Beer.....

Why is it so good??

Description: Well, everyone seems to be looking for holiday ales. Here's one I made last year that turned out well, I've started this year's batch. My notes say the OG last year was 1.060 which seems awfully low, and is probably a mistake. This year I measured about 1.080. The low hopping rate gives a fairly sweet beer that lets the spices shine through, some may want to up this a bit.

Ingredients: 3 lbs Pale Ale Malt 1 lb 40 degree Crystal .5 lb Wheat Malt 3 oz Chocolate Malt 3.3 lb Light Liquid Malt Extract (I used Munton & Fisson) 3 lb Laaglander Light DME 2 lb Orange Blossum Honey 5 HBU bittering pellets, I used Styrian Goldings (60 minutes) 1/2 oz Flavor Hops (Styrian Goldings Again, 15 min) 4 grams Nutmeg 4 grams Mace 2 inches Cinnamon Stick, broken up 2 inches Vanilla Bean, split Zest of 5 medium Oranges 3 grams Nutmeg (dry spice in secondary) 2 inches Cinnamon Stick (dry spice in secondary) 2 inches Vanilla Bean (dry spice in secondary) ale yeast

Procedure: Generic Ale yeast. I used Brewtek CL-170 last year, but was in a hurry and used Wyeast 1056 this year. A lot of stuff, eh? Mashed the grains at 122 degrees for 30 minutes, at 152 degrees for 1 hour. Sparge, I collected about 3 1/2 gal and added the various other extracts for the boil. Spices, honey, and orange was added for last 15 minutes of the boil. After primary, add the rest of the grains to secondary, and let set for a week or two.