I know it sort of looks like a chemistry lab. Oh wait. It sort of is a chemistry lab. That's a wort chiller. 212°F down to 75°F in 12 minutes. Some more copper would probably be even better.

So I was talking to Julie the other day and she was drinking a Harpoon Winter Warmer. Having tried a few spiced beers back in college I was pretty turned off by them so I haven't really gone back to them Alas I realize that my tastes have probably changed. So I gave it a shot. And it wasn't bad. Realizing that the spices are what makes Julie like it so much, I figured that I would brew a beer for her (especially since her birthday is coming up soon!)

Luckily I had just gotten a copy of the Brew Your Own magazine Clone Beer issue with a recipe for Harpoon Winter Warmer. Not being 100% sold on the concept of a spiced beer (it was good, but it wasn't the most amazing thing I've ever drank) I put the recipe into BeerSmith and then scaled down the recipe to a two gallon batch. This will make about 18 bottles of beer; a perfect batch size for something you're not 100% sure on. Also this would be perfect for testing out one of my two new three gallon carboys.

The recipe is pretty easy, especially for such a small batch:
10.6 oz light DME
27.2 oz light LME
12.8 Crystal 80
3.2 oz Dextrine malt
3.2 oz 2-Row Pale Malt
0.32 oz Cluster Hops (7.9% AA)
0.05 tsp Ground Nutmeg
0.10 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Irish Moss
SafeAle English Ale Yeast (S-04)

Crush and soak the specialty grains in 2 gallons of 165°F water for 45 minutes. When done, remove the grains and let the sack drip dry. Add the DME and stir well to combine. Bring the wort to a boil and after the hot break add the hops. Boil for 45 minutes and add the Irish Moss and the LME. Boil for 15 more minutes and then cool down to 70-75°F. Spinkle the yeast over the wort and stir/shake well to combine. Ferment in the primary at least 7 days, or until the fermentation is complete. Add the spices to the secondary and rack the beer on top. Leave in the secondary for 14 days. Bottle with 4oz corn sugar and let sit another 2 weeks to carbonate.

O.G. on this batch was 1.052. It should have been a little higher; I don't think my grain soak was as efficient as it could have been.