Every year since I started homebrewing (way back in 2009), I've brewed an X-Mas Ale to have around the holidays.
The base beer was always a very similar "Winter Warmer", and I'd add various ingredients to make it more of a "Holiday" Beer.
Over the years, I added wood spirals, vanilla, cherry pomegranate, chocolate, peppermint, peanut butter, hazelnut, cherry, and many other flavorings.
Some years, I brewed the base beer without the "festive" flavorings.
When I started thinking about the 2024 X-Mas Ale, I had been doing the Roll-a-Style series of brews for over a year.
17A. British Strong Ale had been sitting on the list for quite some time, and at some point I wondered if I should just mark off that as a style that I had already brewed as one of my base-beer-only X-Mas Ales.
But ... I decided that this style wasn't exactly what I was brewing on the base beers.
I decided, though, that I would switch up the base a bit to make it match the "British Strong" a little closer, and make this new recipe the 2024 X-Mas ale.
I pretended to roll an "18" ...
17A. British Strong Ale is an ale of respectable alcoholic strength, traditionally bottled-conditioned and cellared. Can have a wide range of interpretations, but most will have varying degrees of malty richness, late hops and bitterness, fruity esters, and alcohol warmth. The malt and adjunct flavors and intensity can vary widely, but any combination should result in an agreeable palate experience.
It won't be bottled-conditioned or cellared, but I think the recipe at X-Mas Ale 2024 will make a good representation of the style, and I'm sure it will be enjoyed by anyone who tries it during the holiday season.
If you follow along at Sheppy's Blog: X-Mas Ales and/or at X-Mas Ale 2024, you'll find out how it goes.
Anyway ... now my Roll-a-Style list looks like this:
My "Bench" now includes:
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