Spicing a X-mas Beer?

I sort of thought that adding the holiday spices to a x-mas beer wasn't really mandatory but sure helped to get that holiday ale flavor that you're looking for in a beer like this.  In fact, I think just about all the recipe's in A year of Beer (compiled by Amahl Turczyn) does use some form of spicing.  However, I found it interesting that almost none of the beers in BYO's 250 clones book, minus one or two exceptions, used spices in their commercial holiday beers. 

Does anybody have any thoughts on spicing this kind of beer?  I'd like to make something holidayish that taste like a winter beer but I'm hoping it's moderate in strength that also isn't overwhelming so I can put it on the keg and not mind drinking more than a pint or two at a time, instead of the much smaller volume I drink when I bottle my bigger, though much more flavorful, beers.

thanks

WR

Whatever spices you like, at small doses, at end of boil, would be my tactic.  Those beers are nice when the spicing is just a hint in the background. 

My limited experience with pumpkin ales convinced me it's worth zesting your own from whole spices where possible.  One of those micro zesters or a mortar/pestle.

Thanks ML, according to Gordon Strong, American versions of the winter ale are almost always spiced while the English version of these beers are almost never spiced.  It all makes a lot more sense to me now.  I think I'm leaning toward spiced. 

For once, I think the English got this correct!

Just eat fruit cake with a unspiced beer. It will be better that way!

I've been thinking about making a pumpkin beer for he holidays now.  Problem is I'm not a fan those type of beers.  I just wanted to make it because I thought that some of the family would enjoy it.
When you're not a fan of those beers, it's hard to decide what's a good recipe.  I've been looking for a while now and I finally settled on just ordering an all grain pumpkin beer from morebeer.
I'm going to step up production of stouts and porters for my winter warmer beers!

I agree with you take on deciding what is and what isn't a good recipe.  For me, I like to make blonde ales from time to time just to see if I can, not because I like them.  What I usually do is refer to A year of beer and look at those recipes and see what ingredients I have available and then go from there.  There is also another recipe forum at another homebrew message board that has tons of recipes.  I wouldn't trust probably 95% of those recipes but there are some that have high marks and a lot of replies.  I figure if a recipe is still rated with 4 or 5 stars after 300 or so replies than its probably a solid recipe. 

Two or three years ago I tasted a beer, a x-mas-beer if you want to call like this, with a slight cinnamon flavor. It tasted special but I imagined it was christmas-like. So maybe try cinnamon!

I made a X-mass beer last year. The biggest challenge was to find the right spicing as you are referring to.
I found 5 recipes on internet with the same type of spices. To have a kind of starting point for my recipe, I took the average value of all spices (weight, amount and boiltime). I used cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, orange peel, (star)anise and grapefruit peel. I remember I was doubting if I should use the grapefruit peel or not. I did and I regret it. Already in a small amount it gave a too bitter and dominating grapefruit taste.
I couldn't change that much afterwards so I changed the name of the beer From X-mass beer to X-mass bitter!
I still have a few bottles from last year. The other week I tested one and the grapefruit bitterness was still there.
Conclusion/advice:
- be very carefull with grapefruit peel it dominates easily
- don't boil the spices together with your wort, your correction possibilities are very limited. Boil your spices separately as a kind of tea and add them after fermentation in small doses. You can try to taste/smell the effect of the dose and you can even change the balance between the spices.

Regards,
Slurk

So are you now soured or rather bittered (ha ha see what I did there?.................sorry, that was really...............really bad ) on x-mas ales?  I've only done a couple and have had mixed results.  Probably the best one I made was the St. Arnold's x-mas ale clone published in the BYO recipe book.  Just as the book says, that is really a spicy beer but with no spices in in.  I let it ferment in the upper 70's to low 80's and it turned out really, really good.  I really liked it.  I had a friend make the same recipe only he fermented it much colder and the spiciness didn't really come out the way it did in my version.  I think they got that one right.  I also made Mosher's X-mas ale and although it was okay that's a big beer that requires some work and time for just a meh beer. 

This time around I've decided to try Gordon Strong's Holidary Prowler, I wasn't going to since I can't get everything in that recipe in the town that I live but since Amazon has everything and ships everywhere I decided to give it a try. 

Wildrover said:

So are you now soured or rather bittered (ha ha see what I did there?.................sorry, that was really...............really bad ) on x-mas ales?

Click to expand...

No, I am neither sour or bitter
Next weekend I will brew X-mass beer, but without Grapefruit peel. I am really looking forward to it.
R, Slurk