Honey Wheat Ale Recipe - Thoughts?

Hey guys,

Looking for input on this recipe. It's meant to be a refreshing/clean lawnmower beer.

Batch Size - 3.2 Gallons
3 lb. Wheat Malt - 50%
2.25 lb. Pale 2-row - 38 %
3/4 lb. Honey Malt - 12 %

.5 oz Mt. Hood - 60 min - 5.5 Alpha
.5 oz Willamette - 5 min - 5.5 Alpha

1 oz. Orange Zest @ knockout

US-05 Yeast

OG: 1.053
FG: 1.013
IBU: 20

Basically, I haven't worked with Honey Malt or Orange Zest before.

1. is 12% of the grist enough/too much honey malt to get a balanced/medium pronounced honey flavor?
2. Is adding Orange Zest at knockout appropriate? Will flavor/aroma get lost during primary ferment?

Thanks for any and all input!

I looks good to me.You will get some honey taste from the malt but
you have the option of using real honey also.US-05 will work fine
or you can use US-06 which is a wheat beer yeast.I made this on
Saturday 4-7-12.It is no by means something you have to try but you
might pick up some info from it to formulate your own recipe.This is a staple
brew at my house and my wife loves it.1 more thing be carefull with the
orange peel don`t overdo it,a little goes along way.



American Honey Wheat Ale - 2 -

Boil Time: 75 min
Batch Size: 5.25 gallons
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Efficiency: 70%


Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (standard): 5.04%
IBU (tinseth): 28.93
SRM (morey): 3.86

FERMENTABLES:
4 lb - Pale 2-Row (39.7%)
2 lb - Red Wheat (19.8%)
1 lb - Flaked Wheat (9.9%)
1 lb - Pale 6-Row (9.9%)
1 lb - Honey (9.9%)
0.75 lb - Vienna (7.4%)
0.33 lb - Rice Hulls (3.3%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Mount Hood (AA 6.1) for 50 min, Type: Pellet
0.5 oz - Liberty (AA 3.4) for 20 min, Type: Pellet
0.5 oz - Liberty (AA 3.4) for 5 min, Type: Pellet

MASH STEPS:
1) Infusion, Temp: 171 F, Time: 75 min, 12 qt, rest at 154
2) Infusion, Temp: 212 F, Time: 10 min, 5 qt, stir and rest at 165 - mashout
3) Fly Sparge, Temp: 185 F, Time: 30 min, 16.5 qt, to volume - 7 gal.

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 tsp - irish moss, Time: 15 min
1 tsp - yeast nutrient, Time: 15 min
0.25 oz - bitter orange peel, Time: 10 min.

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - Safbrew - Wheat Beer Yeast WB-06
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation: 76%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Temperature: 59 F - 75 F

PRIMING:
Method: corn sugar
Amount: 4.3 oz

WATER PROFILE:
bottled spring water


NOTES:
add 1 lb. organic honey at flameout
ferment at 65-68 degrees

I've thought about adding honey in place of/in addition to honey malt, but I've heard it takes considerably longer to ferment?

Any benefit other than sanitization for adding orange peel/zest at 10 min. as opposed to knockout?

Thanks for the help!

I`m not 100% sure,but from what I`ve read,giving it some boil time pulls out
a little bit more of the flavor.It has always worked well for me.As for as
fermentation time for the Honey I think that is only when you use it for
bottling,Never noticed any difference when using it in the boil (flameout).

cheers

the safe play will be just going with the honey malt. I prefer it over using actual honey, whic only really effect abv not so much taste. Hopefully you have access to gambrinus canadian Honey malt, its better than honey..

I use honey malt in a lot of my brews and specifically my version of BierMunchers
Krisper Kolsch.Over the the years I have found using real Honey at flameout
(after wort cools to about 190) you still retain some honey flavor.Everybody has
their own thoughts on brewing process.I do not disagree with the honey malt as
far as as the sweetness goes,but if used appropriately real honey will give you the
flavor you are looking for.

cheers