Questions for a Honeydew Beer

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

PerArdua

Member
Joined
May 20, 2010
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Location
Seattle
So I'd like to make a light Honeydew beer but I really don't have a lot of XP in brewing just yet. I came up with the following by looking around at other beers and fiddling with ingredients.

6 lbs Extra Light Dry Extract
1 oz Williamette 60min
.5 oz Fuggles 15min
12 oz Honey 15min
Irish Moss
Wyeast 1272
4 oz Honeydew Juice (Strained from a puree) to be added at bottling.

The 4 oz for the Juice itself was a total guess, I have no idea if this would be enough to make the flavor noticeable but not overpowering.

As far as grains go, I'm at a loss. I don't want to add anything to make the color too dark. I'm shooting for a Wit beer look (ideally like Mothership color). Would adding gelatin to fine out this beer be helpful as well?

Any advice would be very much appreciated. I've only brewed 3 beers so far (and an Apfelwein but that isn't really brewing) so I could use all the help I can get.
 
I would guess you'll need more juice… a lot more juice. Honeydew is pretty subtle, so even though you are using a light/clean base beer you’ll probably need something like 5+ pints to get a moderate flavor. You can always add half, taste, and then add more if needed. That will also necessitate adding it a week or two before bottling to ensure you don’t end up with over carbonated beer.

Just one note on the base beer, I would add the honey after you chill to ~170 or so (although I’ve had the best luck adding it after primary fermentation). Good luck.
 
One of the brewers here gave me a couple of his watermelon brews that tasted pretty good.

He said he used the juice form 1/2 a large melon in a 5 gal batch...it was nice and subtle, but I probably would have used more.

IMO, honey dew juice is more potent than watermelon. I'd start off with 1 whole melon then add more to taste. ;)

I just don't know how much juice you can get from 1 melon. :confused:
 
Is there a specific reason to add honey after primary fermentation vs boiling? Stronger honey taste?

As for the melon itself, I'll probably do the whole melon and add to taste.
 
Is there a specific reason to add honey after primary fermentation vs boiling? Stronger honey taste?

As for the melon itself, I'll probably do the whole melon and add to taste.


Sounds like a good plan.

The aromatics in honey are very delicate, heat destroys them and all the CO2 produced during primary fermentation will drive them off. If you want honey/floral aromas in your beer the later you add it the better (and if you don't want them you'd be better off just using sugar).
 
Sounds like a good plan.

The aromatics in honey are very delicate, heat destroys them and all the CO2 produced during primary fermentation will drive them off. If you want honey/floral aromas in your beer the later you add it the better (and if you don't want them you'd be better off just using sugar).
Sounds like solid reasoning. So when I rack to secondary I add the honey and melon and leave it for a week or 2? Also, does 12 oz of honey sound like the right amount?
 
You can do that, or just pour them into the primary fermenter after 10-14 days (whatever is easier). 12 oz is about right for a faint honey character (but that also depends on variety and quality). Fruit blossom honey (like orange) would be nice with the melon, the less processed and more local the better.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top