Belgian spiced Christmas Ale

I have been looking into how to make a Christmas ale. I have never had one. Researching these seasonal brews I have, however, found that quite a few breweries around the world do produce some versions of this ale. In the Montreal area I know of none.

I went to my local home brew shop, and talked about the recipe that I have been throwing around in my head. He gave me some great ideas, one of which was to use a Belgian Abbey Yeast. I have been playing around with adding in some sour mashed wort to the boil, question of giving it that extra Belgian micro biota feel. Is that a good idea?



Almost a month after bottling, the following comments were made concerning the brew:

Good carbonation
Very dark reddish color
Smell of vanilla is strong
A bit acidic (yeast selection issue)
Very strong alcohol
Spicy amazing taste




With this brew I really had a lot of fun making the label. I enjoy working on getting everything to fit into a 5cm x 5cm space. Plus it adds a bit of professionalism when comes time to serve it to friends, family and guests of the house.