I guess this thread is a bit out dated, but I'm new to brewing and decided that with Christmas just around the corner, I wanted a Christmas ale ready in time. So I decided to try this recipe as my first full boil and first all grain, heck, first "real" brew day. I did the Mr Beer kit a couple times and though it was fun, the beer was only "OK" to me. So I decided to step it right up. Maybe a bit ambitious but I did a ton of research first and felt pretty comfortable trying it.



Anyway, brew day went as easy and smooth as my first could go. I planned on lower efficiency because I was doing stove stop all grain brewing in a grain bag (Deathbrewer's technique), so I bumped up the ingredients by a tiny bit to compensate, planning on a 65% or so efficiency, figuring I wouldn't hit all that great of an efficiency on my first try. I wound up with a ~70% efficiency and an OG of 1.086. I think I could have watered it down a bit to hit the 1.077, but decided to just leave it. I pitched about a pack and a half of US-05 (tried to hit around 15g which was what I calculated I would need), but didn't rehydrate (probably should have).



It's been fermenting between 62-65F, except for about 2 hours it hit 72-74 when fermentation was hitting it's stride. I quickly cooled it and kept it in the mid to low 60s after that, though.



It's been 6 days, and today I decided to take a sample to check how the gravity is doing, since the airlock has really slowed down, and the krausen has sank. It's at 1.019 now, and most importantly, is unbelievably delicious. I have to say, I expected it to be good, but damn, it's really, really good. Gonna give it the full 21 days, can't wait to see how it turns out then.



Also can't wait to spice it up, but I have to say, I like it a lot just like it is now. I'm thinking I might just bottle a few without the spices just for kicks. I'm also a little worried about the cinnamon being overpowering as Reese had found. I'll definitely only boil for about a minute or so, but I might still use only 3/4 or 1/2 a stick of cinnamon. What do you think?



Anyway, thanks for a great recipe, even without the spices that make it holiday-y, it's very tasty. Just for my own clarification, what style would you call this one (with/without the spices)?