100 Bottles of Beer - Santa Meets the Terminator

In light of the upcoming Christmas Holiday, I am going to jump ahead a bit on the time-line of this journey and discuss a hand-full of Christmas and Holiday Ales. Christmas Ales are generally a bit higher in alcohol content and are typically spiced for the season, containing such wonderful flavors and aromas as cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, anise, and you name it, it has probably been used.

If Abbott & Costello or the 3 Stooges were still around, you know it would have happened. There was a series of movies; Abbott & Costello Meet the Wolfman. Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, etc. etc. These I believe were back in the 1930's. The 3 Stooges got in the act sometime later. I remember one from my youth in the late 1950's or early 1960's, The 3 Stooges Meet the Martians. Anyway, since they are no longer with us, we will let the jolly fat man in the red suit step in and do: Santa Meets the Terminator!

What the hell am I talking about you may ask? Well, the first of my Christmas brews, of course; actually the first three, because, as you know, every blockbuster deserves a sequel or two.

This brew comes from a kit which I picked up on closeout after Christmas 2000 at Beer at Home. My favorite home brew shop, Highlander, had closed down somewhere along the way and I am now getting ingredients at Beer at Home. As of this writing they are still going strong with two locations at 4393 S. Broadway in Englewood, CO and 1325 W. 121^st Ave. in Westminster, CO.

The kit was called Glenbrew Santa's Winter Warmer 40 pint kit. It contained 2 cans of hopped LME, 7 lbs total, and a package of yeast and a package of something called Pilsner Enzyme. I disposed of the yeast and since I had no idea what Pilsner Enzyme was (still don't) I disposed of that too. The instructions said to add 1 kilo of brewer's sugar to make a stronger version they called "terminator". Thus was born:

Santa Terminator

7 lbs LME Glenbrew Santa's Winter Warmer 40 pint kit

18 oz M&F Plain Extra Dark DME

11 oz corn sugar

3 oz M&F Plain Light DME

2/3 oz Czech Saaz hop pellets (15 min)

1/3 oz Fuggle hop pellets (15 min)

1 tsp Irish Moss (15 min)

10 g (2 pkg) Doric Ale yeast

Priming: ¾ cup corn sugar & 1/3 cup extra dark DME

I only had 11 oz of corn sugar and 3 oz of light DME to which I added 18 oz extra dark DME for a total of 2 lbs added sugars. Not quite 1 kilo.

I had never used one of these hopped extract kits so this was a first. As the kit was hopped and did have a hop aroma, I did not use any bittering hops. Added the 1 oz. total of Fuggle and Saaz as a flavoring and aroma hop to offset the additional sugars and because I had it left over from previous brews and it seemed like a good idea. I substituted the Doric yeast for the yeast included in the kit at the suggestion of Andy at Beer at Home.

Add all extracts and corn sugar to 2 gallons hot water, stir well and bring to boil. Add hops and Irish Moss and boil for 15 minutes. Then pour the wort into a fermenter with cold water, topping to 5 ½ gallons with more cold water. Pitch re-hydrated yeast when cooled.

It was ready to rack to secondary after seven days but, due to lack of time, I left it for ten days and bottled after 14 days in secondary. I used a little more dark DME than I normally would have with light because dark has slightly less fermentable sugar than light. I also did not want to open a new bag of light DME for only a ¼ cup and I had been curious to try priming with dark.

The beer turned out dark brown, not really like a porter or stout. It had a great balance between malt sweetness and hop bitterness. I did not take any gravity readings so do not know the ABV but would guess it to be around 7%.

Bring on the sequels!

Santa Terminator II

7 lbs LME Glenbrew Santa's Winter Warmer 40 pint kit

12 oz M&F Plain Extra Dark DME

12 oz M&F Plain Light DME

12 oz corn sugar

1 oz Fuggle hop pellets (15 min)

1 tsp Irish Moss (15 min)

10 g (2 pkg) Doric Ale yeast

Priming: ¾ cup corn sugar & ¼ cup light DME

This should be a little lighter in color and a bit higher ABV than the original due to four ounces more additional sugars.

The brewing process was identical to the original with eight days in the primary and 18 in the secondary. It turned out very clear, beautiful dark amber, almost red color. It was much hoppier than the original but, as it aged, the hops and malt came into better balance. The ABV is still unknown but this one was a definite winner.

Santa Terminator III

7 lbs LME Glenbrew Santa's Winter Warmer 40 pint kit

1 lb C&H raw sugar

1/10 oz (approx. ½ cup loose) home-grown Cascade whole cone hops (15 min)

1 tsp gypsum

½ tsp Irish Moss (15 min)

11.5g Edme Ale yeast

Priming: ½ cup corn sugar & ½ cup light DME

As you can see, I made a few changes this time around. No additional extracts and using a raw sugar which is light brown similar to Demerara or Turbinado. I lightened up on the additional hops, added a little gypsum for a more British ale character, and used different yeast.

