White house beer

WHITE HOUSE

HONEY ALE

3 1/2 gallons chilled, sterile water, plus more to fill fermenter

2 (3.3 pounds each) cans light malt extract

1 pound light dried malt extract

12 ounces crushed amber crystal malt

8 ounces Biscuit Malt

1 pound good-quality honey

1 1/2 ounces Kent Goldings Hop Pellets

1 1/2 ounces Fuggles Hop pellets

2 teaspoons gypsum

1 package Windsor dry ale yeast

3/4 cup corn sugar for priming

In an 12-quart pot, steep the amber crystal and Biscuit malts in a hop bag in 1 1/2 gallons of sterile water at 155 degrees for half an hour. Remove the grains.

Add the 2 cans of the malt extract and the dried extract and bring to a boil.

For the first flavoring, add the Kent Goldings and gypsum. Boil for 45 minutes.

For the second flavoring, add the Fuggles hop pellets at the last minute of the boil. Add the honey and boil for 5 more minutes.

Add 2 gallons chilled, sterile water into the primary fermenter and add the hot wort into it. Top with more water to total 5 gallons. There is no need to strain.

Pitch yeast when wort temperature is between 70-80 degrees. Fill air lock halfway with water.

Ferment at 68-72 degrees for about seven days.

Rack to a secondary fermenter after five days and ferment for 14 more days.

To bottle, dissolve the corn sugar into 2 pints of boiling water for 15 minutes. Pour the mixture into an empty bottling bucket. Siphon the beer from the fermenter over it. Distribute priming sugar evenly. Siphon into bottles and cap. Let sit for 2 to 3 weeks at 75 degrees.

Just an update on my fermentation. It was so strong that i had to rig up a makeshift blow off tube setup. It stayed at that rate for over 36 hours. Strongest fermentation I've had yet. Oh, is smelling wonderful!

superfknmario said:

I added about one lb of honey @ 10 minutes to cool down. I'm adding another 1 lb on Wednesday

Click to expand...

That makes sense, its different than the recipe, but I'm sure it will increase the honey character of the beer. From the recipe (and not tasting it, which I've not done), I suspect the original White House version is probably very English pale ale in character, with little honey character to it.

Pappers_ said:

That makes sense, its different than the recipe, but I'm sure it will increase the honey character of the beer. From the recipe (and not tasting it, which I've not done), I suspect the original White House version is probably very English pale ale in character, with little honey character to it.

Click to expand...

I'm not as I just did the recipe and added 1lb. of raw honey (Northern forgot my honey) at 5min and it and the honey smell was awesome in it. I think it would be much more prevalent as the hops used in the recipe are quite tame in comparison.

rhinoceroceros said:

If you haven't checked the gravity I would advise against doing anything with it, especially if you haven't seen much activity. You should see a lot of action in the first 48 hours, if you didn't see much I would be concerned that you haven't achieved much fermentation. If you didn't get an OG it'll be hard to tell if the yeast have done anything. But 75 degrees should have been a safe temperature to pitch. My advice is to check the gravity against what the recipe says the FG should be and if it's too high let it sit in primary a bit longer and RDWHAH

Click to expand...

There was a lot of activity at first, even showing up in the airlock. I'm finding a published OG of 1.072 with some of the packaged kits, which match my ingredients. I did put a hydrometer in yesterday and the FG is showing 1.024 with a beer temp of 72 degrees. I'm not sure if the FG is "high" but it seems like it might be in the neighborhood of what I'd be looking for. The abv calculator I referenced indicates 6.25% abv. It almost sounds like I might have made beer!

I'd leave it in the primary for another two weeks.

The 78 degree temps are just a bit on the high side for the yeast. It won't ruin your beer, but might generate a few ester flavors. If you leave the beer alone in the fermenter for an extra week or so, the yeast will convert some of the undesired flavors into better things. As the yeast move to the stationary phase and flocculate out, many good things happen in your beer. You won't see any airlock activity, and your gravity readings might not change much, but there is some change taking place.

At 1.024, you still have some primary fermentation left. In a couple days that will drop about another 10 points.

Just leave it for a couple weeks before bottling. Patience is key (and very, very hard).

lawman67 said:

There was a lot of activity at first, even showing up in the airlock. I'm finding a published OG of 1.072 with some of the packaged kits, which match my ingredients. I did put a hydrometer in yesterday and the FG is showing 1.024 with a beer temp of 72 degrees. I'm not sure if the FG is "high" but it seems like it might be in the neighborhood of what I'd be looking for. The abv calculator I referenced indicates 6.25% abv. It almost sounds like I might have made beer!

Click to expand...

