The Imperial Spiced Stout :
- Color : Black
- Alcohol : 10% proof
- Quantity : 20L
- Bitterness : Mild
- Brewing time : 5h
- Difficulty : High
Ingredients
Brew day :
Malts :
- 6.5kg of Malt Maris Otter
- 600g of Flocons d’avoine
- 200g of Malt Spécial W
- 350g of Roasted Barley
- 200g of Malt Carafa I
- 100g of Malt Carafa III
The additions :
- 1kg of Lactose or Brew Body (for allergy sufferers)
- 1kg of honey (expressive, like chestnut, for example)
- 20g fresh ginger
- 5g nutmeg
Hops :
- 60g Magnum hops
Yeast :
3 packs of Safale US-05
Total water volume : 36L (Preferably Sulfate < Chloride: 1:2)
For secondary fermentation :
- 70g coffee beans
- 50g American oak chips medium toast
- A little whisky
On bottling day :
- 4 Vanilla beans
- 2 Cinnamon sticks
- A little vodka
A word about our Christmas beer recipe :
The process is a little more complex than most of the recipes on this blog, but hey, it’s Christmas after all. And it’s well worth the detour.
If you read English, I know it’s a bit complicated to age beer in barrels. Don’t worry, at our level, oak chips will do the job just fine !
Brew our Christmas beer recipe step by step
Step 1
Heat 22 liters of water to 72°C and pour in the crushed grains.
Stir well to avoid lumps. The temperature should drop to 65°C, and hold for one hour.
At the same time, heat 14 liters of rinse water to 77°C.
Step 2
During saccharification, boil 40 to 50cl of water in a saucepan for 10 minutes. Place this sterilized water in a disinfected bowl. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil and leave to cool to room temperature.
This water will be used to rehydrate the yeast. This will be essential for this beer, given its initial density. By the time you reach the moment of inoculation, the water temperature should be around 30°C.
Step 3
Once the saccharification hour is over, do a Mash-Out.
To do this, raise the temperature of your brew to 75°C and hold it there for 10 minutes.
Step 4
Once the Mash-Out is complete, move on to filtration and rinsing.
Step 5
Heat your wort and boil for 60 minutes.
Infuse your 60g of magnum as soon as it starts to boil.
With 15 minutes to go, add the lactose and honey to your brew.
When only 5 minutes remain, add the ginger and nutmeg.
Step 6
Before or while your must is cooling, rehydrate your yeast. To do this, take your bowl of pre-boiled water.
The temperature should now be around 30°C.
Pour your 3 sachets of yeast into the water. Do not stir. Cover your bowl with aluminum foil and wait 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, gently stir the yeast with a disinfected spoon and wait another 15 minutes.
Once this time has elapsed, the yeast should be fully hydrated. If not, mix one last time.
Arrange to seed within 30 minutes of rehydration.
Step 7
Cool the wort to 18°C and take the density, which should be around 1.105.
Transfer to the fermenter, stirring as much as possible. With this type of beer, it’s very important to oxygenate well before inoculating.
One trick is to transfer the must to a first (disinfected) bucket and then transfer it to the fermenter a second time.
Once this is done, add your rehydrated yeast.
Ferment at 18°C for 3 weeks at first.
Step 8 (optional)
This step is not compulsory, but it represents a significant optimization for your yeast. Indeed, given the high initial density, it’s best to put all your chances on your side.
12 hours after seeding, the yeasts will have absorbed most of the oxygen present in the must. The aim of this stage is to give them a second dose. To do this, stir your (open) fermentation bucket for 5 to 10 minutes. For simplicity’s sake, you can also violently transfer your wort to another disinfected fermenter.
Step 9
Prepare the “vanilla-cinnamon mother tincture” for bottling.
Open the vanilla pods and remove the seeds with a knife.
Place the seeds and emptied pods in a clean jar.
Add the two cinnamon sticks, cover with vodka and seal tightly.
Leave to macerate until bottling (minimum 3 weeks).
Step 10
During the third week of fermentation, disinfect the oak chips.
Simply place them in a clean jar, cover with whisky (preferably Bourbon) and leave to macerate for a week.
Step 11
Using a disinfected strainer, filter the oak chips from the whisky.
I don’t recommend adding whisky to your beer. You can discard it or use it in other preparations.
Prepare your coffee (not for drinking 😉 )
You can grind your 70g of beans and put them in a filter coffee maker to make 1L.
You can also choose to use both dry and whole beans.
Put the oak shavings and coffee in a new, disinfected fermenter and transfer your beer into it.
This transfer is optional: if you don’t want to do it, you can integrate the coffee and chips directly into your beer.
Step 12
Once everything is in the fermenter, leave it alone for 10 to 15 days.
Raise the fermentation temperature to 22°C for the last 7 days of fermentation.
Final specific gravity should be around 1.028 on this beer.
Step 13
Finally, it’s time to bottle! For this, you’ll need to add 4g/l of sugar. To make a sterile syrup, simply put it in boiling water for a few minutes.
At the same time, filter the vanilla/cinnamon mother tincture. The vodka will now be fully flavored, so add it to your beer with the sugar syrup.
Bottle and leave to referment for at least a month.
Over View
Yes, I know, it’s a lot of steps and probably the most complex recipe on the blog. That said, it’s well worth the effort. It’s a little gingerbread, vanilla, roasted and very warm. You can leave it to age for a few months, and it will be perfect all winter long.