Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Honey & Chamomile Wheat: What a way to end a long day

[midfielder5]

I am mashing at 154* my 5 gallon version of this now--
60/40 wheat & two row,
saaz to bitter (20 ibu),
2oz of chamomile at 60 min and probably flameout addition too [edit: 0.6 oz at 5 min / store didnt have scale and I eyeballed way low].
1# of good honey at flameout.
and wb06 dry yeast
cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

I am mashing at 154* my 5 gallon version of this now--
60/40 wheat & two row,
saaz to bitter (20 ibu),
2oz of chamomile at 60 min and probably flameout addition too,
1# of good honey at flameout.
and wb06 dry yeast
cheers!

I think WB-06 throws a lot of banana/clove esters. I've got some in my closet that I've never used, but I've read things about it. That might be great, but definitely not what I was shooting for when I made this. With honey and chamomile, I think the neutral yeast wouldn't interfere.

OTOH, I would love to try it with the WB-06. Very interesting. Good Luck.

 

[midfielder5]

I have not used wb06 either. I might split- ferment the batch with a second yeast; I have US05, Windsor and Notty.

 

[stbnj]

I brewed this the other day, the mods being that I used ahtanum, wlp005, and I added a half pound of honey malt and only 12 oz. of honey. Obviously I also adjusted the recipe to my 80% efficiency. I picked up a Wolavers Wildflower Wheat to get an idea of a commercial example and after pulling a hydro sample its awesome. This may definitely become a stape in my rotation and I may do a second batch as soon as I can. By the way I got my chamomile off amazon for 5 bucks.

 

[JeffoC6]

Now THIS is what I'm talkin about. Shot a 98 today, hit the majority of my fairways, had a few pars, and came home to this...

Thank you passedpawn! I'll definitely be brewing this again!

 

[passedpawn]

Now THIS is what I'm talkin about. Shot a 98 today, hit the majority of my fairways, had a few pars, and came home to this...

Thank you passedpawn! I'll definitely be brewing this again!

What a way to end a long day!

That looks perfect! Oh, and way to break 100 (I'll never do it, I'm a hack, wutever ).

 

[Lazersgopewpew]

I'm very curious as to what a variation of this brew would taste like if it was hybridized with a Wit. Maybe some orange zest added in after fermentation.
I might try something like that pretty soon.

also, how do you feel about honey malt instead of honey?

 

[passedpawn]

If you want orange, just do a wit or American Wheat. That will be too much for this beer I think.

Honey malt would be very interesting. I've used it a couple of times. That stuff smells exactly like honey when the malt is fresh!

 

[Blackhawkbrew]

This might be a silly question, but where do you buy chamomile?

 

[passedpawn]

This might be a silly question, but where do you buy chamomile?

I got mine at a local place called Palm Harbor Whole Foods. It's a smallish grocery store for very particular (!) people. Loads of organic stuff, etc. I'll bet you have a place near you like that.

I'll bet some of the high-end tea places also carry whole chamomile flowers. There's a place called Teavana that you might have nearby. I've gotten it online (for my tea-drinking habit) at:

http://www.adagio.com/herbal/chamomile.html?SID=be40f876993e2762f2bbfce97941df46

You can also grow your own, fairly easily. Look for German Chamomile seeds.

 

[midfielder5]

Try a good market with a bulk food, spice section.

 

[JeffoC6]

Go to etsy.com and search "dried chamomile." Very fair prices and ships quickly. That's what I did.

 

[SnowBird]

I brewed this up last week with no problems. Took a sample today when I moved it to the secondary and everything fermented out just fine but it tastes very strong of chamomile. Should I have strained the chamomile out after the boil before putting in then the fermentor? I have a feeling this is why the chamomile is so strong.

I am working on getting all of it out now but wanted to check if anyone else has done this. Also, would it help if I added some more honey to this batch to mask the chamomile a bit? Thanks for your help.

 

[passedpawn]

I put the chamomile in a hanging hop spider - see pic. They should be treated like any other hop addition to the boil. Put them in a hop bag or something similar. I'm sure that none of the chamomile got into my fermentor.

