Looking for a very hard to find style, Juleøl (Norwegian Christmas Beer)

I'm looking for a recipe for Juleøl (Norwegian Christmas Beer). Traditional style (no spices).

This is very rare in the U.S. Viking Brewery makes a version with spices (http://www.vikingbrewing.com/products.htm). In Norway this style is extremely popular, Norway produces more Christmas beer than any country in the world.

If you have a solid Juleøl recipe and want to share it I'd greatly appreciate it.

Jesse

There will be no “official”  or "standard" recipe because every farm had its own recipe.  So the use of the word “imitation,”  that one finds when looking into this, is  inapposite.  They are all imitations.

To brew  juleøl  you must use a volume of  grain that equals the weight of you and your spouse.  That was mandatory.    I guess this is how it gets so alcoholic.

I’ve seen it described  variously as a Vienna Red style,  a 9.9% doppelbock, a dark lager, and a dark abbey ale. 
Tradition has it brewed with 6 types of malt (I'm guessing this is the kitchen sink approach), star anis, coriander, with Belgian trappist yeast hopped with Hallertau. Some say it takes 3 months to brew it to get  a smooth beer.
Somewhere I read that the Den ældre Gulatingslov; Norway,  1688-1708 has a list of ingredients.

What  you might do  is search out what grains were native to Norway a few hundred years ago. Then build from there.
You however, will have the advantage of using grains that are modified to have oodles of diastatic conversion power unlike the ancient Norwegians.  Skoal~!!

I had heard about this in November 09 and wanted to brew it for Christmas. But it would never have been ready so I will be brewing it probably around mid May or June. That way it has time to lager for a while. I have spices in my recipe, but you can take them out if you like. I have not brewed this so I have no reference on taste, however it is a simple recipe and the spices, hops, and grains should go well together.

You are more than welcome to critique the recipe and/or make it your own. I would not clasify it as a "Solid" recipe but it is a recipe none the less, It will take a few more iterations for that. So it will be on my brew list for a long time to come.

Cheers
Preston
_________________________________
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: The Hand of Juleøl
Brewer: Preston Brown
Asst Brewer:
Style: Vienna Lager
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0) Don't know, but it sounds good!

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal      
Boil Size: 6.62 gal
Estimated OG: 1.075 SG
Estimated Color: 16.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      
8.00 lb       Munich (Dingemans) (5.5 SRM)              Grain        53.33 %      
6.00 lb       Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)             Grain        40.00 %      
1.00 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)    Grain        6.67 %        
0.50 oz       Cascade [5.50 %]  (90 min)                Hops         8.2 IBU      
0.50 oz       Hallertauer [4.80 %]  (90 min) (First WortHops         7.9 IBU      
0.50 oz       Saaz [4.00 %]  (90 min)                   Hops         6.0 IBU      
0.75 oz       Hallertauer [4.80 %]  (15 min) (Aroma Hop-Hops          -            
1.50 oz       Hallertauer [4.80 %]  (10 min) (Aroma Hop-Hops          -            
0.50 items    Grapfruit Zest (Boil 15.0 min)            Misc                      
0.50 items    Nutmeg (Grated) (Boil 15.0 min)           Misc                      
1.00 items    Cinnamon Stick (Boil 15.0 min)            Misc                      
1.00 items    Lemon Zest (Boil 15.0 min)                Misc                      
1.00 items    Orange Zest (Boil 15.0 min)               Misc                      
1 Pkgs        Danish Lager (Wyeast Labs #2042)          Yeast-Lager                


Mash Schedule: (PB) Single Infusion, Light Body, Decoction, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 15.00 lb
----------------------------
(PB) Single Infusion, Light Body, Decoction, Batch Sparge
Step Time     Name               Description                         Step Temp    
75 min        Mash In            Add 15.00 qt of water at 164.2 F    150.0 F      
10 min        Mash Out           Decoct 5.72 qt of mash and boil it  168.0 F      


Notes:
------
Brew in early to mid may or early june for this to be ready for Christmass.
You will need a big starter for this one.
Decott and boil your MO for 30 min add water back to get your MO Volume.

CR said:

Tradition has it brewed with 6 types of malt (I'm guessing this is the kitchen sink approach), star anis, coriander, with Belgian trappist yeast hopped with Hallertau. Some say it takes 3 months to brew it to get  a smooth beer.

Click to expand...

How do you brew for 3 months? Do you mean Lager for 3 months?

This is a true farmhouse ale, as CR stated every recipe is different because not everyone had access to the same types of grains and spices.

Cheers
Preston

Thanks to you both, I gave you [applaud], the least I could do.

Jesse

UselessBrewing said:

How do you brew for 3 months? Do you mean Lager for 3 months?

Click to expand...

Well, yeah, maybe.
I think that "brewing" is whatever process one undertakes to get a resultant beverage (or any other mostly fluid result). 
And so firm was I in this  that  I went to that great and all  knowing omni-prescient source of know-it-all-everything about everything: (GOOGLE) and asked the gods of the ether-sphere for a  definition of brewing
~ ~ ~ and ~ ~ ~ 
http://www.rsc.org/ebooks/archive/free/BK9780854045686/BK9780854045686-00001.pdf
I was rewarded with  a 14 page PDF  titled appropriately "The Definition of Brewing"  an older manuscript for free from RSC publishing.
Which sort of supports my thesis that the word denotes the gestalt, the whole entire exercise, whether passive like lagering or active like boiling.

