Beer is food, so I am posting this.
Just sampled my first Christmas ale. It's based on Happy Halfwit, a wheat-heavy Belgiany ale I created. I added dark grain (Special B) and jacked up the ABV with table sugar. I used Sabro hops.
When I sampled it during fermentation, thought it was too sweet and tasted too much like a pina colada, so I changed the recipe and ordered more grain, hoping I could make a new ale by Christmas. Today I tried the first version after chilling and carbonation, though, and I love it. It's around 12.75% ABV by my software's best guess. Really nice, but if you drink a whole pint, you're done for the evening.
I made the new ale yesterday, so by the 25th, I'll have two Christmas ales to choose from.
Here's a sample in a half-pint glass. I keep it at 35 degrees and 3.3 volumes of CO2.
Just sampled my first Christmas ale. It's based on Happy Halfwit, a wheat-heavy Belgiany ale I created. I added dark grain (Special B) and jacked up the ABV with table sugar. I used Sabro hops.
When I sampled it during fermentation, thought it was too sweet and tasted too much like a pina colada, so I changed the recipe and ordered more grain, hoping I could make a new ale by Christmas. Today I tried the first version after chilling and carbonation, though, and I love it. It's around 12.75% ABV by my software's best guess. Really nice, but if you drink a whole pint, you're done for the evening.
I made the new ale yesterday, so by the 25th, I'll have two Christmas ales to choose from.
Here's a sample in a half-pint glass. I keep it at 35 degrees and 3.3 volumes of CO2.