BTW, I still have bottles of this. I found one a week ago and it was still very nice. The chamomile is not strong in mine, and the honey is recognizable but just barely.

 

[kcpup]

Passed Pawn, I'm going to brew this recipe this week. I wanted to confirm the Chamomile addition at 60 minutes ...I use it in wits frequently but normally add at flameout. Love chamomile and look forward to tasting this!

Cheers and thank you

 

[passedpawn]

Passed Pawn, I'm going to brew this recipe this week. I wanted to confirm the Chamomile addition at 60 minutes ...I use it in wits frequently but normally add at flameout. Love chamomile and look forward to tasting this!

Cheers and thank you

Yes, the chamomile boils for 60 minutes. I copied the process listed in Extreme Brewing ("Wildflower Wheat"). It explicitly states to boil the chamomile for 60 minutes, so that is what I did.

 

[kcpup]

Thanks for confirming! Based on your earlier comments, the honey is added at flameout, correct? Thanks again.

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks for confirming! Based on your earlier comments, the honey is added at flameout, correct? Thanks again.

Correct.

 

[carbonbrew]

The first batch I did was all-grain, lately I've only had time to brew at my store and I am kind of limited to partial or extract brews while I'm there. The kit I set up at the store is an extract recipe, but its been flying off the shelves.

The extract kit I put together is...

Specialty grains:
.5 lb honey malt
1 lb wheat malt

Fermentables:
6.6 lbs Wheat LME
1 lb. Wildflower Blossom Honey

Extras:
2 oz dried chamomile flowers

Yeast: WLP320 American Hefe.

Is this a 2.5 or 5 gal boil?

 

[passedpawn]

Is this a 2.5 or 5 gal boil?

That's a 5g batch. It's the recipe right out of Extreme Brewing.

 

[mugzz819]

Just tapped this last night. It's Amazing! It was perfect after a day of renovating the basement and then having some grilled steaks for dinner. I definitely got a strong aroma of honey and chamomile and they were both present in the taste, but neither one was overpowering. I think my one problem is that I only made 2.5 gallons and the neighbors discovered it, so I don't see this lasting even a week. It's a great beer to drink on a warm night, or day. I'm planning on brewing a bigger batch this week and will probably try to keep it on tap throughout the summer. Thanks for posting it!

 

[passedpawn]

Just tapped this last night. It's Amazing! It was perfect after a day of renovating the basement and then having some grilled steaks for dinner. I definitely got a strong aroma of honey and chamomile and they were both present in the taste, but neither one was overpowering. I think my one problem is that I only made 2.5 gallons and the neighbors discovered it, so I don't see this lasting even a week. It's a great beer to drink on a warm night, or day. I'm planning on brewing a bigger batch this week and will probably try to keep it on tap throughout the summer. Thanks for posting it!

Great!

 

[Mojzis]

Made this about two months ago, thanks for sharing this recipe. I love this beer, tastes great and its great for non beer drinkers to try. A very nice honey and chamomile taste that shines through. I will be making it again hopefully shortly.

Once again thanks for this

 

[VaBrewer]

Brewed this a week ago, can't wait!

 

[Veedo]

Brewed up a variation of this tonight,

5lbs 2 row
4lbs wheat
2oz chamomile @60
1.5oz saaz @60
.5oz saaz @20
1lb orange blossom honey @flame out
1L starter of wyeast 1010
mash at 154, shooting for an og of 1.055 and fg of 1.010, ibu's around 20

Fermenting at 66f.

I havent used chamomile, honey, or american wheat yeast in brews before, so im curious how this will turn out. I will be sure to post back some results!

 

[shadows69]

I have chamomile growing in my back yard. Going to pick it and dry it out in a brown paper bag. Adding to the list of beers to make.

 

[drubes14]

I made the extract version of this recipe a few months back... Wow! So delicious. I did a few slight modifications, however, and I was really happy with how they turned out.

If you're looking for a more pronounced chamomile smell and taste, try this out- Using a hop bag, I made a tea of 2 oz of chamomile flowers, poured in 2 quarts boiling water, and let it steep for around 15 or 20 minutes during the end of the boil. I added this in while cooling my wort.

