Question about my first custom recipe

Hi all,

I have an idea for a Honey Blonde Ale extract recipe but I want to run it by the great minds of the HBT boards before I go through with it:

3 lbs Pilsner LME
3 lbs Honey (30 min)
1 oz Cascade pellets (60 min)
2 vials of WLP001
1 lb of specialty grains for steeping (4 oz biscuit malt, 12 oz honey malt)

I have a 6 lb jug of LME, so I can adjust it up or down. Obviously I can also adjust the honey, since I haven't bought it yet. This would be my third batch (and the first where I'm altering the recipe). The numbers come out pretty good in Beersmith, but I hope someone can give me a real world idea of where this might come out.

Thanks!

way too much honey. simple sugars should make up no more than 10% of your bill, your recipe is 50% honey

NordeastBrewer77 said:

way too much honey. simple sugars should make up no more than 10% of your bill, your recipe is 50% honey

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Thanks NB! What if I flipped it and went with 6 lbs of LME and 1 lb of honey? It's about 16% of the total bill.

Go to Hopville.com and use the Beer Calculus recipe creator and see what the ingredients produce. You can adjust the amounts and see what the changes do.

i'd still back it off a bit. honey will ferment out to 1.000 and leave a very dry beer. theres a grain called honey malt, needs to be mashed, but you can do that easily just like you steep. honey malt actually gives the beer a honey taste, whereas honey itself tends to just help a beer dry out, sometimes more than we'd like.
to mash honey malt, you'd add a bit of two row or six row to your steeping grains and make sure you steep between 150-155, maybe for a bit longer like 45 mins or so.

NordeastBrewer77 said:

i'd still back it off a bit. honey will ferment out to 1.000 and leave a very dry beer. theres a grain called honey malt, needs to be mashed, but you can do that easily just like you steep. honey malt actually gives the beer a honey taste, whereas honey itself tends to just help a beer dry out, sometimes more than we'd like.
to mash honey malt, you'd add a bit of two row or six row to your steeping grains and make sure you steep between 150-155, maybe for a bit longer like 45 mins or so.

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Ahh...ok. This explains why the ABV and FG move so drastically in Beersmith when I change the honey quantity. I've actually got 12 oz of honey malt and 4 oz of biscuit malt for my specialty grains. Can I just steep it longer or should I get some two row to add to that? Sorry for the questions...never tried a partial mash before...this is way new to me.

I love using honey in my recipes, both in clover and malt.

I recommend adding your clover honey with 5-8 minutes left in the boil. If you stick with your original plan, you'll likely boil it all out before you get to fermentation, which makes it pretty useless.

Honey malt is strong, but it tastes great. A little goes a long way, I've never used over 1 lbs of honey malt, and that was for my honey double ipa.

Good luck!

wisbob79 said:

Ahh...ok. This explains why the ABV and FG move so drastically in Beersmith when I change the honey quantity. I've actually got 12 oz of honey malt and 4 oz of biscuit malt for my specialty grains. Can I just steep it longer or should I get some two row to add to that? Sorry for the questions...never tried a partial mash before...this is way new to me.

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i'd throw in 12 oz of base malt with the steep, just to be sure to convert the honey. really, it's simple, think of it as JUST a steep, but make sure to keep temps in check. below 160 (over and you won't convert, too far over and you get tannins) and above 145 or so (too cool and you won't get conversion). you should be fine with a typical 30 min steep this way. PM is really not that different from extract w/grains, it just involves base malt and a little more attention to detail.

NordeastBrewer77 said:

i'd throw in 12 oz of base malt with the steep, just to be sure to convert the honey. really, it's simple, think of it as JUST a steep, but make sure to keep temps in check. below 160 (over and you won't convert, too far over and you get tannins) and above 145 or so (too cool and you won't get conversion). you should be fine with a typical 30 min steep this way. PM is really not that different from extract w/grains, it just involves base malt and a little more attention to detail.

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That's not bad at all! So I should be good as long as the temps are between 150 and 160 (ideally 155), right? Can I go longer than 30 minutes, just to be sure I get full conversion? And my grain bill will now be:

6 lb Pilsner LME
12 oz two row
12 oz honey
4 oz biscuit

yeah, 155 is pretty good for what you're doing. you can mash as long as you need to to get conversion, though 30 mins should be enough. if it's not, keep temps and mash for another 15. after conversion, your wort in the mash should go from tasting grainy/starchy to having a sweet grainy taste. or you can do the iodine test. (a drop of iodine in a sample of wort on a plate will turn black/purple if sugar is present)

Nordeast- I think you meant to say the iodine/wort will turn dark blue or black if starch is still present.

cervezarara said:

Nordeast- I think you meant to say the iodine/wort will turn dark blue or black if starch is still present.

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yeah, i guess that was worded kinda funny, huh? thanks for clarifying, don't wanna lead anyone wrong.

Thanks NB! I'll let you know how it comes out!

yeah, please do. if you're interested in brewing PM recipes, check out DeathBrewers sticky on Stovetop BIAB in the beginners forum. it's a great read and shows that PM or AG brewing isn't any harder that extract and that with no new equipment, you can PM in your kitchen.

According to the makers of honey malt it can be mashed or steeped, your choice. If mashed it needs some base malt to help it convert.