Any improvements on this Light Hybrid Honey Toast?

Hello all, I've been brewing for about 4-5 years, and just switched to all-grain about 2-3 months ago. I've made edits on existing recipes, and copied recipes directly and have had good success. But the time has come for my first truly original batch and would love some opinions. . So, here goes (I'm going to specify WHY I'm adding a certain grain, so you can correct me if I'm wrong)

I'm trying for a Light Hybrid. Shooting for the taste of Toast, Honey and Citrus. Like a Sunday morning kinda thing:

US Pale Ale Malt 6lb13oz (base malt)
Light Crystal 1lb (to add mouthfeel/ body)
Biscuit Malt 8oz (for the toast/biscuit taste)
Wheat Malt 8oz (for the wheat taste like toast)
Honey 1lb. Added into active primary (taste)

California Ale (clean non funky taste)
25 ibus of Cascade and citra. Spaced out evenly from 60/30


What would you change and why?

Thanks for the help!

Typical single infusion mash, etc.

the honey will mostly ferment out, you may want to try a little honey malt for more flavor, but use sparingly it can be quite sweet - maybe sub out some of the crystal for honey malt

if you want more hop flavor use most of the hops at the end of the boil

I don't think you'll get much taste out of 8oz of wheat malt in that recipe. I also agree completely with everything terrapinj said.

I agree with terrapin, you should sub honey malt 4-9%.

For hops i would use 25ibus of citra at 20 min, or for a little less flavor and aroma 35 ibus at 40min. Im not a fan of citra but a hint should blend well at these times for you.

Yeah, I'd tone all the specialty malts down to a total of 1 lb between the biscuit, honey and crystal. You could literally do 5 oz of each of those and I think end up being fine.

Awesome help. Thanks guys!

Revised:

US Pale Ale Malt 6lb 10oz 68.0 %
Canadian Honey Malt (Gambrinus) 10.91 oz 7.0 %
UK Wheat Malt 7.85 oz 5.0 %
UK Light Crystal 7.79 oz 5.0 %
Belgian Biscuit Malt 7.79 oz 5.0 %
Sugar - Honey 1lb 0oz 10.0 % (boiled 1 minute, put in active fermentation)

Expected OG: 1.042 SG
Expected FG: 1.007 SG


A couple questions...as I dial up the Honey Malt, I don't see my FG go up...which I expected. I'm leaving the wheat just for a tad bit of texture. I'll totally follow your advice on hops chuckstout.

Is 1.007 FG gonna be too dry? Or does that not matter too much?

That looks pretty tasty i might just brew this. I think you should mash higher 154-156 to help counter the honey a little.

Is it just the honey that you think is off kingwood-kid? Something else funky about it?

Great idea on the higher mash chuckstout

With over a lb of crystal malts, you shouldn't need a higher mash temp. My issues are these: One, I get different gravities than what you get, unless you're getting 50% efficiency. Two, bee honey doesn't leave much taste behind after it ferments out; it mostly just leaves alcohol.

You're right! I just ran the recipe through BrewPal and it gives me 1.052 with the Honey, but BeerAlchemy gives me 1.042. I can't figure out the disparity! Efficiency is 70% in both programs. What could it be?
I think I'll take the honey out...agreed, plus it's messing with my color.

I'm guessing Alchemy doesn't know what to do with the honey. What was your plan on the hops? As terrapinj alluded to, you won't get much flavor from 60/30 additions.

Well, it's not the honey. It seems that Alchemy is giving lower sugar extracted for every grain. Rats. I hate trying to figure this out.

But I think I'm shooting for a 25 ibu, balanced approach to the hops. To do that, it seems 2 oz at 30 might do the trick. Or maybe 1 at 30, 1 at 15 to get a tad bit of aroma?

If cascade & citra are all you have on hand, the I'd say half an ounce of citra for 45 minutes to get your ibu's to 25ish, then dump in whatever else you want in some combination of 5/0/dry-hop.

muenchk said:

Or maybe 1 at 30, 1 at 15 to get a tad bit of aroma?

Click to expand...

A blend of Citra and Cascade or...

You won't get much, if any, flavor adding them prior to 20. I'd skip a 60 min addition and do a blend at 15, 5 and 0 to get the 25 IBUs. I'd use 2-3 times as much Citra as cascade. I make an all Citra pale ale at 40 IBUs and it is pretty tame, just a nice fruity flavor.

Did you end up brewing this