Randy Mosher's Abbey Wiezen

Our company's home owner Christmas party is December 7 and my boss always buys the ingredients for a Christmas beer for me to brew. For the last couple of years I did Charlie's Holiday Cheer. This year, I am using a Randy Mosher recipe called Abbey Weisen.

4 lb flaked wheat
4 lb Belgian pilsner
1 lb Crystal 40
2 oz Hallertau 1.5%/60 min (~18 IBUs)
White Labs Abbey Ale yeast
1/2 ounce sweet dried orange peel
White Labs WLP530 Abbey Ale yeast

Estimated OG = 1.046. Actual OG = 1.036.

Basically it's a Bavarian hefe with Abbey yeast. I chose that because it didn't need to age 6 months. So in the spring, I will brew for the next Christmas party. Something big, alcoholy and Christmasy!

While I was brewing, my father suggested that I add some cinnamon. I had already been thinking about a few peppercorns for some spice, so I said, "Why not?" I added 1 stick of cinnamon and 1 tsp of green peppercorns in the last 5 minutes, along with the orange peel. It smelled delicious. We'll see how it turns out!