Spice It Up: A festive holiday beer and a gruit-style spiced ale

Tis the season for celebrations, so we have chosen two very celebratory beers to brew for this joyful time of year. The first is our version of Ballard’s Wassail Special Strong Ale, brewed by Ballard’s Brewery in Petersfield, England. The brewery suggests mulling their beer with a little sugar and spices to enjoy in cold weather. This unique beer is not imported into the United States.    

The spiced ale is brewed with gruit. Gruit is an ancient spice and herb mixture, used long before hops were introduced to brewing. Try formulating your own version of gruit and making an intriguing one- of-a-kind brew. 

Holiday Ale

OG, FG, IBUs and SRM will vary.  In the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) guidelines there is not a category for Holiday Ale. If you brew a holiday beer, love it and want to enter it into a homebrew competition, it should be entered in Category #24 (Specialty/Experimental/Historical). This is the category for beers that don’t otherwise meet established style categories.    

We like our holiday beers to be fruity ales. They should be deep to dark brown with a long-lasting whipped-cream head. Malt aroma should fill the nose, with a background of intense fruit and maybe a hint of hops. The palate should explode with malt, with hops barely present. Full-bodied and creamy, the beer’s alcohol is subtle, and the finish should be long and mirror the palate. The alcohol content should be 6% ABV or above — both complex and warming.    

Our example, Ballard’s Wassail Special Strong Ale, was first brewed as a draught beer for Christmas in 1980. It became so popular that it’s now a permanent beer in the Ballard’s portfolio. Wassail pours into your glass with hints of tawny browns and a massive, rocky head. The aroma is a complex medley of dried dark fruit, sweet malt and spicy hops. Malt enhances the palate with dark, bittersweet notes, leading to the long, dry ending. This is a beer to savor before the fireplace on dark winter evenings.    

For a festive hot drink, heat Wassail and pour 12 ounces into a mug with 2 teaspoons (more or less to taste) white or brown sugar, along with a cinnamon stick. Dust some nutmeg over the top and sip.

Commercial Beers To Try   

There are many special holiday beers available at this time of year. Here’s a partial list: Samuel Smith’s Holiday Ale, Scaldis Noel, Abbey Affligem Noel, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Moctezuma’s Noche Buena, Traquair House Ale, King & Barnes Christmas Ale, St. Sylvester’s Flanders Winter Ale, Stille Nacht by Del Dolle Brewers, Gordon Xmas, Thomas Hardy’s and JW Lee Harvest Ale. Most breweries have a holiday or winter ale.

Hops, Malt and Yeast   

Hops should be subdued and the malt should dominate. We favor spicy, earthy hops for our holiday ales. East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Challenger, Styrian Goldings and Polish Lublin are all good choices. Bittering hops should be kept to a minimum, just enough to balance the malt sweetness. Flavor and aroma hops should also be subdued. Crystal malts are necessary with a small amount of black malt for depth of color. Honey malt is a nice grain to use, along with chocolate malt to give a nutty, complex nuance to the beer. The yeast should promote a full, malty beer; we recommend Wyeast 1968 (Special London Ale), Wyeast 1275 (Thames Valley), Wyeast 1028 (London Ale), Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale), Wyeast 1318 (London III), White Labs WLP002 ( English Ale) or White Labs WLP004 (Irish Ale).

Serving Suggestions   

Serve at 55° F in a pewter mug with a pancetta-wrapped filet mignon smothered with wild mushroom sauce and roasted garlic smashed Yukon Gold potatoes.

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Holiday Ale

5 gallons, extract with grains; OG = 1.062; FG = 1.015; IBU = 32

Ingredients:

12 oz. British crystal malt (55° Lovibond)
1 oz. British black malt
7 lbs. Muntons extra light dry malt extract (DME)
8 AAUs Fuggles (2 oz. at 4% alpha acid) (bittering)
5 AAUs East Kent Goldings (1 oz. at 5% alpha acid) (flavor)
2 AAUs Fuggles (0.5 oz. at 4% alpha acid) (aroma)
1 tsp. Irish moss
Thames Valley (Wyeast 1275) or English Ale (White Labs WLP002)
1-1/4  cup Muntons extra light dry malt extract for priming

Step by Step:   

Bring one gallon of water to 155° F, add crushed grain and hold for 30 minutes at 150° F. Strain the grain into the brewpot and sparge with one gallon of 168° F water. Add the dry malt and bittering hops.
Bring the total volume in the brewpot to 2.5 gallons. Boil for 45 minutes, then add the flavor hops and Irish moss. Boil for 13 minutes, then add the aroma hops. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove the pot from stove. Cool wort for 15 minutes in an ice bath or chill with wort chiller. Strain into the primary fermenter and add water to obtain 5-1/8 gallons.

Add the yeast when the wort has cooled to below 80° F, then oxygenate-aerate well. Ferment at 68° F for 7 days, then rack into secondary (glass carboy). Ferment until target gravity has been reached and beer has cleared (approximately 3 weeks). Prime and bottle. Carbonate at 70° to 72° F for 2 to 3 weeks. Store at cellar temperature.

Partial-mash option:

Mash 2.25 lbs. British two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 1 gallon of water at 150° F for 90 minutes. Sparge with 2 gallons of water at 168° F. Then follow the extract recipe, omitting 1.75 lbs. of Muntons extra light dry malt extract from the boil.