It sounds like you did make beer but 1.024 does sound a bit high, just let it sit. This is probably the hardest part of making beer but good things come to those who wait

rhinoceroceros said:

It sounds like you did make beer but 1.024 does sound a bit high, just let it sit. This is probably the hardest part of making beer but good things come to those who wait

Click to expand...

I will let it sit...It's tough, but it will sit. I'll devote some time to reading some more posts and learning what I can for a future batch. Maybe I'll check the FG this weekend and see if it drops at all.

freisste said:

the immediate bubbles were your yeast screaming in pain.

Click to expand...

hahahaha

brewed this up 2 weeks and 2 days ago. Currently sitting in secondary at 1.016...it's supposed to finish at 1.012, but I mashed at 154F. 1.016 may be all I get out of the Notty. Sample is excellent. Going to let it in secondary another week and a half then bottle. Should be drinking by the end of the month.

So here's my issue. I bought the Northern Brewer White House Honey Ale and I followed all the directions except I added the honey at 60 min instead of the last 5 minutes. So I'm assuming this will pretty much negate the honey flavor. So the recipe leaves a half once of both East Kent Goldings and UK Fuggles that are not used. Any thoughts of using these to dry hop after a week in primary? I realize adding the honey too early messed with the flavor, so I'm thinking of dry hopping.

Most likely user error on my initial reading. Took a sample last night and it tasted fantastic. Smooth, dark and rich - just like I love my women.
I bottled half last night and added vanilla beans to the other half.

MisterTipsy said:

In Russia, stout drink you!

Click to expand...

A little late reading this, but that's hands down the best post on this whole thread.

1.018 going into bottles for 6.79% abv

This sample tasted much like the last. A malty sweetness with another sweetness from the honey and a hops flavor that is there but not overpowering. It tastes more sweet than hoppy. Already I can tell this is a beer I'm glad I brewed.

Furrey I'm betting you meant 1.01 and not 1.000... also you really don't have to worry about autolysis an such a small time interval. Many of us including myself have primaried for months w/out autolysis... I typically go 3 weeks primary no secondary unless i"m specifically trying to clear something up with gelatin, in which case I secondary... but I've left big and small brews in my primaries for over 2 months and had no ill effects, no autolysis... so worries about autolysis are not really justified unless you forget for a very long time....
So I think you added so much honey your OG was over 1.01 and with that much honey I'd be surprised if you finished below 1.020 certainly not below 1.015 but 1.000, impossible

Hi all,

I am brewing the White House Honey Porter DME kit and I was hoping to make some mods to it. My intention was to make a gingerbread style porter for Christmas by adding some spices, reducing the honey, and replacing the Munich malt with biscuit malt. Unfortunately, the manufacturer combined all of the grains into 1 bag. Should I scrap the Gingerbread idea?

You can still spice it. Keep all the honey in it, also. In a beer like a porter, the honey is far too delicate to come through. It will just boost the ABV.

Brew this kit as the manufacturer says and then buy separate ingredients to do it your way. That way you can compare the two.

Oh, maybe you wouldn't want that much beer?

So I added the extra lb of honey yesterday(was supposed to add it on Wednesday, but got home really late)

Anyway, I didn't remove the lid and added it through the hole where the stopper goes. Today, it is bubbling a few times per minute. I plan on racking it into a secondary next weekend and leaving it there for 2-4 weeks.

To those of you that have made this recipe:

How long did you leave it in primary?

Did you use a secondary? If so, for how long?

How long did you bottle condition?

Would you recommend just leaving it in the primary?

Thanks in advance!

That's a pretty picture, Zuljin. I plan to brew the White House porter soon. I have a friend that asked me to brew it for her and I just got the ingredients in. It's sounded good since I first heard about it.

Thanks guys. 10 gal is a lot of beer, so I think I'll spice it and call it a day

Any thoughts on the biscuit malt? Thanks again guys!

I brewed the Honey Porter today. Things went well, though I wound up short a half gallon of volume. C'est la vie. Smells and tastes awesome. Pitched a yeast cake of S-04 from a small Mild Ale that I just did in 7 days.

I finally cracked one open! I brewed a full-grain conversion of this on Sep 2nd. It was bottled Sep 25.

Into the glass it poured a nice translucent red-brown amber, with plenty of head foam. Minutes later the head had dissipated, and the aroma I found fruity, mostly strawberry. Subtle floral and some caramel. Taste was fruity again, subtle bready up front, and after a moment it transitioned to a slight bitter, that I can only describe as a balanced noble hop flavor. It finished out dry and slightly hot, but that lasted quite some time. It really encouraged another sip. The mouthfeel is medium-heavy, which I'm surprised considering I mashed at 148, and I think I over-carbonated a touch. Light lacing on the glass, which for some reason makes me smile thinking I did something right.