In the same recipe, I also dryhopped an ounce of chamomile flowers for 2 weeks. After the dry hopping and letting a few weeks to carb, it was outstanding. The chamomile develops what I can only describe as a cross between a green apple and flower like aroma, and in some regards taste. Not overpowering by any means, but be prepared for it to be the dominant note.

Anyway, worth a shot for anyone who really wants to go off the charts on the chamomile!

 

[TechMiller]

Do you remember what your ABV was?

When I throw this in BeerSmith, it is showing about 6.7 ABV.

Is that about right?

 

[passedpawn]

Do you remember what your ABV was?

When I throw this in BeerSmith, it is showing about 6.7 ABV.

Is that about right?

6.7% is exactly what I have in Beersmith from my original brewday. I don't remember it being that high, and I don't think I'd brew it to that gravity now.

I still have have a couple of bottles left. I should try one to jog the old memory.

If by some chance you are nearby, come get one.

 

[TechMiller]

Thank you for the reply! I think this will be on my list soon!

 

[SudsyPaul]

Making the AG-BIAB version of this, tonight...

3lb 2-row
2.5lb wheat malt
0.5lb wheat flakes
1oz Hallertau-US (60 min)
1.33OZ Chamomile (60 min)
.66 tsp wheat flour (5 min)
1lb honey (5 min)
S-04 or WB-06

Haven't decided which yeast I'll use for this. The fact that I'll be fermenting in the high 60s makes me wary of the WB-06... don't want a banana-chamomile beer :S

 

[WileECoyote]

Im going to try this one soon.

Cheers

 

[TriggerFingers]

Brewed up a 2.5 Gallon batch of this on Saturday with a 30 min boil. Used magnum instead of vanguard for hops and Wyeast 2565 Kolsch as the yeast. Fermenter kept cool (around 60) and is bubbling away nicely. The smell from the airlock is very similar to apple juice (probably due to the chamomile?).

 

[SudsyPaul]

Dang... I tried doing this with chamomile tea, and I just took a sample after 5 days. It's nearly done fermenting, but the taste is really bland I should have probably added more chamomile tea to it.

I'm thinking I'll steep 5-6 bags of tea in 1 cup of boiliing water and cool and 'dry hop' with that...

 

[passedpawn]

Dang... I tried doing this with chamomile tea, and I just took a sample after 5 days. It's nearly done fermenting, but the taste is really bland I should have probably added more chamomile tea to it.

I'm thinking I'll steep 5-6 bags of tea in 1 cup of boiliing water and cool and 'dry hop' with that...

Get some whole chamomile flowers like I show in the pics earlier and you'll see that there is no comparison to the tea dustings. You can get whole chamomile at whole food / natural food stores. They usually have it in bulk containers.

 

[SudsyPaul]

I looked at a few of the bulk food places around here, couldn't find anything. I'll check out some hippy places around town, they might have something more like what you had in your pic.

I'm assuming that those chamomile flowers would need sterilization before being tossed in, right?

 

[fermentinginpa]

This sounds delicious! This past weekend I brewed a Belgian Blonde with honey, chamomile and bitter orange peel. The wort tasted good and it's currently fermenting away. I may have to brew this wheat version and compare. I used the standard ground up tea you would find in a tea bag, will have to see if I can find the actual flowers at the local whole foods store for next time.

 

[passedpawn]

I'm assuming that those chamomile flowers would need sterilization before being tossed in, right?

No, not if you toss them in the boil like I did.

 

[SudsyPaul]

Oh, I meant for dry-hopping with the flowers It's too late for me, now, since these are already fermenting away, so I'm looking to add a bit of a punch to them :|

 

[savannahbrew]

Can anyone tell me how long they left this one fermenting for? I thought the recipe in the book was a bit confusing on the suggested timeline. It says to allow to sit for 24 hours after fermentation is complete then to allow to cool and transfer to secondary for an additional 5 days. Im going to leave it in the primary for the duration and then bottle condition. Any suggestions on amount of time to leave in a primary only?