American Wheat Beer Honey Balz Spring Wheat

[CrookedTail]

It's sitting at 66f (temp strip on the side of the bucket) right now in a ice bath. Should I shoot for lower or is this about right?

That should be OK.

 

[mpdust]

I see the batch size is 5 gallons but how many gallons did you use for the boil?

 

[anico4704]

When did everyone add the Honey to this recipe? I have heard that adding the honey during the boil does nothing but up the ABV. If I wanted to actually impart honey flavor aside from the honey malt, would I add it a week or so into primary fermentation? What did everyone else do?

 

[CrookedTail]

When did everyone add the Honey to this recipe? I have heard that adding the honey during the boil does nothing but up the ABV. If I wanted to actually impart honey flavor aside from the honey malt, would I add it a week or so into primary fermentation? What did everyone else do?

Add in the final minute or two, or at flameout. The honey gives off aromatics that way. The honey flavor comes from the honey malt.

 

[MarkB]

When I want to impart some honey taste, or hints, I use it to prime with, seems to work out very well in that capacity.

 

[bmcf74]

Overpowering Honey

I am a newby and only have about 15 homebrews under my belt. I brewed a recipe similar to this but I think I put too much honey in the boil. I kegged it after four weeks but the honey aroma is so strong. Any suggestions on how to salvage this brew? Would dry hopping it in the keg for a week help? Any help would be greatly appreciated....

 

[pmatson]

I am planning to make a batch using this recipe for my family's Easter get-together. Has anyone brewed this using Nottingham? I have had good luck with notty lately and have not yet tried us-05. I keep my fermenter in a water bath and have pretty good temp control. Any advice from previous experiences? Much appreciated. Cheers

 

[CrookedTail]

I am planning to make a batch using this recipe for my family's Easter get-together. Has anyone brewed this using Nottingham? I have had good luck with notty lately and have not yet tried us-05. I keep my fermenter in a water bath and have pretty good temp control. Any advice from previous experiences? Much appreciated. Cheers

I have used Notty many times before, but not on this brew. US-05 and Notty are very similar strains, but beers fermented with Notty tend to finish a bit drier.

This beer finishes with a very slight sweetness from the Honey Malt. I'm not sure if Notty will eliminate that.

 

[OzzyBrew]

I just brewed this up today. Could not find Orange Blossom Honey, so I just went with some local clover honey. The wort tasted pretty good, really looking forward to this brew. My local brew store was out of US-05 and I was really wanting to try a dry yeast, so I went with Safbrew wb-06. My store always has a ton of wyeast, but again, I wanted to see what kind of fermentation I would have with dry.......so we'll see. I did not add the wheat flour, but if I brew this again I think I will. This is a beer for the wife, but of course, I will end up drinking most of it!

 

[CrookedTail]

I just brewed this up today. Could not find Orange Blossom Honey, so I just went with some local clover honey. The wort tasted pretty good, really looking forward to this brew. My local brew store was out of US-05 and I was really wanting to try a dry yeast, so I went with Safbrew wb-06. My store always has a ton of wyeast, but again, I wanted to see what kind of fermentation I would have with dry.......so we'll see. I did not add the wheat flour, but if I brew this again I think I will. This is a beer for the wife, but of course, I will end up drinking most of it!

That yeast will turn it into a hefeweizen. It shouldn't be bad, just a bit different.

 

[OzzyBrew]

Just an update, it certainly did become hef-ish. It tastes pretty good, but obviously not what I wanted. I will definitely be trying this one again in the spring, this time with us-05.

 

[Tangelo]

This is a great quick simple recipe. One of my regulars.

 

[CrookedTail]

This is a great quick simple recipe. One of my regulars.

Very cool! If you're a fan of wheat beers, this is a good one to keep in rotation.

I actually keep this one as a spring/summer seasonal.

 

[Kozwald]

CrookedTail, I was looking for a new recipe to brew this weekend and ran across your Honey Balz recipe. This is an old post so hopefully you're still out there.

What do you think about using WB-06 instead of the US-05???

 

[CrookedTail]

CrookedTail, I was looking for a new recipe to brew this weekend and ran across your Honey Balz recipe. This is an old post so hopefully you're still out there.

What do you think about using WB-06 instead of the US-05???

WB-06 is more of a hefe-weizen yeast strain. US-05 will keep it cleaner, and allow the malt and hops stand out more. I don't think it will turn out bad, just different.

 

[Kozwald]

I ended up using the WB-06. There wasn't any airlock activity so I'm going to check the gravity in a couple of days to see if anything's happening. If the gravity is where it should be I'll move it into the secondary for 2 weeks, then keg.

I can't wait to try it.

 

[CrookedTail]

Just brewed up a variation of this for a competition. All late hops.

Fermentables
5lbs Wheat DME
.5lb Honey Malt
1lb Honey (added @ flameout)

Hops
1oz Amarillo (9 AAU) @ 10min
1oz Citra (14.1 AAU) @ 10min
1oz Amarillo (9 AAU) @ 5min
1oz Citra (14.1 AAU) @ 5min
1oz Amarillo Dry-Hop

US-05 yeast

OG: 1.052 IBU:46

Just moved this to secondary a few days ago. Tastes like an IPA. Very nice if you're a hop-head. A couple of weeks will allow the bitterness to mellow, and it should be very good.