I think that Lagering  can fairly be said to fall under the umbrella of brewing.

the PDF is interesting, if for no other reason, it demonstrates how much ink can be spilled  for  little result.
But you should try reading federal court  and SCOTUS opinions.  Talk about spilling ink~!!

CR said:

Well, yeah, maybe.
I think that "brewing" is whatever process one undertakes to get a resultant beverage (or any other mostly fluid result).

Click to expand...

I can see it could be defined that way. That pdf looks interesting. I will have to spend some time and check it out. It reminded me that I have some saffron that I am going to brew with.

Cheers
Preston

I wish I could help you but I did drink this beer on Christmas Eve. I'm lucky to live within 50 miles of the Viking Brewery so next year I'm buying a case of the delicious stuff. I  think this is the beer that fairies would drink. Lovely spice, very light in color, huge rocky head, easy to drink. Wonderful experience all around. Good luck with your recipe.

Lilahblossom said:

I wish I could help you but I did drink this beer on Christmas Eve. I'm lucky to live within 50 miles of the Viking Brewery so next year I'm buying a case of the delicious stuff. I  think this is the beer that fairies would drink. Lovely spice, very light in color, huge rocky head, easy to drink. Wonderful experience all around. Good luck with your recipe.

Click to expand...

Jealous? Why yes I am!

Cheers
Preston

I cant say this is a norweigian christmas brew, But I brewed it for christmas last fall.
It is a very tasteful beer and everybody liked it.
One of my first all-grain, so the ammount has to be changed if the efficency is better than mine


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Black Santa
Brewer: Mange
Asst Brewer:
Style: Chrismas Brew
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (40.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 10.00 L     
Boil Size: 13.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.100 SG
Estimated Color: 46.0 EBC
Estimated IBU: 30.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 85.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type        % or IBU     
1.87 kg      Müncher malt (18.0 EBC)                  Grain        47.2 %       
0.55 kg      Carapale (8.0 EBC)                        Grain        13.9 %       
0.50 kg      Pilsner (3.5 EBC)                        Grain        12.6 %       
0.29 kg      Crystal 100 (100.0 EBC)                  Grain        7.3 %       
0.03 kg      Chocolate Malt (carifa i Spec) (1000.0 EBCGrain        0.8 %       
0.02 kg      Black malt (1500.0 EBC)                  Grain        0.5 %       
12.00 gm      Northern Brewer [10.50%]  (60 min)        Hops        24.0 IBU     
15.00 gm      Saaz [3.30%]  (20 min)                    Hops        5.7 IBU     
15.00 gm      Saaz [3.30%]  (2 min)                    Hops        0.8 IBU     
0.70 kg      Honey (2.0 EBC)                          Sugar        17.7 %       
2 Pkgs        Saflager (Fermentis #S-23)                Yeast-Lager               


Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Triple, Lager
Total Grain Weight: 3.26 kg
----------------------------
Name              Description                        Step Temp    Step Time   
Dough-In          Add 6.12 L of water at 21.1 C      21.1 C        15 min       
Acid Rest          Add 4.25 L of water at 74.2 C      40.6 C        20 min       
Protein Rest      Decoct 1.99 L of mash and boil it  50.0 C        10 min       
Dextrinization RestDecoct 4.58 L of mash and boil it  68.3 C        20 min       
Mash Out          Decoct 3.29 L of mash and boil it  76.7 C        5 min       


Notes:
------
Spices:
  10  juniper berrys
  10  dried cloves
    1 piece of cinnamon
  0.5 tsp kardemum

Boil all

I just stumbled across this post... here is some info that might be helpful.

The "Norbrygg" (the Norwegian equivalent of American Hombrewers Association) definition of the style.


Traditional Norwegian Christmas beer.

OG   1.060-70          
FG   1.014-22    
vol.%  6,0-7,0          
IBU     20-30      
EBC  20-50
                       
Aroma: Light to medium hop aroma and a faint touch of fruitiness. Malty aroma.
Appearance: Christmas beer can vary in color from copper to dark brown.
Flavor: The traditional Christmas beer is lager yeast fermented with a distinct malt flavor and moderate bitterness, low hop flavor. Small quantities of fruitiness can occur.
Mouthfeel: Medium to large body.

Here are some recipes, award winners in the annual Norwegian Christmas Beer Homebrew Competition:
http://norbrygg.no/forum/index.php/board,25.0.html

It's in Norwegian - but it should be possible to read the ingredients... Volume are in liters, fermentables in gram's and hops (humle) in gram's.

Historically the beer may have been very different. Each farm made ther own malt and had their own way of making the beer.

CR said:

To brew  juleøl  you must use a volume of  grain that equals the weight of you and your spouse. 

Click to expand...

The Gulating law said a farm was allowed to make that amout of malt...
The law also said that if a farmer failed to brew the christmas beer three years in a row he would loose the farm , it would be taken and split between the bishop and the king.... Homebrewing was serious business in the old days