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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Happy Holidays!


Jeff and Brittany are a lovely couple, and I felt bad that I wasn't able to attend their wedding, so I decided to brew a Commemorative Ale to help them celebrate their first Thanksgiving and Christmas together. You can't just make an ordinary pale ale or a stout for such an occasion, so for the longest time I was stymied on style choices -- that is, until I saw the candids shot by my friend and officemate Patrick. I got this bright, hopeful feeling from the pics, and knew I had to do a Holiday Brew. Click on the label above and you'll see what I mean.

This Holiday Spiced Ale is a Scottish-80 style ale spiced with Ceylon cloves, cracked cinnamon, allspice, cardamom and mace. Made with 1 lb. dark crystal malt, 6 ½ lbs. golden liquid malt extract, 1 oz. Argentina Cascade hops, 14 ozs. Malto-dextrin, spices, and Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale Yeast. Fermented at 68 °, and bottle-conditioned with 5 oz. corn sugar for carbonation.

Brewed October 2008. First tasting: a nice champagne-like dryness on the front end, with a sweet finish accented by the mélange of spices. A very suitable Holiday Ale.

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