Honey Ale Recipe - Comments Welcome

[TimG]

Hey guys,

So when I bought my kegging equipment on Kijiji I recieved a couple of free extract kits.



I have made a few extract kits, but have recently mostly made the Brew House IPA (big fan.. recently dry hopped, great easy beer). Anyways, I want to use up this kit but would like to fancy it up. I like Honey Browns (could use more malty / hop flavour), is this something I could usually 'convert' this kit into? I don't really know what an "Irish Style Premium Light Ale" is, so maybe I should start there?

They also came with these:



Which is basically some malt extract and dextrose. So I will be using this instead of pure sugar. Should I maybe add some more extract to kick up the alcohol a bit and add more body? I don't mind spending a few bucks on 'upgrading' this kit within reason. I also intend on picking up a new packet of dried yeast from NG (don't trust the most likely really old packet that was included).

What would you do if you had this free kit sitting around?

[CorneliusAlphonse]

all I can advise is... don't just make it as-is. I got two of these from a sibling for Christmas, I tried making the "cream ale" using stock yeast and all - not tasty at all, even after quite a few. the other was a stout, and I too am looking at ways to make it palatable. might try some extra hops, and some steeped grain, along with a better yeast - though by that point I might as well start from scratch and know it'll be good. open to suggestions

[akr71]

Ditch the coopers yeast- after that use your imagination. Its a free kit, so experiment. Some steeping grains, more hops and your honey.

Danstar Nottingham yeast would prob work well, but going with a liquid yeast will give it more character. I'd stick with a British style yeast, unless you're gonna raid the spice rack, then I'd think about a Belgian.

[TimG]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. A bit of Googling and I have come up with the following:



Thoughts / comments / suggestions?

I plan to get a dry yeast packet at Noble, along with the hops. Where should I get the kg of honey (best value)? Bulk Barn or just the good ole Superstore (or Costco?).

[mr x]

That's a huge percentage of fermentable sugar (which is what I think honey really is, it ferments almost completely, with little flavour). There's no way I'd use the dextrose in that beer with that much honey. I can't see the FG finishing as high as it says there either. And I'm not sure 41 ibu is going to work in a beer that thin. It's hard to picture that beer.

[TimG]

Thanks for the comments, as I really don't have a clue what I'm doing when it comes to tweaking kits like this. Maybe I should cut back on the sugar and some specialty grains for flavour? The dextrose is just part of the 'beerkit enhancer' which is 50% DME and 50% dextrose (or so I've been told).. is it really hurting me that much (like to use it as I already have it).

I was thinking the bitterness might balance with the sweetness of the honey.. but I'm guessing that doesn't make sense? Cut that back to 1/2oz of Columbus maybe?

I need all the help I can get with making this random kit into something at least drinkable.

[mr x]

Definitely too much sugar. Maybe some honey malt would help, not quite sure on that one though. There will be no honey sweetness. It's highly fermentable.

[moxie]

Best value for honey is at the Farmer's Market!

[mr x]

Check out this podcast from the Brewing Network, guy gives a bit of insight on using honey, you can probably scroll to around the 1:30 mark:

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/617" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[derek]

I was thinking the bitterness might balance with the sweetness of the honey.. but I'm guessing that doesn't make sense?

You're right - it doesn't Because fermentable sugars get completely converted to alcohol (unless you're making things like fortified wines where you take action to prevent full fermentation), any sweetness has to come from unfermentable sugars, starches and glycerides. I've always found that the unique characteristic imparted by honey is actually slightly bitter.

[TimG]

Ha, I should check out that podcast X, and I just might. But to be honest, right now I'm seriously considering bailing on the 'honey' altogether (if it doesn't contribute sweetness or flavour.. why the heck do people use it? ). Now I'm thinking of just using the kit and beer enhancer,throwing some extra DME to bring the ABV up a bit (4.5% doesnt' sound great) and hopping to about 20 IBU (1/2 oz of Columbus at start, then some more aroma hops mid and late boil??)