I changed the process just a little. Bring the gypsum and sugar to boil in 2 gallons cold water. Add the extract kit and return to boil. Then add the hops and Irish Moss and boil for 15 minutes. Cool and pour into fermenter, topping to 5 ½ gallons with cold water, pitch yeast. Bottled after ten days in primary and 14 days in secondary, adjusting the priming sugars a bit because there was still some minimal activity at bottling and I did not want to over-carbonate.

As usually happens with most movie sequels, by the third time around things just are not as good as they started out. While this version was still good, it did not live up to the quality of the first two. It developed a bit of a fruity tartness which evolved to an apple flavor, acetaldehyde, perhaps the extract kit was getting a little old by this time...

A little search on the internet revealed that Glenbrew still markets a Santa Winter Warmer kit made by Munton's. I do not know for sure but I would assume it is very similar if not identical.

Now, I freely admit these first three Christmas ales are not typical in that they do not include any seasonal spices. So, let's now move on to a couple of my more original creations.

Holiday Brown Ale

4 lbs M&F light DME

3 lbs M&F amber DME

1 lb Demerara sugar

9 ½ oz Spice Hunter Hot Buttered Rum Mix

10 oz 45L American crystal malt

4 oz American chocolate malt

4 oz American wheat malt

1 oz Home Grown Brewers Gold whole cone hops (60 min)

¼ oz Chinook whole cone hops (60 min)

1 oz Home Grown Brewers Gold whole cone hops (30 min)

1 oz Crystal whole cone hops (10 min)

¼ oz Hersbruker whole cone hops (10 min)

1 pkg (1/3 oz) Burton water Salts

UCCS 1028 Olde English ale yeast

Priming: ¼ cup corn sugar & ½ cup light DME & 1 oz Hot Buttered Rum mix

This brew is based on the Newcastle Brown recipe which we discussed back in part 10 of this odyssey. The spice is a prepared blend of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and lemon oil in unknown proportions. I had purchased a can of it for use as Hot Buttered Rum and found it to be very good. It occurred to me it would be perfect for a spiced Christmas Ale so I went out and picked up another can. I reserved one ounce of the 10 ½ oz can for priming.

Preheat 10 qt water treated with water salts to 160F, add all crushed grains in a grain bag and bring to boil. Remove the grains, remove kettle from heat and add the DME, sugar, and spice blend and return to boil. Add hops at times indicated for a total 60 minute boil.

Cool the wort with immersion chiller and pour into fermenter with yeast and top with cold water to 5 ½ gallons. O.G. was 1.052.

Rack the beer to a secondary after 5 days. The intermediate gravity was 1.020. The beer was still cloudy but was already tasting very good, sweet and spicy. I bottled after 16 days in the secondary. It would have cleared faster if I had used some Irish Moss in the last 15 minutes of the boil, but I simply forgot it.

The Final Gravity was 1.017 for an ABV of 4.8%, a bit lower than I hoped for but was still very good. It was less sweet and spicy than when racked to secondary which was good because I had feared I had over-done the spices. The beer was an appropriate brown color with very minimal chill haze. It was well received at the Bristol Brewing Christmas party. It did not get rave reviews but was not put down by the pros either. Personally, I liked it better than Bristol's Christmas Ale.

Uh-Oh, I just opened another can of worms, didn't I? Bristol Brewing? Why am I presenting a home brew at a brewery's Christmas party? Well, remember at the beginning of this edition, I stated I was jumping ahead a bit on this time-line. Just think of that as a hint of things to come, we will get there in good time...

So, back to the Holiday Brown Ale, I made this again about 2 years later using a different spice blend and hop mix but still based on the original Newcastle Brown Ale. I added some more brown sugar because the spice blend this time did not include any sugar.

Holiday Brown Ale II

7 lbs M&F light DME

1 lb Demerara sugar

1 cup Dark brown sugar

5 oz Spice Hunter Mulling Spice Mix

2 ½ oz in boil and 2 ½ oz dry hop secondary

10 oz 120L American crystal malt

8 oz British chocolate malt

4 oz American white wheat malt

2 oz Home Grown Brewers Gold whole cone hops (60 min)

1 oz Home Grown Chinook whole cone hops (30 min)

½ oz Home Grown Nugget whole cone hops (10 min)

1 tsp Irish Moss (15 min)

½ tsp Burton water Salts

UCCS 1028 Olde English ale yeast

Priming: ½ cup corn sugar & ½ cup DME

The spice blend for this one was a prepared blend of whole spices for Mulled Wine. It contained cinnamon chips, dried orange rind, allspice, and cinnamon & orange oil in unknown proportions.

