Austin homebrew supply - Honey Hibiscus wit
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Chuck_Swillery
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Hibiscus Honey? Interesting - let us know how it turns out/tastes when its done! How'd the rest of the process go or you? Any hiccups in the system? Always a learning process, isn't it.
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chrislehr
Well-Known Member
The hibiscus clogged up the hoses pretty good, and I had them in a muslin bag at first too, but SWMBO didnt think it was getting the same impact in a bag, so I entertained her there.. other than that, the process was pretty simple. The only thing I did different is used raw honey, and didn't add it til the temp was back to 80 degrees or so. Also, I used filtered tap water in the pic above and that really should have been boiled and cooled, but it was late and I was taking a shortcut and I hope I don't pay for it.
The hibiscus petals were a nuisance for me as well - I ordered the kit toward the end of April and brewed it as my first AG batch in early May. It spent two weeks in primary, and it's been in the bottle for about a week and a half. I plan to check on it in the next day or so, but I'm really looking forward to tasting it cold and carb'd.
I made the mini-mash about 90 days ago and bottled a two of weeks ago. Had one yesterday. Mine came out pink in color, dry mouthfeel and has a very pronounced grapefruit citrus taste to it. Decent, but not exactly something I would brew again.
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chrislehr
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So here we are, nearly two weeks since boil... and I STILL have a krausen and some fermentation activity.
We did add our honey AFTER the boil (we used raw honey and to keep in 'raw' added it after 90 degrees was hit chilling the wort)
Seems like its running long. I'm not worried yet, as it smells OK, but anyone else have long fermentation times on this one?
We did add our honey AFTER the boil (we used raw honey and to keep in 'raw' added it after 90 degrees was hit chilling the wort)
Seems like its running long. I'm not worried yet, as it smells OK, but anyone else have long fermentation times on this one?
I left mine in primary for two weeks, and I still had a krausen when I racked the beer from underneath it. This was my first beer where the krausen was still present after the FG hit its target and was stable for 3-4 days. Check your SG - it may be done, but it definitely wouldn't hurt to let it sit for another week or two.
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chrislehr
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glad to hear this - thanks for chiming in. You tasting yet?
crammer
Well-Known Member
Mine is currently sitting in the keg but the appearance of the beer turned out to be like a red soda. I'm an APA guy and I think the beer is on the sweet side, IMO.
JOHN51277
Well-Known Member
I just transfered mine to secondary before vacation. Will be kegging once I return. It is a pale pink running through the siphon tube.
I did the mini-mash two days ago and can reply back in 2 or 3 weeks when I bottle, and sample it uncarbedThe hibiscus clogged up the hoses pretty good, and I had them in a muslin bag at first too, but SWMBO didnt think it was getting the same impact in a bag, so I entertained her there.. other than that, the process was pretty simple. The only thing I did different is used raw honey, and didn't add it til the temp was back to 80 degrees or so. Also, I used filtered tap water in the pic above and that really should have been boiled and cooled, but it was late and I was taking a shortcut and I hope I don't pay for it.
. Yea, the hibiscus really turned the wort a funky red color, but the honey/wheat wort did smell good. I wrapped the hibiscus in some cheesecloth with a binder clip during the boil I'm new at this but one trick I found to strain is using those grease splash screens with handles you can buy at Walmart, two in a pack, and place over the primary to strain when pouring the cooled wort in.
Yes that's the color. I've had mine bottled two weeks and sampled one, it is not too good at all yet. It did say 3 or 4 weeks on the instructions, and I plan on leaving it a couple months and hope for the best. This is the first batch I've made that I'm not sure of the outcome, but I know it could be great after a couple months also.
