Christmas Ale: A Style to Bring Out the Holiday Joy

Photography courtesy of Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Great Lakes Marketing Brand Coordinator and Advanced Cicerone Michael Williams says that, while there are specific guidelines for a Christmas ale, something else makes for the ideal version.

“We find the best holiday beers celebrate what a brewer does best,” Williams says. “In the wide-open, innovation-focused American craft brewing landscape, that can mean anything from a fresh-hop IPA to a spiced chocolate stout, and anything in between.”

Williams adds, “If it’s an expression of what a brewer does best and fits the season, it works.”

... this kind of beer this time of year has this alcoholic warmth.

- Jason Martens - Mickey Finn’s Brewery

Mickey Finn’s Head Brewer, Jason Martens, has the same mindset as Williams.

“There are so many different routes people go. …Ours is less than traditional,” Martens says, noting Mickey Finn’s version is an 8.2% Belgian strong ale whose recipe dates back twenty-eight years.“In a way, it does have that spice and fruity character without additions into the beer.”

Overall, Martens thinks these types of beers have something a little intangible. “When I think of a Christmas Ale,” he says, “the weather is changing, so this kind of beer this time of year has this alcoholic warmth.”

Photography courtesy of Mickey Finns Brewery

The Beer Judge Certification Program notes that the Christmas ale can take on many different forms, but many examples are “reminiscent of Christmas cookies, gingerbread, English-type Christmas pudding, spruce trees, or mulling spices.” With that in mind, Martens says there’s one thing to be aware of when brewing your take on the style.

... a good holiday beer should remain balanced and drinkable enough to enjoy in quantity.

My Name

“Whether you use spices or are relying on yeast character for that flavor profile, it can be easy to overdo,” Martens says, noting that with their strong Belgian strong ale, they are getting their spicy notes from the yeast. “We try to manage fermentation to keep the profile in check.”

Martens adds, “We don’t want it to get too out of hand. We want it to be in balance. It’s about drinkability. We don’t want those flavor components to mess with the drinkability.”

Martens says there is no right or wrong way to add spices. Some add spices to Belgian beers; some beers aren’t Belgian but get spices from the yeast character. The point is not to go overboard.

“It’s all about staying focused on the overall balance of the beer,” Martens says. “Don’t go too heavy-handed with spices, and don’t make the yeast too hard or give too much expression. It’s about the subtlety of toeing the line with any beer with a unique flavor profile.”

Williams says that while flavor intensity is part of the holiday beer package, it’s essential to maintain some balance.

“Brewers often employ unique adjuncts or forms of traditional ingredients or use special techniques when making holiday beers, which can easily throw a beer out of balance,” he says. “However, because the holidays are a time of festivity, a good holiday beer should remain balanced and drinkable enough to enjoy in quantity.

Williams adds, “Just like with Oktoberfest or dry Irish stout, if you can only have one, it’s probably not the best example of a holiday beer.”

However, Williams says to stay authentic to yourself no matter your approach.

“Why not celebrate the diversity of styles we have in craft beer and put a festive spin on something new?” he poses. “If your focus is lagers, try a doppelbock, maybe with some seasonal adjuncts or a spruce-tip pilsner. Citrus is a classic Christmas fruit; load up your American wheat or hazy IPA with fresh oranges. Get creative.”

Martens cautions against overproducing the beer “knowing it’s [essentially] going to expire January 1st.”

Photography courtesy of Great Lakes Brewing Co.

With so many variations of making a Christmas ale, inevitably, there will be many options for following a grist bill.

“Ours is a pilsner base with a little CaraMunich,” Martens says. “And we use dark Belgian candy syrup and dextrose to boost the alcohol.”

Martens says they also add a little Dextrin malt for body. Overall, they use about 78.6 percent Pilsner malt, 3.7 percent each CaraMunich, dextrin, candy sugar, and 11 percent dextrose.

Williams says that holiday beers tend to be a darker expression of whatever the base style, so the grain bill should include some specialty malts to nudge the SRM a few points up the scale.

“This might mean a layer of honey malt in an IPA,” Williams says. “Avoid C-malts, which will muddle hop flavors, or Special Roast in a malt-focused brew, as we do for Christmas Ale.”

Williams adds, “Remembering that drinkability is key, go for a mash temp on the lower end, roughly 148°F, to lean into greater beta-amylase activity, keeping fermentability and attenuation on the higher end.”

