American Wheat Beer Honey Balz Spring Wheat

This is an American Wheat Ale that I love. It resembles a hefe-weizen, but it tastes nothing like one. It's easy-drinking, with an evident sweetness from the honey and honey malt. The hops, especially the late addition Centennials, balances out the sweetness and gives it a nice subtle aroma. I brew this in the Spring typically, but it can easily be a refreshing summer beer.

Fermentables
6lbs Wheat LME
1lb Orange Blossom Honey
.5lb Honey Malt

Hops
.75oz Mt. Hood (6 AAU) @ 60 min
.75oz Mt. Hood (6 AAU) @ 20 min
1oz Centennial @ 1 min

Yeast
US-05

Add half the extract at the beginning of the boil, then add the remaining in the final 10-15 minutes. This will increase the bitterness a little bit while also keeping the beer lighter. If you want the beer to be cloudy, take a cup of regular wheat flour and add it to some water to create a slurry. Add the slurry to the boil with around 15-20 minutes left. Add the honey with about 3 minutes left in the boil.

You can easily sub the Centennials with Amarillos or possibly even Cascades.

This is one of my favorite beers.

Thank you very much for posting your recipe. It sounds (and looks) delicious. I would like to try this.

I have a dumb newbie question. After reading your recipe, I'm not sure what to do with the half pound of honey malt. I assume I should steep it in the boil water for 15 or twenty minutes prior to kicking it up to a full boil. Is this correct?

Sorry... answered my own question. A little research shows that honey malts are most commonly steeped. Particularly in extract brews.

watlings said:

Thank you very much for posting your recipe. It sounds (and looks) delicious. I would like to try this.

I have a dumb newbie question. After reading your recipe, I'm not sure what to do with the half pound of honey malt. I assume I should steep it in the boil water for 15 or twenty minutes prior to kicking it up to a full boil. Is this correct?

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Yes, you steep the malt for 20-30 minutes.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with this beer. I killed my last keg of this two weeks ago, and I miss it already.

Here's another photo:

Going to brew this next week, but need to tweak it a bit due to ingredient availability and my insatiable need to tinker. This would be my first attempt at straying from a written recipe. I'd like some feedback on the recipe and process.

Fermentables
6.6lbs Wheat LME (2 full cans)
1.5lbs Orange Blossom Honey
.5lb 20L Caramel Crystal Malt

Hops
.75oz Mt. Hood (6 AAU) pellet @ 60 min
.75oz Mt. Hood (6 AAU) pellet @ 20 min
.75oz Cascade leaf @ 5 min
.75oz Cascade leaf @ 1 min
1oz Cascade leaf dry hop in secondary @ 7 days

Yeast
US-05

Add half the extract at the beginning of the boil, then add the remaining in the final 10-15 minutes. Was also thinking about adding 1 tbsp orange zest at 20 mins, 5 mins and 1 min for some citrus aroma and flavor. What does everyone think?

Bump, anybody?

I think I mentioned in another thread to you that you really should try to find the Honey Malt (Northern brewer has it). My original version of this recipe didn't have Honey Malt in it, and it was a very different brew. The malt really breathes some life into it.

And if you're being that much more assertive with the hops, it makes it even more important. This beer is fairly balanced (maybe leaning a little more on the hoppy side).

Regardless your version does look like a tasty brew. The dry-hopping might be a nice addition. It'll just be a different beer than the one my recipe creates. Definitely worth a try.

This recipe sounds awesome! I'm putting it on the list for next spring / summer.

I added the recipe to my brew site at: http://www.brewitagain.com/recipe/handsome-honey-wheat . Let me know if you have any issues with this.

No problem at all! Hope you like it!

This sounds really good. I may have to try this one very soon.


-Kingboomer

CrookedTail,
Going to try your recipe this weekend. I just love wheat beers. I see that you keg, but do you have any idea of how much priming sugar to add for bottling? Also, have you ever tried making it with DME?

Thanks for posting,
Dan

DBONES said:

CrookedTail,
Going to try your recipe this weekend. I just love wheat beers. I see that you keg, but do you have any idea of how much priming sugar to add for bottling? Also, have you ever tried making it with DME?

Thanks for posting,
Dan

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I'd probably go with 2/3 cup of corn sugar for bottling. As for using DME, other than your color being a little lighter you shouldn't notice a difference.

I'm glad there's interest in this beer. It's a favorite of mine.

CROOKEDTAIL are you using hop pellets or leaf hops? I was thinking about brewing your recipe this week, and this would really help

Thanks

I use hop pellets.

Just brewed this beer and I'm excited to try it! I'm alittle worried as my OG was 1.042 instead of 1.052. I hope that it doesn't effect the awesomeness of this beer though.

Squill2k4 said:

Just brewed this beer and I'm excited to try it! I'm alittle worried as my OG was 1.042 instead of 1.052. I hope that it doesn't effect the awesomeness of this beer though.

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Not sure how that could happen, but I wouldn't worry about it.

Just brewed this and put it in the keg. OG was right on at 1.051, but fermentation stuck and I ended up at 1.017 at the end.

I was surprised using the US-05 that it got that taste I always equate with Belgian beers. Maybe that will change a little after it sits on the gas.

mewellsar said:

Just brewed this and put it in the keg. OG was right on at 1.051, but fermentation stuck and I ended up at 1.017 at the end.

I was surprised using the US-05 that it got that taste I always equate with Belgian beers. Maybe that will change a little after it sits on the gas.

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How long, and at what temp did you ferment it? Honey takes longer to ferment, which might explain the gravity reading. Also, US-05 should ferment clean. If you're getting esters, then it fermented at way too high a temp.

Total fermentation, 16 days. It was stuck at 1.018 since the first 7 days.

