Over the Thanksgiving weekend I tried out my first custom beer recipe – a spiced Christmas ale.  It is not any type of established style, but pulled from a number of recipes.  We’ll see how it turns out.

Here’s what I used:

• Grains (soaked 30 min. at about 160 F):
  • 1 lb. Crystal 40L
  • 1 lb. Cara Amber
• Extracts/Sugars (added just before the boil):
  • 2 qt (6 lb.) Pale Malt Liquid Extract
  • 0.5 qt (1.5 lb.) Wheat Liquid Extract
  • 1lb. Brown Sugar
  • 1lb. Light Candy Sugar
• Hops:
  • 1 2/3 oz. Fuggles (Bittering – added just after the boil)
  • 1 2/3 oz. Kent Goldings (Finishing -  added 45 minutes into the 60 minute boil)
• Spices (added 45 minutes into the boil):
  • 3 Cinnamon Sticks
  • 0.5 oz. Nutmeg
  • 0.25 oz. Allspice
  • 0.25 oz. Cloves
  • 1 oz. Benedictine
• Yeast:
  • White Labs Burton Ale Yeast

I’m not sure if it was the spices, but the original gravity was really high, coming in at 1.078.  This may end up being a strong beer.  Also, it took almost 24 hours for the fermentation to start.  Hopefully it will all turn out OK.

Unfortunately, since I started so late I won’t be able to condition the beer in a secondary fermenter, and if I bottle in 2 weeks, the bottles will be less than 2 weeks old on Christmas.  I’ll have to remember to start earlier next year – maybe around Halloween.