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

[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?

 

[Mojzis]

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?

When its finished

Use a hydrometer to take readings. Myself I usually take a reading after 2 weeks. I bottle at 3 weeks usually. But again I take readings so I know when its done.

Readings should be done in succession. Take 2 readings 2-3 days apart after fermentation seems to be over. If the readings are the same, you can bottle. *Only if you don't have any stuck fermentation issues.

 

[GMJager]

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

Was this for a 5gal BIAB?

 

[Sshamash]

Considering making this in a few weeks. (all grain--5 gallon)

I have not had great experience with honey flavor coming from a flameout addition, what are the thoughts on adding .5# honey malt (and dropping down .5# of wheat) and adding 1# of honey shortly after high krausen?

Also, what is the use of the flour? I have never seen that present in a recipe.

Cheers,
Saul

 

[Mojzis]

The honey comes through great as the recipe is shown. I wouldn't change it.

The flour is to give the beer permanent haze as it is a wheat beer. Since you're not using hefe or wit yeast it tends to clear after a while.

 

[passedpawn]

Also, what is the use of the flour? I have never seen that present in a recipe.

I added flour to ensure it was cloudy. I didn't want this beer to end up clear, and I heard this trick on some podcast a while back. It definately ended up with a nice golden haze.

 

[TechMiller]

I ended up brewing this awhile back, I didn't use the flour, and added a touch more hops, and a very small aroma addition at flameout.

I like it quite a bit, however I think the next batch I am going to go with a little bit of honey malt, and a little less chamomile.

I am planning on doing this batch tomorrow, and will let you know how it turns out!

 

[The Soft Underbelly]

I brewed a partial mash version of the recipe on Saturday -

3.5 # of two row
2 # of wheat
2 # of Wheat DME @ 15 min
1.5 # if Honey @ 5 min

1 oz Vanguard (5.4%AA) @ 60 min
2 oz Chamomile @ 60 min

Re-hydrated Safeale-05

I completely blew the mashing by hitting the low to mid 160's so god know what this'll taste like, or how much sugar I extracted, but the smell of this thing was AMAZING!

Since I screwed up early in the process by mashing too hot I didn't take readings - maybe get a gravity reading when I bottle just to see how low it gets. Either way, I'm stoked to taste this. It was bubbling like a fiend all day yesterday and barely slowed this morning.

 

[BigRedHopHead]

Just tapped the keg. Made it as is no modifications and it is fantastic!! Balance is great, chamomole is spot on IMO. Can definitely taste the honey and has a sweet finish even though FG was 1.010. Outstanding recipe! Winner winner chicken dinner!

 

[passedpawn]

Just tapped the keg. Made it as is no modifications and it is fantastic!! Balance is great, chamomole is spot on IMO. Can definitely taste the honey and has a sweet finish even though FG was 1.010. Outstanding recipe! Winner winner chicken dinner!

Great! Those are the words I used to describe it too. How about a pic of your creation.

 

[Bradinator]

I was inspired by this recipe and made a similar brew which turned out fantastic. I have to agree with everyone else, that honey really stands out in this beer. It finished out at 1.010 and surprisingly it is still a very prominent flavour. The chamomile and honey work wonders together.