Temp is a weak part in my brewing process. My best locale is a dark inner closet with the door cracked to let the house heating-cooling system get to it. Not sure of the temp exactly, but it has been warmer than usual this week.

How I long for a basement.

mewellsar said:

Total fermentation, 16 days. It was stuck at 1.018 since the first 7 days.

Temp is a weak part in my brewing process. My best locale is a dark inner closet with the door cracked to let the house heating-cooling system get to it. Not sure of the temp exactly, but it has been warmer than usual this week.

How I long for a basement.

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16 days isn't necessarily ample time for any beer to fully ferment and clean up after itself, let alone a beer with some honey in it. I let most of my beers sit for 3-4 weeks before going to a secondary.

Usually I don't either, just got rushed on this one. You said primary 14, so I figured my 16 would be okay and I would just deal without the secondary and be a little cloudy.

I'll probably give it another shot soon since I had to buy a 3 pound jar of orange blossom honey.

Really what you should do after 14 days is take a gravity reading. If it's down in the 1.010-1.011 range, then transfer it to the secondary. If not, leave it in the primary longer.

Hi crooked tail I am actually brewing this beer tonight but I am just curious what your thoughts are on adding some bitter orange peel I have left over from my blue moon clone? Would it be better just sticking to the original recipe in your opinion?
Thanks

I don't see why orange peel would be an issue. Give it a shot!

Now this may be dumb, but does secondary fermentation refer to bottle conditioning. As in after it ferments two weeks and then you add more sugar and bottle, is that secondary fermentation?

lbreedlove2 said:

Now this may be dumb, but does secondary fermentation refer to bottle conditioning. As in after it ferments two weeks and then you add more sugar and bottle, is that secondary fermentation?

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No. Secondary fermentation is when you transfer the beer to a second container (usually a glass carboy) to condition and allow even more of the suspended yeast to settle, allowing the beer to clear up. After that you'd bottle.

Some people skip the secondary and just let the beer sit longer in the primary. Personally I like getting my beers cleared up as much as I can, and in my experiences using the secondary has made a big difference in clearing the beer.

Just brewed up a batch of this on Sunday, and it's bubbling away happily (and looks tasty!). We're just hitting the warmer months here in the Bay Area, so it should be perfectly timed.

I have some US-04 on hand, any issue with using that over the US-05?

Ferment in low temps if you use S-04. You want to minimize the esters.

CrookedTail said:

Ferment in low temps if you use S-04. You want to minimize the esters.

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It's sitting at 66f (temp strip on the side of the bucket) right now in a ice bath. Should I shoot for lower or is this about right?

Genacide said:

It's sitting at 66f (temp strip on the side of the bucket) right now in a ice bath. Should I shoot for lower or is this about right?

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That should be OK.

I see the batch size is 5 gallons but how many gallons did you use for the boil?

When did everyone add the Honey to this recipe? I have heard that adding the honey during the boil does nothing but up the ABV. If I wanted to actually impart honey flavor aside from the honey malt, would I add it a week or so into primary fermentation? What did everyone else do?

anico4704 said:

When did everyone add the Honey to this recipe? I have heard that adding the honey during the boil does nothing but up the ABV. If I wanted to actually impart honey flavor aside from the honey malt, would I add it a week or so into primary fermentation? What did everyone else do?

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Add in the final minute or two, or at flameout. The honey gives off aromatics that way. The honey flavor comes from the honey malt.

When I want to impart some honey taste, or hints, I use it to prime with, seems to work out very well in that capacity.

Overpowering Honey

I am a newby and only have about 15 homebrews under my belt. I brewed a recipe similar to this but I think I put too much honey in the boil. I kegged it after four weeks but the honey aroma is so strong. Any suggestions on how to salvage this brew? Would dry hopping it in the keg for a week help? Any help would be greatly appreciated....

I am planning to make a batch using this recipe for my family's Easter get-together. Has anyone brewed this using Nottingham? I have had good luck with notty lately and have not yet tried us-05. I keep my fermenter in a water bath and have pretty good temp control. Any advice from previous experiences? Much appreciated. Cheers

pmatson said:

I am planning to make a batch using this recipe for my family's Easter get-together. Has anyone brewed this using Nottingham? I have had good luck with notty lately and have not yet tried us-05. I keep my fermenter in a water bath and have pretty good temp control. Any advice from previous experiences? Much appreciated. Cheers

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I have used Notty many times before, but not on this brew. US-05 and Notty are very similar strains, but beers fermented with Notty tend to finish a bit drier.

This beer finishes with a very slight sweetness from the Honey Malt. I'm not sure if Notty will eliminate that.

I just brewed this up today. Could not find Orange Blossom Honey, so I just went with some local clover honey. The wort tasted pretty good, really looking forward to this brew. My local brew store was out of US-05 and I was really wanting to try a dry yeast, so I went with Safbrew wb-06. My store always has a ton of wyeast, but again, I wanted to see what kind of fermentation I would have with dry.......so we'll see. I did not add the wheat flour, but if I brew this again I think I will. This is a beer for the wife, but of course, I will end up drinking most of it!

OzzyBrew said:

I just brewed this up today. Could not find Orange Blossom Honey, so I just went with some local clover honey. The wort tasted pretty good, really looking forward to this brew. My local brew store was out of US-05 and I was really wanting to try a dry yeast, so I went with Safbrew wb-06. My store always has a ton of wyeast, but again, I wanted to see what kind of fermentation I would have with dry.......so we'll see. I did not add the wheat flour, but if I brew this again I think I will. This is a beer for the wife, but of course, I will end up drinking most of it!

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That yeast will turn it into a hefeweizen. It shouldn't be bad, just a bit different.