Orange Honey Wheat

[northwoods_brewer]

Hey there, long time lurker first time poster! Have been brewing beer for about a year now, and started all grain a few months ago. So far I have been just following recipes, but I've been wanting to venture into creating my own recipe lately. I wanted to try making something with orange that will be tasty for the summer. I've been playing around on BrewMate for the last hour or so and threw this together, just hoping to get some feedback/suggestions and any other advice!

1# Honey Malt
.5# Carapils
5# Flaked Wheat
5.5# 2-row
.5# Flaked Barley
.5 oz Amarillo (60 minutes)
.25 oz Simcoe (45 minutes)
.25 oz Simcoe (15 minutes)
White Labs WLP 320 yeast

I was thinking of adding 1 lb of honey at flame out and adding orange zest into primary/secondary and potentially some type of orange puree during secondary but have no idea how much would be adequate. For all I know this recipe could be completely off, so any suggestions/critique/comments would be more than welcome!

 

[Ravenor]

I can`t find the thread right now. But there war one concerning the use of honey malt and I think the overall opinion was that a little goes a long way because the honey malt can be overpowering.

I don`t think that you will taste too much of the honey because it will just ferment away and just boost the ABV and because you add it to the hot wort all the tasty stuff in the honey will vanish. But that`s my 2 cant.

Other than that go for it. It will always be beer and maybe you create just something you were looking for.

 

[tektonjp]

I second the reduction of honey malt. As for orange, zest in pot 5 minutes before flameout. Then maybe more thrown into the primary after 7 or 8 days. Then rack into bottles/keg after 4/5 days.

 

[northwoods_brewer]

Thanks for the feedback guys! I think I'll try .5# honey malt instead. Maybe add honey after wort is cooled and in primary?

 

[tektonjp]

No, do not add honey to the primary to cooled wort. At the very least, add it just before flameout so it hits pasteurizing temps. But regardless, you will not get any honey flavor out of it. Especially with your hop bill.

 

[LexusChris]

Just wanted to point out that there are varying opinions on using honey post boil.

I for one add honey during the whirlpool, when the temp gets down to 130F or so. I like a little heat to help it dissolve well.

When I make my meads, I do not boil the water at all. Just add the honey cold, stir and pitch. Raw honey is not likely to cause an infection (unless you are using an old half-used jar or something). It has such a low moisture content that bacteria won't grow on it.

I would have no problem adding it to my primary or secondary directly.

I also have to add that 1# of honey in a 5 gallon batch gives a nice noticeable honey character to the beer. As long as you don't boil the honey, you will retain the delicate aroma & flavor.

I keep meaning to try honey malt just to see what it is all about, but my results with raw honey have been so good, I just haven't had a need to try it yet. Either way, you will be making some good beer!

The zest sounds like a good idea, added late in the boil as tektonjp indicated. I have heard that honey malt should be used sparingly as well. When using a hefeweizen yeast like WLP300 or WLP320, you will get less banana and more clove flavors if you can keep your fermentation to the low 60's... like 62-65. If you let it go higher, you get more of the banana. For my tastes, I always go low.

Don't forget 1/2# of rice hulls to help your lautering! Good luck!
--LexusChris