All of the great tasting holiday ales available last year have inspired me to make my own this year. I
choose to make my first holiday ale a traditional one based on a recipe using:
(for five gallons) 7 lbs. light DME 1/2 lb. light crystal malt 1/2 lb. chocolate malt
1 lb. orange blossom honey
hops (don't have the specifics on hand, about 28 IBUs)
BrewTek Belgian Ale #2 from slant (1 qt. starter)
For spices I used:
1 oz. fresh grated ginger
6 inches crushed cinnamon stick
1 Tsp. grated orange peel
in the last 15 minutes of the boil.
Just before bottling I simmered:
1/2 oz. fresh grated ginger
3 inches crushed cinnamon stick
1/2 Tsp. grated orange peel
for 5 minutes and then strained the resulting tea though a coffee filter and added it to the bottling
bucket.
The fermentation went normally and I bottled after two weeks. It has been in the bottle for six weeks
now.
So here's the problem: the ginger is completely overwhelming. It dominates the flavor profile so much
that only a touch of cinnamon can be found. The orange peel is nonexistent and the slightly dry finish
that the honey should have added is not there. In fact this holiday ale starts and ends with mega
ginger. None of the other spices have a chance of coming though. Hopefully, the ginger will mellow
with age, but I am finding it difficult to be optimistic.
So, where did I go wrong. Many holiday ales are made with 3 to 5 ounces of ginger. It is difficult to
imagine using that much after taking a sip of mine.