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The recent ASN tasting of spiced, herb and flower beers got me thinking back to the early days of craft brewing. For many of us, holiday ales like Anchor Christmas Ale were probably the first spiced beers we ever had. Besides being a game-changer in terms of flavor, they also showed homebrewers how limitless the possibilities could be when brewing your own beer. It does, however, call for advance planning.
Strong spiced ales like these take a while to ferment and for the spices to mellow and come together, but most holiday beers are released between Halloween and Thanksgiving. So if you’d like to have your holiday ale ready to share with friends and family by then it should be brewed by mid-September at the latest. Which means the time is now to start thinking about the mix of ingredients you would like to use in your own seasonal beer.
The classic recipe for this type of ale uses typical pumpkin pie or holiday cookie spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. That’s a great place to start if you’ve never done one before, and this type of ale is still very popular in some circles. Jaded craft beer veterans however have often had enough of this sort of thing, and are looking for different combinations of ingredients to shake up the traditional recipes.
This is where the addition of flowers can breathe new life into spiced holiday ales. The trick is in picking a flower that will harmonize with some classic spices and not clash. Some flowers will give a perfumey, even soapy note to the flavor and aroma that would be out of place in a Holiday Ale. Hibiscus flowers, on the other hand add a fruity, spicy note that can work very well in this type of beer. And as a bonus, if the beer is not too dark they will impart a beautiful pink or red color that is certainly appropriate to the season.
As with any ale of this type, the key is balance. For that reason we will go light on the spices and flowers added to the boil, and reserve the option of adding a bit more of them to the secondary if the beer needs more. The malt bill will be fairly simple with only pale malt and a bit of crystal. This will keep the color light enough for the reddish color to shine, and provide a stable base to spotlight the spices.
Hibiscus Holiday Ale: all grain recipe
Ingredients:
10 lbs two-row malt
.5 oz 60°crystal malt
6 AAU’s hop pellets—60 min.
3 AAU’s hop pellets—20 min.
1 tsp rehydrated Irish moss—20 minutes
4 cinnamon sticks ground in a coffee grinder —10 mins
5 cracked cardamom pods—10 mins
.5 tsp freshly ground nutmeg—10 mins
.5 tsp freshly grated ginger—10 mins
2 oz dried hibiscus flowers—2 mins
ale yeast starter
Method:
Heat 13 quarts brewing water to 163°. Mash in crushed grain and hold at 152° for 60 minutes. Gradually stir in 1 to 2 quarts boiling water to reach 168°. Recirculate gently until runoff appears clear, then sparge with 168° water to collect 6 gallons. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops as indicated. Cool and pitch ale yeast starter. OG =1070.
Hibiscus Holiday Ale: extract recipe
Ingredients:
8.5 lbs light dry malt extract
.5 oz 60°crystal malt
6 AAU’s hop pellets—60 min
3 AAU’s hop pellets—20 min
1 tsp rehydrated Irish moss—20 minutes
4 cinnamon sticks ground in a coffee grinder—10 min
5 cracked cardamom pods—10 min
.5 tsp freshly ground nutmeg—10 min
.5 tsp freshly grated ginger—10 min
2 oz dried hibiscus flowers—2 min
ale yeast starter
Method:
Heat 5.75 gallons brewing water (use two pots, if necessary). Steep crushed crystal malt in a grain bag until temp reaches 170°. Remove grain bag and stir in malt extract. Return to heat and boil for 60 minutes, adding hops as indicated. Cool and pitch ale yeast starter. OG =1070.
Paul Sullivan has won three Gold Medals in AHA National competitions. He is a professional musician, writer and teacher living in New York City. For more information, go to paulsullivan.com.
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