Overall, it actually balances out the dry-alcohol from the honey with the english hop character pretty well. Between the yeast fruity-ness and biscuit flavors I think this has some other subtleness to round it out, so I'd call it multi-faceted.

It was fun to brew in the footsteps of white house chefs. I may have to try the porter one day if I have some free time in the pipeline for my fermentator.
--Jimbot

Note that in the pic it's a 22 oz bottle, not miniature glassware.

Brewed the white house honey ale last night and forgot to add the honey. By the time i realized this i was chilling my kettle in an ice bath and was at about 170f. Still hit my OG spot on and fermentation has taken off well over night. Guess thats what happens when im trying to bottle another batch at the same time lol! O well cant wait to see how it turns out!

You can always heat the honey to 180*F (don't boil, you'll lose a lot of flavor/aroma compounds) and add it to the fermenter after it's cooled.

I only add honey to a brew after it's chilled. Better to add it once fermentation has at least slowed down. Adding it to the wort while it's above 110F means you'll start losing flavor additions from it. Adding it during the boil, or even close to that temperature blows away flavor/aroma. You might as well use plain sugar at that point. IF you want ANY contribution from the honey (beyond more ABV%) don't heat it. Also don't move the brew after adding the honey until you're 100% sure its been consumed/mixed into the brew. Give it 1-4 weeks after adding the honey (depending on how much you add) before even thinking about transferring the brew.

Read somewhere that Hussein and Michelle drank some of this at the White House.

Hutch

Just did the Honey Ale. I could not find the Windsor but I had a Wyeast 1335 in fridge. Was this a mistake?

hoppybrewster said:

Just did the Honey Ale. I could not find the Windsor but I had a Wyeast 1335 in fridge. Was this a mistake?

Click to expand...

i certainly don't think so. while not identical, i think they're similar enough that the end result will be very comparable. should be a great beer.

back to the original topic, any one poured a glass of this yet? how did it work out.

Decided to rack to secondary and cold crash - it looked like it could benefit from this. Took a gravity reading - down from 1.053 to 1.010. Interestingly, there was a nice honey aroma - I used some great honey from a local beekeeper/mead maker.

I don't think I ever posted this - its the recipe we used and other info http://www.singingboysbrewing.com/White-House-Honey-Ale.html

I have to admit, when I saw the recipe I was disappointed and asked myself why I cared about it in the first place, I mean what was I expecting.

Then I realized, it wasn't too different from how whenever there's someone else in the grain room and I want to ask them what they're making. Its just exciting to compare notes, especially when its someone so prominent.

That and after the beer summit, I was relieved to hear that the President had better taste than it initially seemed.

I had always wanted to try my hand at home brewing, but when the White House released their recipes, I finally made the jump.

I ordered the WH Honey Ale (extract) kit from Austin Homebrew Supply and have had a blast.
I just bottled 3 days ago, so (fingers crossed) will have a tasty sneak peak on Oct 27, and an abundance of tasty brews for election night.

I have a couple of beer nerd friends here in Dallas that helped with last minute freak-out questions, but I've also learned a lot from digging deep into the awesomeness of the HBTalk forums. Thanks to everyone that contributes!

I'm looking forward to batch #2!

robotgas said:

I had always wanted to try my hand at home brewing, but when the White House released their recipes, I finally made the jump.

I ordered the WH Honey Ale (extract) kit from Austin Homebrew Supply and have had a blast.
I just bottled 3 days ago, so (fingers crossed) will have a tasty sneak peak on Oct 27, and an abundance of tasty brews for election night.

I have a couple of beer nerd friends here in Dallas that helped with last minute freak-out questions, but I've also learned a lot from digging deep into the awesomeness of the HBTalk forums. Thanks to everyone that contributes!

I'm looking forward to batch #2!

Click to expand...

Welcome to HBT and congrats on your first batch!

Great, one more guy to have to fight for hops with..

Just transferred to secondary and man does it smell awesome. Anyone know what the ABV is expected to be?

Thanks, Pappers.
Bottlebomber, if that comment was aimed at me, no need to worry. While I respect the need for hops, I am by no means a hophead. Knock yourself out!

Itsernst- my batch is calculating to 5.74%. I see others on this thread have much higher. I didn't opt for the "alcohol boost" available for my kit, so maybe that's why.

robotgas said:

Thanks, Pappers.
Bottlebomber, if that comment was aimed at me, no need to worry. While I respect the need for hops, I am by no means a hophead. Knock yourself out!

Click to expand...

That's what everyone says at first! And then before you know it, you'll be up early checking the sites to beat me out