Experimenting is fun, but I'm a bit of a newb here

[mr x]

It's not that honey doesn't impart flavour, it's just not a lot of flavour, and to get the most out of it, I think you need to add a significant amount very late in the boil or in the fermenter (unboiled). Listen to the podcast.

I think honey is used as a marketing tool in most instances.

[TimG]

I'll make time to get into that podcast for sure, thanks.

This is what I have no (bumped the attenuation to 80% based on some googling).



Thinking of steeping some specialty grains to add some depth.. but not sure what works. Go with the common Crystal maybe?

Thanks,

[moxie]

Hmm. Light crystal would be good, maybe you could use some carapils or wheat malt to thicken it up the mouthfeel a little bit.

[mr x]

Yeah, I was thinking of those two as well, maybe C15...

[TimG]

Just editted it (see picture above) to add 1KG of Crystal 10L. I'm not sure how the Hopville calculator works, but I was under the impression that with the Crystal I just steep it in hot water as it comes up to boil and then remove it prior to dumping in the extract (per Joy of Homebrewing). I thought this didn't contribute any fermentable sugars and therefore the calc above is incorrect (and I'm sure there is something I can adjust to make it correct). Regardless, that is how I plan to incorporate the Crystal unless I hear a better (more educated) suggestion?

Thanks so much guys for the advice/encouragement. We all have to start somewhere right.

Tim

[mr x]

Oh yes, this is the way to start. I'm not much help on the extract/steeping, but I'm sure some of the guys here know about that. I 'd recommend you look at the Beersmith software too. A lot of us use it, and it's pretty convenient, and it had a free trial for 3 weeks.

[moxie]

Just editted it (see picture above) to add 1KG of Crystal 10L. I'm not sure how the Hopville calculator works, but I was under the impression that with the Crystal I just steep it in hot water as it comes up to boil and then remove it prior to dumping in the extract (per Joy of Homebrewing). I thought this didn't contribute any fermentable sugars and therefore the calc above is incorrect (and I'm sure there is something I can adjust to make it correct). Regardless, that is how I plan to incorporate the Crystal unless I hear a better (more educated) suggestion?

Thanks so much guys for the advice/encouragement. We all have to start somewhere right.

Tim

You could do a mini mash, there are many ways to do this, but to make it as simple as possible I would just heat up a couple gallons of water in a pot to around 150 degrees, (don't go over 160f) put your grains in a bag and "steep" them in the pot loosley for about an hour, making sure all of the grain gets soaked up. Once that is finished, heat up some more (A gallon?) water in a kettle or another pot to about 170, carefully pull out your grain bag and drop it in a strainer of some sort over your wort and pour the 170 degree water over it as evenly and carefully as possible, this will rinse as much of the sugars and flavours from your grain as you can. The main thing you are trying to do is get add some more flavour and body into your extract, you will get some fermentable sugar out of the grain this way, but it is going to be a bit hard to predict how much you will get. Maybe assume to get 60% efficiency from the grain?? I have no idea.

I think CraigTube of all people has a video about steeping grains to add to a canned extract beer kit. It might be worth watching! Be warned that Craig is a polarizing figure in the homebrewing community!

[mr x]

polarizing...now I gotta watch.

[moxie]

polarizing...now I gotta watch.

Yeah, the problem seems to be that he has been a kit and kilo guy for 20+ years or something like that, and more experienced AG brewers try to "teach" him how to make better beer, (usually via internet fights) when he doesn't really have any interest in doing so. Just accept him for what he is, but he probably introduces a lot of people into the hobby, so that can never be a bad thing. He DOES have a guide on this exact topic which should help the OP in the right direction. He brings a lot of criticism upon himself by posting videos like "Extract vs. All Grain, the debate is over!" Really, he is just trying to be controversial to generate traffic. Like Tim said, everybody's got to start somewhere.

[TimG]

Thanks I just watched a youtube video of this Craig character. Seems like a nice enough guy, and did a good job of explaining the steeping process. He also suggested only adding the majority of the LME at the last 5 minutes as it will prevent it from caramalizing or burning to the bottom. Makes sense. I plan on picking up my supplies today and brewing tomorrow, I'll let you guys know how I make out.

Cheers

[mr x]

Good luck!