All-grain option:

Mash 11 lbs. British two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 3 gallons of water at
151° F for 90 minutes. Sparge with 5 gallons of water at 168° F. The total boil time is approximately 90 min. Add 5.9 AAU of Fuggles for the last 60 min. of the boil. Then add the flavor hops, Irish moss and aroma hops as indicated by the extract recipe.

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Gruit-Style Spiced Ale

OG, FG, IBUs and SRM will vary.  Before the use of hops in beer, European beers were often flavored with gruit (rhymes with fruit). Gruit is a blend of herbs and spices, the most common being bog myrtle, yarrow and rosemary.    

Gruit ale was the main form of ale in Europe for close to 700 years. The production of gruit was monitored by the church. Many of the religious sectors had monopolies on the gruit trade and discouraged the use of hops to protect their interests. In Holland, gruit suppliers even taxed hopped beer.   

The Germans were the first to use hops in beer. In the 1500s they instituted “The Bavarian Beer Purity Law,” which names hops as the only flavoring in beer. Because of the preservative qualities in hops, Germany was the only country that could successfully export beer.

Eventually all of Europe changed over to hops, with England being the most resistant. When the Flemish settled in Kent, England and planted hops in the fifteenth century, King Henry the VI finally passed a law allowing the growth and use of hops. It soon became apparent that using hops made better beer and gruit ales became a fond memory.    

In our version of gruit-style spiced ale, we combine hops and gruit. Hops will be used for bittering and herbs and spices are used for flavor and aroma.

Commercial Beers To Try:   

Some excellent spiced beers are: St. Peter’s Spiced ale (spiced with cinnamon and apple), New England Holiday Ale, Anchor “Our Special Ale,” Harpoon Winter Warmer, Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale, Alba Scots Pine Ale, and Grozet Auld Scot’s Gooseberry and Wheat Ale.

Hops, Malt, Yeast, Herbs and Spices   

Bittering hops should not be more than 10 AAUs so that the bitterness does not detract from the spice and herb flavors. Almost any variety of bittering hop can be used. Crystal malt is used for body, roundness, color and sweetness. Chocolate malt is used for color, and to give the beer another dimension. Torrified wheat provides a whippedcream head and a smooth creamy body. Malto-dextrin provides body and a hint of sweetness. All of these characteristics provide a perfect backdrop for the spices and herbs. The following spices and herbs can be used for gruit: cumin, yarrow, sweet gale, anise, rosemary, caraway seed, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, juniper berries, nutmeg, millefoil, bog myrtle, nutmeg, elderflowers, cardamom, lavender, licorice stick, rosemary, mace, cloves, vanilla bean, woodruff, black pepper and marjoram.    

Gruit can be a mix of a few or many spices, depending on the brewer. Some combinations that compliment each other are: sweet gale, coriander and cumin; nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and vanilla bean; or cumin, black pepper and lavender. The combinations can be as few as two or as many as ten. Use your imaginations and your taste buds.

Serving Suggestions   

Serve gruit-style spiced ale in a tankard mug at 55° to 57° F. Enjoy with a simple dessert of lemon pound cake topped with freshly whipped cream and raspberries.

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Gruit-Style Spiced Ale

5 gallons, extract with grain; OG = 1.058; FG = 1.015; IBU = 28

Ingredients:

12 oz. U.S. crystal malt (60° Lovibond)
4 oz. torrified wheat
3.5 oz. British chocolate malt
6.5 lbs. Muntons extra light dry malt extract (DME)
2 oz. malto dextrin
8.5 AAUs Northern Brewer (1 oz. at 8.5% alpha acid) (bittering)
1 tsp. Irish moss

Gruit Mixture:

1-inch vanilla bean (chopped), 1/2 tsp. sweet gale, 1-inch piece broken licorice stick, 2 tsp. anise seeds (crushed), 1-inch of fresh ginger (grated).
London ESB Ale (Wyeast 1968) or English Ale (White Labs WLP002)
1-1/4 cup Muntons extra light dry malt extract for priming

Step by Step:   

Bring one gallon of water to 155° F, add crushed grain and hold for 30 min. at 150° F. Strain the grain into the brewpot and sparge with one gallon of 168° F water. Add the dry malt, malto dextrin and bittering hops. Bring the total volume in the brewpot to 2.5 gallons.   

Boil for 45 min., then add 1/2 of the gruit mixture and Irish moss. Boil for 10 min., then add 1/2 of the gruit mixture. Boil for 5 min., then remove pot from stove. Cool wort for 15 min. in an ice bath or chill with wort chiller. Strain into the primary fermenter and add water to obtain 5-1/8 gallons.    

Add yeast when wort has cooled to below 80° F. Oxygenate-aerate well. Ferment at 68° F for 7 days then rack into secondary (glass carboy). Ferment until target gravity has been reached and beer has cleared (approximately 3 weeks). Prime and bottle. Carbonate at 70° to 72° F. for 2 to 3 weeks. Store at cellar temperature.

Partial-mash option:

Mash 1.75 lbs. U.S. two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 1 gallon water at 150° F for 90 min. Sparge with 2 gallons water at 168° F. Then follow the extract recipe, omitting 1.75 lb. of Muntons extra light dry malt extract (DME) from the boil.

All-grain option:

Mash 9.67 lbs. U.S. two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 3 gallons of water at 152° F for 90 minutes. Sparge with 5 gallons of water at 168° F. The total boil time is 90 minutes. Add 6.8 AAU of bittering hops for the last 60 minutes of the boil. Add the spices and Irish moss as indicated by the extract recipe.

Tess and Mark Szamatulski, owners of Maltose Express in Monroe, Connecticut, are regular contributors to BYO.