Sad Christmas Porter

Sad Christmas Porter 

Generally speaking, holiday ales all have certain similar characteristics. Spiced, hearty, and aromatic, these beers are often called Winter Warmers. Winter Warmers or Holiday Ales generally aren't considered a traditional beer style, however their roots go back centuries. Many Winter offerings can trace their lineage back to the English or Belgian Strong Ales and Wassail of bygone eras. 

Wassail is both a drink and a celebration. Warm cider or mead is flavored with a combination of citrus peels, apples, and mulling spices to create what we today would call a mulled cider. Wassailing traditions are a Norse creation, and Vikings brought the Winter events to what is now England during their era of conquer. Many times the brew was communal with people drinking out of special Wassail bowls together in the town taverns. In England, the Yarlington Wassail has been held since the 17th century, and it is quite the event. According to Wikipedia:

"The Yarlington Wassail is a Wassail held in the village of Yarlington, Somerset, England, and dating from the 17th century. The Wassail, which has not been held for many years, was revived in January 2012 by the Brue Valley Rotary Club. The Wassail began outside the local Pub, the Stag's Head Inn, with music and dance performed by the Wyvern Jubilee Morris Men. There was then a noisy procession to a local orchard where the Wassailing Carol (see below) was sung, the Wassail Queen placed slices of bread soaked in cider in the oldest tree in the orchard. Cider was then poured around the base of the tree and a shotgun was fired into the night sky. After drinking mulled cider and apple juice the procession returns to the local pub. The Wyvern Jubilee Morris Men then performed a Mummers Play. A traditional meal of pork with apple sauce was followed by apple crumble with custard."

Sounds like quite the party. 

Along with the Wassail, Holiday Ales are influenced by heavier ales. Heavier beers tend to illicit a warming feeling in the chest of the drinker. Part of this is because of the warmer serving temperature of the beers as well as the strength of the beer. Often called Winter Warmers because of this phenomenon, these strong ales are often spiced with similar mixed to the Wassail. These spice blends allow for more creativity from the individual brewer, giving each the batches different flavors profiles every year. 

Often focusing around gingerbread or chai flavors, the beers themselves usually take a back seat to the spice mix. Lightly hopped, most of the beers are malty and dark, with potential for a higher than average alcohol content. The Porter has proven to be a useful foundation for the spices to work off of. Roasted characteristics in the malt and earthy aromatics meld with dried orange peel, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and ground ginger for a sweet and spicy drink that pairs well not only with holiday treats, but also cold nights by a fire. 

OUR RECIPE
11 lbs 2-Row Pale Ale Malt
1 lb 60L Caramel Malt
1/2 lb Roasted Barley
1/2 lb Chocolate Malt

2 oz Cascade Hops

1 Cinnamon Stick
1 tsp EACH: ground cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, coriander, cloves, ginger, dried orange peel
1 3 inch licorice stick

S-04 Dry English Ale Yeast

Malts We Use

2-Row Pale Ale Malt: A basic base malt, this won’t impart too much color and very little flavor. It is a pretty clean, crisp malt that works well with specialty grains and pretty much any style of beer. American varieties are generally less starchy and lighter than English breeds.

Roasted Barley: A classic dark malt, roasted barley adds rich dark hues with highlights of magenta and red to stouts and porters. It is heavy on the roast flavor and gives a fresh coffee aromatic characteristic in beer. Roasted barley is among the only widely used specialty grains that are unmalted. 

60L Caramel Malt: Caramel malts are the most commonly used specialty malts. Rated on a Lovibond Scale for color (L) the 60L is right in the middle of the pack. The higher the Lovibond number is on these malts, the darker they are. The lightest will add very little color and some faint sugary sweetness, while the darkest will give dark caramel, prune, and raisin flavors while adding dark red color to the beer. 60L is right in the middle, providing a warm malty sweetness and enough red coloration to accent a pint.

Chocolate Malt: Despite its tasty name, chocolate malt does NOT taste like chocolate. In fact it’s named for the warm chocolate colors that it brings to a beer. It also adds some nutty aromas and toast flavoring.

Hops We Use

Cascade: Accounting for about 10% of all hop growth in the United States, Cascade has become the quintessential American hop variety. It's pine and resinous notes with sweet citrus aromas make it perfect for most domestic craft beers, especially pale ales.

Yeast We Use

SafAle S-04: A basic English dry yeast strain that works well across all styles but really thrives in malty and dark ales. Top fermenting and reliable, S-04 dry yeast can handle most low to medium ABV beers, it ferments quickly and creates a tight sediment base, increasing the clarity of lighter English ales while still retaining the hearty characteristics of pub beer.

Adjuncts We Use

Our spice mix was created to replicate the traditional mulled spice flavors of the Wassail and Winter Warmers. The citrus kick of the dried orange peel blends with the winter spices to create a flavorful and aromatic combination that enriches the Porter base, resulting in a bold and complex beer.

Cheers!