flavor, but its the spices and the liquor that carry the Holiday flavor in this brew.
on October 25th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Thanks for answering. The reason I asked is that I saw 7.5 lbs DME which would shoot the O.G. up to something like 1.081 and you were wanting 1.060 to 1.065 and thought that maybe you were meaning dark liquid malt extract….then I realized that you boil is 8 gallons which kinda answered my question since I think in 5 gallon batches. Thanks!
on October 26th, 2007 at 7:44 am
I am a little wierd with the 8 gallon thing. I haven’t optimized my kettle with a pick up tube, so I tend to leave about a gallon behind. I try to shoot for 8 gallons out of the mash and boil down to 7 or so. That way I get about 5.5 into the fermentor.
I’ll try and be more conscience of the 5 gallon thing for the extract brewers.
Sorry for the confusion.
on December 13th, 2007 at 11:33 am
[…] of vanilla extract and cocoa powder. I even made an entry for Johnnie Walker Red that I put in my Holiday Ale. You can easily adjust the properties of ingredients in the recipe without changing the entry in […]
on January 10th, 2008 at 11:12 am
[…] brewed up a batch of Winter Warmer/Holiday Ale at the end of Decemeber. I have noticed that my sparging efficiency has been going up lately, […]
on October 3rd, 2008 at 10:48 pm
This recipe looks seriously tasty, have a few questions for you though:
1) Since this posting, have you made any modifications?
2) Are you happy with this recipe or feel it is still a work in progress?
3) There is no little cinnamon and nutmeg for such a large volume of beer, do the flavors come out that noticeably?
4)What do you finish out as % alcohol wise? 1.060-1.065 seems bit low for OG, but I have no idea what the addition of bourbon does to the final product.
Thanks!
on October 6th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Thanks for the reply Kevin. Here are my thoughts on your questions.
1. This recipe is as is for the past several years. The only mods is that I don’t steep the wood really. The soak in bourbon seems to sanitize the wood just fine.
2. See point 1… I am very happy with this recipe and I do not have plans to modify it.
3. The spice levels are balanced enough to give you a spiced essence, but the beer still tastes like beer. The spice levels vary in other recipes if they are added to the boil. Boiling requires higher levels of spice to be able to taste them.
4. The OG seems low for what??? I don’t brew for ABV. ABV is a consequence of the recipe. And in my book it should never be the other way around. Another way to put it is… I want to brew beer that tastes good first. I’ll drink more of it if I need to get drunk. I’d rather drink 4 of these than one 12% monster of a beer. (If the recipe was to start at 1.060 and finish at 1.012 that would be 6.3%ABV.)
Good luck with the recipe!
on January 3rd, 2009 at 1:40 pm
If I am reading this correctly, on the Holiday Ale Recipe, mash for 90 minutes and then boil for 90 minutes - 30 minute mark of boil add the first hops. Is this correct?
on January 6th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Yes, you are correct about 90 minute mash and boil.
Yes, at 30 minutes into the boil (60 minutes to go until the end) add in the 1 oz of Nugget Hops.
on April 26th, 2009 at 12:57 am
So i know this is an old thread, but i have a quick question, do you find that after aging for 2 months that you need to repitch some yeast in order to get a good carb going?
Thanks a lot!!
on April 29th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
[…] Here is the recipe for Mike’s Holiday Ale with Bourbon! […]