Hookarm's Dark Holiday Ale

This recipe is a result of having dead yeast at brew time. Then I broke my leg. Now that I'm able to get around, we're going to try to squeeze in a Christmas or, more politically correct, Holiday beer. I think we'll start with the base recipe and add the spices from the Jul Øl. So, without further ado:

• 5 lb dark DME

• 60L Crystal Malt 1/3 pound
• chocolatee Malt 2.5 oz
• Perle Hops 6% AA 3/4 oz 60 minutes
• Mt. Hood Hops 6% AA 3/4 oz 30 minutes
• Tettnanger Hops 5% AA 2/3 oz 10 minutes
• 3 vanilla beans chopped
• 1 tsp crushedcardamomm
• lager yeast

Steep grains in 1 gallon of water at 150F for 30 minutes. Strain. (Optional:You can bring a quart of water to 170F while the grains are steeping. After straining, slowly pour the water over the grains to sparge.) Add DME and bring to a boil. Add the hops as described above. At the end of the boil, add the vanilla bean andcardamomm. Cool to 80 degrees and pitch yeast. Ferment for one week. Bottle with 3/4 cup corn sugar.

OG = 1040

Normally, I would bottle this in a amber, 2 liter growler or bottle. You want to share a holiday beer.