Photography courtesy of Great Lakes Brewing Co.

IBUs and hops can be another wild card, based on the style of Christmas ale you choose to brew.

We target mid-twenties,

Jason Martens - Mickey Finn’s Brewery

“The key is a balanced amount of more hops across the board if your holiday beer is an IPA, though IBUs will vary depending on the specific substyle,” Williams notes. “When going a malty route, more hops will also be necessary, but only enough to balance the more intense malt character of the darker, stronger holiday brew.”

Martens says they shoot for a modest IBU target with their Christmas ale.

“We target mid-twenties,” he says. “We do a Magnum charge for bittering, and use the Michigan-grown Zuper Saazer [later in the boil].”

Martens says they shoot for a ninety-minute boil, adding the Magnum at sixty minutes and the Zuper Saazer at twenty minutes.

“We want there to be not necessarily a noticeable hop presence,” Martens says, “but we want the hops there for sure to balance.”

Photography courtesy of Great Lakes Brewing Co.

There is no precise answer to this, but Williams suggests keeping the ABV from getting out of hand.

“No doubt, an elevated ABV is part and parcel of a holiday beer,” Williams says. “But, as with the flavor components, the alcohol content can’t be so elevated to steer the beer away from balance.”

Williams adds, “A good double IPA will be extremely drinkable at nine percent-plus ABV, but a holiday gathering will get out of sorts quickly when the ABV starts scraping double digits.”

Martens is thinking along the same wavelength.

“You see some breweries dropping big 13-to-15% ABV stouts,” he says. “For me, the ideal ABV is sub-10% ABV, but still be above 7.5% ABV.”

Martens adds, “I personally really like that for beers I’m looking for in this holiday timeframe. Drinkability but still with the alcohol warmth.”

Williams says that since holiday beers tend to be stronger in flavor as well as alcohol content, the yeast helps achieve that desired ABV.

“Leaning towards a more characterful yeast like a British Ale is recommended, whether brewing a stout or a hop-forward brew,” Williams says. “Even while lagering, try fermenting at a higher temperature and letting a little ester character round out the flavor profile, especially if it’s a bock-style beer.”

Martens says they use the Omega Yeast Belgian DK strain, which has a 10% ABV tolerance.

“It’s an offshoot of the Duvel strain, which is a notoriously finicky fermenter,” Martens says. “Omega Yeast isolated a reliable converter with a similar flavor profile.”

Martens says they start fermentation around sixty-four degrees Fahrenheit and do a degree bump each day for about a week before letting the beer free-rise to seventy-eight degrees Fahrenheit.

“This beer is a solid three-week fermentation in primary and four weeks to lagering,” he says. “It’s not a quick turnaround, but we like the flavor balance with that patient turnaround.”

That higher ABV plays into the longer wait times.

“You can potentially expect a slightly longer fermentation time,” Williams points out. “But most holiday beers can be turned in whatever your typical ale or lager tank time is.”

Williams adds, “If your brewery is anything like ours, you will need that tank space flipped quickly.”

Photography courtesy of Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Williams says he loves the way Great Lakes’ recent Christmas ales turned out, highlighting Cookie Exchange Milk Stout, a 5.5% ABV pastry stout, as well as their Cran Orange Wheat, a 5.5% ABV fruited wheat ale. But he says no holiday beer tops its OG, Christmas Ale, an iconic 7.5% ABV winter ale with ginger, cinnamon, and honey that has a cult-like following.

“Our Co-Owners Pat and Dan Conway worked with our early brewing team to create a beer that channeled the spirit of the holidays in liquid form,” Williams says. “And they nailed it after just a few brews and adjustments in the early 1990s.”

Williams adds, “Christmas Ale literally defines what mainline holiday beers are: stronger in ABV and flavor, darker in color, and, in this instance, spiced, all with perfect balance and drinkability.”

Mickey Finn’s has been making its Christmas ale, Santa’s Magic, for twenty-eight of the thirty years the brewery has been around. The Belgian strong ale has an 8.2% ABV and features plenty of spicy esters from the yeast, including cloves and other spices.

“If you go back to 1996-97 [when we started making Santa’s Magic], Belgian beer was one of the most exciting beers you could get in craft beers,” Martens says. “For us here in our community, Santa’s Magic has always had a huge cult following. … We were lucky this grew into its local following and is a fixture here.”