Gambrinus honey malt?
 

So I'm interested in the usefulness of Gambrinus honey malt. Is this kind of like chocolate malt, where you only need 1%-5% for a significant flavor contribution? I'm not concerned about the color, and honey itself is expensive.

Does this stuff actually taste like honey?

Would it be a fair substitute for actual honey in an IPA or a porter?


Sidenote: I just brewed a light pale ale, and without knowing how to use the stuff I threw in 2 oz. in a 9lb. 2 oz. malt bill for the hell of it. 1/3 oz. nelson sauvin every 30 min. of a 60 min. boil. I don't think this is a fair test for honey malt though, and I can't find any truly helpful advice on the interweb so far. Any suggestions?

Much appreciated!:D

Honey malt actually lends a honey flavor to a beer, whereas honey nearly completely ferments out resulting in a drier beer while leaving behind just trace flavor notes. I've only used it once in an American Pale Ale where the hops hid the flavors, but the beer tasted great.

uh, let's see- Yes. Yes. Maybe.

:D

It has a distinct honey flavor, but it's not overpowering at least in smaller amounts.

Honey itself ferments out, and leaves only a dry flavor with a hint of honey behind, so for IPAs I like actual honey (since I don't like sweet IPAs) but for all other beers that I want a honey flavor in I use a little bit of honey malt.

I hope that helps!

I've never been impressed with honey malt...I got a little over a pound left that I doubt I will ever use. I prefer to bottle with honey...I only want a light hint of the flavor/aroma and that works fine for me

Like others have said, honey itself ferments out and leaves a touch of honey flavor behind.

I love honey malt and find it adds a very nice honey sweetness and complexity to a brew. I limit my addition to .5lb/5 gallon batch, unless the goal is something maltier where I want sweetness over hops.

Have Calichusetts send his/hers to you. Doesn't sound like it will be used there. ;)

4oz is plenty. A little goes a long way.

In beer, it tastes more like honey than honey does.

Brewed up B3's American Brown Ale kit not too long ago that used some, can't remember the amount now, but it came through in the beer and although I normally don't like sweet beers, it really worked in this kit. Easily one of my favorite extract brews ever. The honey malt had a lot to do with it I think.

I used a full pound of Honey Malt in an Outer Limits IPA

One of the best IPAs i have brewed and the Honey Malt was very pleasant.

I did a honey ale (pale ale) with 12.5% honey malt in the recipe. It's not over-powering by any stretch, but you do have a nice residual sweetness in the recipe. OG was 1.062, FG 1.015 (estimated was 1.014). My IBU/SG ratio was .357, so balanced where I wanted it. I also hop burst the batch, which made it even better. The recipe hasn't been posted yet, but I might toss it up.