As fans of the show may remember, five or six years ago I brewed a King Cake Ale, which was basically an English Golden Ale with oats, cinnamon, lemon peel, and Lemondrop hops as a nod to the flavors of a King Cake. But, there was no actual King Cake in it. 

Last year, our bread delivery service Brake Bread was offering these delicious mini King Cakes during Carnival season, which got me thinking – what if I brewed King Cake Ale 2.0 with actual King Cakes in the mash? Looking at the ingredients of Brake Bread’s King Cakes, I found brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange peel. So, I concocted a plan for something like a pastry stout meets a blonde or pale ale – a spiced pastry ale if you will. 

The grist was mainly Franco-Belgo Pils with a bit of Aromatic Malt, and a pound of flaked oats that I’d roast to a perfect cookie-smelling toast level. Into the mash would also go four chopped up mini King Cakes – colorful sugar and all. Cinnamon sticks boiled for an hour inspired by what we learned from Great Lakes Brewing Company about their their iconic Christmas Ale. Hop it at 60 and 5 minutes with Cashmere hops for a bit of bonus lemon-lime citrus flavor. Throw in an aromatic blend of dried Spanish orange peel and fresh zest from Florida Honeybells oranges. Round all that off with some lactose – and we had a game plan! 

As you’ll see in the brew day footage from our King Cake Spiced Pastry Ale episode, the brew was sort of all over the place and including a handful of workarounds, but in the end I hit my numbers. So, consider this more of an inspirational road map than a tried and true by-the-numbers recipe. This is just how it ended up for me and my janky BIAB system.

The beer didn’t last very long but I can relay some notes that I gathered while it was on tap. The big takeaway: HUGE orange! Like an orange soda almost or tropical dessert drink. The cinnamon was present, but the beer definitely went beyond King Cake flavors into an almost Orange Crush, citrus-y barley pop kind of thing, which most people I shared it with agreed was delicious and fun in its own right. So, was it spot-on for classic King Cake flavors? Not so much. But as we learned in my Big Book of King Cake interview with Matt Haines, at this point in King Cake’s evolution the world of flavors is endless, so I think the cinnamon and bready richness alone were a nod to King Cake… the orange overload was just a plus, especially at that time of year where Minnesotans desperately await spring and summer – the beer was like sunshine in a glass for me. 

KING CAKE SPICED PASTRY ALE

For 3 gallons Brew in a Bag
OG: 1.075
FG: 1.035
ABV: 5.2%

Malt

• 5.5 lbs Franco-Belgo Pils
• 0.5 lb Aromatic Malt
• 1 lb Flaked Oats (toasted, see note)

Hops

• 1 oz Cashmere pellets

Misc

• 4 small King Cakes, chopped
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 oz dried Spanish orange peel
• 1 Tbsp fresh zest from Honeybell orange
• 1 lb lactose (milk sugar)

Yeast

• Imperial Yeast G02 Kaiser (German Altbier strain)

Notes: 

• I toasted the flaked oats on a foil-lined baking sheet in the oven at 300F until slightly darkened to a light gold color and it smelled like baking cookies
• I used mini King Cakes from Brake Bread, but you could use any cake you can get your hands on or even make your own

Process

• Mash malt and King Cake bits and rest at 155F or a bit higher if possible for one hour.
• Drain and collect wort. I was aiming for a pre-boil gravity of approx 1.052 or higher to hit a post-boil gravity (including lactose) of about 1.072-1.075.
• Boil 90 minutes.
• With 60 minutes left in boil add two cinnamon sticks and 0.5 oz Cashmere hops.
• With 5 minutes left in boil, add 0.5 oz Cashmere hops, dried Spanish orange peel, and fresh zest from Honeybell orange.
• After 90 minute boil is complete, chill wort to 55F and pitch Imerial Yeast Kaiser
• Allow wort to free rise to lower 60s for fermentation
• The higher mash temp and lactose will keep it from fermenting too low and will keep some denser body to the beer. Your FG might go lower than 1.035 but mine sure didn’t want to budge.