Oats, Honey and Bitterness - First recipe creation.

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Sleep

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Hello,

Been looking around the forums for awhile and have been enjoying the wealth of information that everyone has provided. I've recently gotten into Home Brewing and have managed to happily get through 4 batches nicely thanks to many of the topics on this board.

As for my question:
I want to develop a recipe for a Honey Wheat beer and have been thinking of using Oats in it as well. Not only do I want to use oats but I want to toast them beforehand. The flavour I'm going for is nothing too sweet but nothing too bitter. Hopefully a nice clean crisp taste taste to it.

I'm wondering though if I should use a bittering hops or will the toasted oats provide a sufficient bitterness to the taste? Also I was thinking of using a Buckwheat honey however I'm not sure if I should use this while brewing or should I add this during the secondary fermentation?

Any help or criticism would be greatly appreciated as this is my first attempt at a recipe.

Much obliged,

Sleep
 
Congratulations on progressing in the hobby to the point of wanting to develop your own recipes. To me, that is one of the most exciting parts of homebrewing. Having said that, you might want to consider starting with something a bit more simple. If you're dead set on an oats and honey wheat though, here's what I suggest.

You definitely need hop bitterness in there. Not much, but just a little to balance the sweetness of the malt. I'd recommend using a clean neutral hop with one addition only which would be for bittering. Aim for about 15-20 IBU. That will balance the sweetness, but not come off as bitter.

As for the honey, you want to add it after the boil to retain most of its aromatics. Whether you add it at flameout, or during primary fermentation is up to you. You would probably get more aroma from the honey if you add it just after the peak of fermentation, but adding it at flameout has the benefit of killing any bacteria or wild yeast in there. There probably isn't much though, so adding to primary should be safe.

Are you doing all-grain, or partial mash? Oats really should be mashed so if you aren't doing all grain, you'll want to mash them with a little pale malt. I'd also add a touch of honey malt to reinforce the honey flavor and add a little sweetness.

If you're going all-grain I would target something like this:

1.050 OG
18 IBU

30% wheat malt
45% 2-row
10% toasted oats
5% honey malt
10% honey added to primary just after high krausen
That will be light-colored and should feature the sweet flavor of wheat and the honey malt, with a touch of nutty, toasty oats with their creamy mouthfeel and a dry, balanced finish.

Do you want the banana and clove of a bavarian wheat yeast or a clean yeast? If the former wy3068 is a good choice, if the latter us-05.

Hope this helps!
 
KingBrianI said:
Congratulations on progressing in the hobby to the point of wanting to develop your own recipes. To me, that is one of the most exciting parts of homebrewing. Having said that, you might want to consider starting with something a bit more simple. If you're dead set on an oats and honey wheat though, here's what I suggest.

You definitely need hop bitterness in there. Not much, but just a little to balance the sweetness of the malt. I'd recommend using a clean neutral hop with one addition only which would be for bittering. Aim for about 15-20 IBU. That will balance the sweetness, but not come off as bitter.

As for the honey, you want to add it after the boil to retain most of its aromatics. Whether you add it at flameout, or during primary fermentation is up to you. You would probably get more aroma from the honey if you add it just after the peak of fermentation, but adding it at flameout has the benefit of killing any bacteria or wild yeast in there. There probably isn't much though, so adding to primary should be safe.

Are you doing all-grain, or partial mash? Oats really should be mashed so if you aren't doing all grain, you'll want to mash them with a little pale malt. I'd also add a touch of honey malt to reinforce the honey flavor and add a little sweetness.

If you're going all-grain I would target something like this:

1.050 OG
18 IBU

30% wheat malt
45% 2-row
10% toasted oats
5% honey malt
10% honey added to primary just after high krausen
That will be light-colored and should feature the sweet flavor of wheat and the honey malt, with a touch of nutty, toasty oats with their creamy mouthfeel and a dry, balanced finish.

Do you want the banana and clove of a bavarian wheat yeast or a clean yeast? If the former wy2068 is a good choice, if the latter us-05.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Wow. That sounds like a great summer drinker.
 
I was thinking of doing it using a partial mash as that's what I've been doing so far and thought I would try this recipe that way. I realize I'm trying to progress with something a bit more difficult so I've been worried about learning and trying All-grain while attempting my first recipe.

Is All-grain a tricky process? or should I stick with Partial for my first recipe?

Thanks for all your help that's quite overwhelming how detailed and awesome your advice is.
 
All grain is more intimidating before you've done it than it deserves to be. After you'e done it, or watched someone do it, you'll find it really is a piece of cake. It just takes a little more equipment to do. If you haven't already, search for BIAB (Brew In A Bag) methods on the forum. That is one way to get into AG quickly and cheaply. Partial will work though. And will produce beer almost if not just as tasty as AG. Also, please take the guidance I gave above as just one of many possible directions you can take the recipe. Like I said, coming up with recipes is one of the most fun parts of homebrewing, so feel free to completely ignore my suggestions and come up with your own direction for the idea you had.
 

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