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Norweigian Christmas Ale

5 gallons, extract and specialty grains

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. crystal malt, 20° Lovibond
• 1 lb. crystal malt, 90° Lovibond
• 2 oz. roasted barley
• 7 lbs. amber malt extract syrup
• 4 oz. malto-dextrin powder
• 0.5 lb. light-brown sugar
• 1 oz. Chinook hop pellets (10% to 12% alpha acid) for 45 min.
• 1 vanilla bean, chopped
• 1 tsp. crushed cardamom seed
• 0.5 oz. Cascade hop flowers
• Wyeast 1056 or 1272
• 3/4 cup of dextrose for priming

Step by Step

In 2.5 gals. of cold water, steep crystal malts and barley. Bring water gradually to 170° F and remove grains. Add to the kettle malt syrup, malto-dextrin powder, and sugar. Bring to a boil and add hops. Boil 45 minutes, then turn off the heat. As the wort cools, steep hop flowers and, in a muslin bag, vanilla and cardamom. Cool, top up to 5.25 gals., and pitch yeast. Ferment at 70° to 75° F for five to seven days. Rack to a secondary fermenter for a week. Prime and bottle.

Options

This recipe has gone through several permutations over the years, from the first version made from Mountmellick's Export Ale kit and amber DME to an all-grain formulation (8 lbs. Belgian pale malt, 0.5 lb. Munich, 0.5 lb. amber malt, with the same specialty malts steeped in the runoff after mashing). To alter the color, change extracts. Use light or extra-light extract (and drop the roasted barley) to get a dark gold to light amber ale, or use dark extract for a brown version.

I like using the neutral ale yeast to allow the malts and spices to come out, but Wyeast 1084 Irish ale will work as well, leaving it more full bodied. Edme dry ale yeast is acceptable, too. I envision this as a lager (although I have yet to do it) fermented with Wyeast 2042 Danish lager yeast, and aged cold for three months to make it really smooth.

An alternative for the spices is to steep them in 1/2 cup of vodka for two months and add them at bottling time.

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