 

[CrookedTail]

Just tapped this version. It is FANTASTIC! The citrusy hops elevate this beer to a whole other level.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Kozwald]

CrookedTail
Your revised version sound tasty! My version with the WB-06 wasn't bad, but had too much of a peppery / clove after taste. I ended up putting an orange slice in the glass and that made a huge difference. I've got a Mossaic IPA finishing fermentation next week and plan on brewing your original recipe with the US-05. I'm anxious to compare to the Heffe yeast.

 

[CrystalShip]

Just brewed up a variation of this for a competition. All late hops.

Fermentables
5lbs Wheat DME
.5lb Honey Malt
1lb Honey (added @ flameout)

Hops
1oz Amarillo (9 AAU) @ 10min
1oz Citra (14.1 AAU) @ 10min
1oz Amarillo (9 AAU) @ 5min
1oz Citra (14.1 AAU) @ 5min
1oz Amarillo Dry-Hop

US-05 yeast

OG: 1.052 IBU:46

Just moved this to secondary a few days ago. Tastes like an IPA. Very nice if you're a hop-head. A couple of weeks will allow the bitterness to mellow, and it should be very good.

Citra and Amarillo are a match made in heaven! I have used the combo many a time.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Suicid]

Fermentables
5lbs Wheat DME
.5lb Honey Malt
1lb Honey (added @ flameout)

Hops
1oz Amarillo (9 AAU) @ 10min
1oz Citra (14.1 AAU) @ 10min
1oz Amarillo (9 AAU) @ 5min
1oz Citra (14.1 AAU) @ 5min
1oz Amarillo Dry-Hop

US-05 yeast

OG: 1.052 IBU:46

Made this version month ago and just cracked first bottle. WOW! Soooo delicious!

Thanks alot for this recipe!

 

[Superstorm]

Hey CrookedTail, I like the looks of this recipe and I think I'm gonna try and make a 3 gallon batch, but I have some questions. I noticed that you didn't write down the temperatures for primary and secondary fermentation. And also, at what temperature do I add the first half of the extract and the first part of the Mt. Hood hops? In your recipe, it calls for wheat LME and I found some Briess Bavarian Wheat LME on Amazon, would that work? I also noticed that you also said to make a water and flour slurry if you want the beer to be more cloudy, I would like it to be more cloudy but I usually do both primary and secondary fermentation in the same carboy. Is the slurry even needed if you don't move to a second carboy for secondary fermentation, or would you recommend just transferring to a second carboy for this recipe?

 

[CrookedTail]

Hey CrookedTail, I like the looks of this recipe and I think I'm gonna try and make a 3 gallon batch, but I have some questions. I noticed that you didn't write down the temperatures for primary and secondary fermentation. And also, at what temperature do I add the first half of the extract and the first part of the Mt. Hood hops? In your recipe, it calls for wheat LME and I found some Briess Bavarian Wheat LME on Amazon, would that work? I also noticed that you also said to make a water and flour slurry if you want the beer to be more cloudy, I would like it to be more cloudy but I usually do both primary and secondary fermentation in the same carboy. Is the slurry even needed if you don't move to a second carboy for secondary fermentation, or would you recommend just transferring to a second carboy for this recipe?

Wow there's a lot to answer here!

Ferment in the mid-60s. I don't have precise temperature control (yet), but I ferment in my basement, which stays fairly cool. US-05 is pretty forgiving so long as you stay under 72 degrees.

Any wheat-based malt extract will work. I use extract from Midwest Supplies, which I believe is repackaged Briess LME. If you want to use DME instead, go with 5 lbs.

I no longer use the slurry in this beer (I do use it in my hefeweizens though). If you don't fine the beer (Irish Moss, whirfloc, etc), the beer should be a little hazy.

Hope this helps.

 

[CrookedTail]

Made this version month ago and just cracked first bottle. WOW! Soooo delicious!

Thanks alot for this recipe!

This is how I've been brewing it lately. Makes for a great summer brew.

I put this version in a local open style competition last year. It took second place.

 

[EagleScout]

I'm on a Lemons race team and this sounds like the perfect beer for the first race next year.

 

[EagleScout]

Just ordered the stuff I need to make this and I have a couple of question. This will be my first time using any grain and I'm not sure what temp to steep the honey malt at and what gravity do you normally carb this too?

 

[rpolzin25]

Just ordered the stuff I need to make this and I have a couple of question. This will be my first time using any grain and I'm not sure what temp to steep the honey malt at and what gravity do you normally carb this too?

I recently did a modified version and steeping you typically do 152-154 for 20-30 minutes.

 

[cmcb4]

Kegged this recently, using orig. recipe with the exception of type of honey, couldn't find Orange Blossom. Also, I did add a tbsp of orange zest. Needs another week of carbing and conditioning, but gave it a taste, liking it so far.