My procedure was slightly different; heat 2 gallons cold water to boiling and, in a separate kettle, add crushed grains to ½ gallon cold water treated with water salts and heat just to boiling. Strain this into main kettle, sparging with 1 qt near boiling water. Return the main kettle to boil, remove from heat to prevent scorching, and add Demerara and DME. Stir thoroughly to dissolve and return to boil. Add the Brewers Gold in a hop bag and after 30 minutes add the brown sugar and Chinook hops. After another 15 minutes, add the 2 ½ oz mulling spices and Irish Moss, after another 5 minutes add the Nugget hops and boil another 10 minutes for a total 60 minute boil.

Remove the hop and spice bags and let drain back into kettle. Cool wort and pour into kettle, pitch yeast, and top to 5 ½ gallons with cold water. O.G. 1.045

After 7 days in primary, rack to secondary with additional 2 ½ oz mulling spices in a hop bag. Intermediate gravity was 1.015 for an ABV of 4%, too low for the style. The taste was very good with the spices and hops both very apparent.

Bottle after 8 days in the secondary, the gravity was relatively unchanged at 1.014.

Even though the 4% ABV is very low for this style, the spice, hop, and malt were in perfect balance. Joe, the head brewer at Bristol went kind of gaga for this so I thought he might use the same spice blend for the Bristol Christmas Ale, but he did not. A couple of other Bristol employees commented they thought mine was better, I agreed.

There I go mentioning Bristol Brewing again. We will get there in good time, gentle readers, in good time...

I have made this one more time but kind of targeting a different holiday, Halloween and Thanksgiving, this time adding pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices. This one is patterned after a Bristol Brewing annual staple, Venetucci Pumpkin Ale, but is still based on the same Newcastle Brown Ale recipe. The Venetucci Pumpkin Ale is an annual benefit, or community project, for which the profits all go to Venetucci Farms, which supplies the pumpkins.

The following is lifted directly from the PPCF website:

"The Venetucci Farm, preserved in perpetuity through the efforts of The Pikes Peak Community Foundation (PPCF), remains a legacy to the spirit and generosity of its founders, Nick and Bambi Venetucci. Established in 1936, the farm gained recognition for giving away literally millions of homegrown pumpkins to school-aged children throughout Colorado Springs. PPCF aspires to uphold this legacy by offering educational experiences in agriculture, including tours, service learning opportunities and classes. The farm will continue the wonderful pumpkin tradition started by Nick over 50 years ago."

Pumpkin Spice Ale

7 lbs M&F light DME

1 lb Demerara sugar

1 1/2 cup Dark brown sugar

4 small pumpkins - approx. 6 lbs after removing seeds

5 tbsp Spice It Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend

10 oz 120L American crystal malt

8 oz British chocolate malt

4 oz American white wheat malt

2 oz Home Grown Brewers Gold whole cone hops (60 min)

7/8 oz Home Grown Chinook whole cone hops (20 min)

1/8 oz Home Grown Cascade whole cone hops (20 min)

1 tsp Irish Moss (15 min)

1 tsp Burton water Salts

UCCS 1056 American ale yeast

Priming: ½ cup corn sugar & ½ cup DME

After washing pumpkins and removing seeds, cut into 1" thick strips and grill over open flame with a pan of water on the grill to provide steam. Grill until soft and beginning to char in spots. Remove peel and cut into chunks, yielding about 2 lb 10 oz after cooking and peeling.

Mix pumpkin with 4 tbsp spice blend (cinnamon, clove, ginger, allspice, nutmeg in unknown proportions) and place in a grain bag. Place bag in kettle with 2 gallons cold water and bring to boil, remove the bag and let drain back into kettle.

In a separate kettle, add crushed grains to 1 gallon cold water treated with water salts and heat just to boiling, strain into main kettle and sparge with 1 qt near boiling water. Return the main kettle to boil, remove from heat to prevent scorching and add DME, Demerara, and brown sugar. Stir thoroughly to dissolve and return to boil. Add hops and Irish Moss at times indicated, adding final tbsp of spice blend along with Moss, for a total 60 minute boil.

Cool the wort and pour into fermenter, pitch the yeast and top to 5 ½ gallons with cold water. O.G. was 1.058.

Bottled after 7 days in primary and 7 days in secondary. The F.G. was 1.016 for 5.5% ABV. The carbonation varied a bit from bottle to bottle and the body was thick and heavy. The spice came off a bit musty but, after an additional 6 weeks aging, the mustiness disappeared and the roast pumpkin flavor became more prominent. The carbonation became more stable and the balance between hops, malts, spices, and pumpkin all lined up nicely. Although I thought this was very good, as did others who tried it, I think I will stick to the pumpkin-less Holiday Brown variations in the future.

From Santa, to the Terminator, to Bristol Venetucci Pumpkin Ale, there you have six variations on two basic Christmas Holiday Ales. I realize I got this out a bit late for this Christmas season, but the truth is, these were not all made in time for the season either. It just seems sometimes life and various responsibilities get in the way of what you really want to do.

Six more down, 43 bottles of beer still on the shelf...Keep on Brewin'...