Christmas Dry Stout

I made this beer at my wife's request. I had brewed a succesful
version of the 'Mega Stout' recipe in Cat's Meow, and she wanted me
to try to make a Christmas brew, so I made a Christmas Stout.
Strangely, at the last minute I decided to go all-grain (for the
first time, no less). This recipe is an attempt at an all-grain,
dry-irish-stout version of the 'Christmas in Ireland' recipe in CM3.
I took hints from several other recipes in CM3 and Charlie Papazian's
Books. This recipe is in the primary fermenter at the time of
submission. I think I may have overdone it with the 1/2 pound of
Fuggles.

Brewer:	Chris Overbeek		Email:	coverbeek@comshare.com
URL:	http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/6264
Beer:	Christmas Dry Stout		Style:	Spiced Irish Stout
Type:	All grain		Size:	6.0 gallons
Color:	201 HCU		Bitterness:	93 IBU
OG:	1.050		FG:	1.012
Alcohol:	4.8% v/v (3.8% w/w)
Water:	I made no adjustments, just used 12.5 quarts of tap water for the mash, approximately 5 more gallons for the sparge, giving about 6 total gallons for the boil. I did top off the fermenter with more water to get up to the 6 gallon quantity I desired for this batch. I think that may have lowered my gravity a tad.
Grain:	7 lb. American 2-row 2 lb. Wheat malt 1 lb. British crystal 70-80L 1 lb. American chocolate .5 lb. American black patent 1 lb. Roasted barley
Mash:	58% efficiency
	50/65/70 (122/150/158) step mash. I didn't understand how to do infusion mashing (duh) so I used the stove to raise temperatures. I think this adversely affected my efficiency. I held the temps as follows: 50C (122F) 30 min. 65C (150F) 10 min. 70C (158F) 20 min. Actually my 50C step was closer to 53C, so my protein rest was probably worthless.
Boil:	90 minutes	SG 1.050	6.0 gallons
	1 lb. Honey
	To get the 'Christmas' in Christmas Stout, I simmered the following stuff in the 1lb Honey before adding the whole bit to the wort after the boil. 6 tsp (sticks) cinnamon 4 oz. Fresh grated ginger 2 tsp. Allspice 1 tsp. Cloves 2 Grated orange rinds (about 1/2 cup zest)
Hops:	8 oz. Fuggles (3.5% AA, 90 min.) 1 oz. Kent Goldings (6.2% AA, 10 min.)
Yeast:	I used Wyeast 1084 directly from the smack-pack. Activity w/in 36 hours.
Log:	Brew Date: Nov. 2, 1997 Pitch Temp: 72F Fermentation Temp: 64-66F
Carbonation:	I Plan to use ~1 cup light plain DME for carbonation.
Tasting:	Hopefully this beer will not be absolutely gross. It will be pretty darn bitter, but hopefully the spices and maltiness will balance the high IBU level. I wanted a good dry stout, with some Christmas spirit. We'll see if I created a 6 gallon monster in a few weeks! :) Well, it has been more than a year since I submitted this recipe, and I have to admit, I overdid the hops a bit. This beer was a big hit with everyone who tried it, but the bitterness is too much. Perhaps cutting the Fuggles in half, and even dropping a bit off the Goldings wouldn't hurt. The hop profile just overwhelmed the spice flavors enough to hurt the beer in my opinion. I still am drinking this beer and I do like it, but it could have been better...

Recipe posted 12/29/98.