Hoppin' Bull 3-Hop Honey Amber Ale

[BigDaveBrewing]

So, this will be the first recipe I have conjured up on my own. I wanted to do something a little different and I need all you nice experienced brewers opinions on how this might turn out. I'm going to take a honey amber and hop it up pretty good. I don't have a lot of good experience with different ingredients. However, here is what I plan to use:

For fermentables:
Amber Malt Extract
Gambrinus Honey Malt Grain
Bries Caracrystal Wheat Malt Grain
Clover Honey
*I plan to steep the grains and then add the extract at the start of the boil, honey at the end.

For Hops:
Apollo at the start of the boil (For a lot of bittering)
Cascade in the middle
Citra toward the end

For Spices:
Sweet Orange Peel
Seeds of Paradise
*Both added in the last 5 minutes or so.

For my yeast:
Either California WLP001 or East Coast WLP 008. Maybe combine the two?

The batch will be 5.5 gallons and I'm looking for an OG of around 1.070.

Any questions, comments, opinions or concerns are welcome!

 

[ChelisHubby]

I am a beginner also, But you might want to put the amounts of everything if you want advise.

 

[BigDaveBrewing]

Alright, Here are the amounts and the boil schedule that I have worked out so far.:

6 lbs. Amber Malt liquid Extract
2 lbs. Gambrinus Honey Malt Grain
2 lbs. Bries Caracrystal Wheat Malt Grain

o 75-0: Add .5 oz. Apollo Hops
o 60-0: Add .5 oz. Apollo Hops
o 45-0: Add .5 oz. Cascade Hops
o 30-0: Add .5 oz. Cascade Hops,
o 15-0: Add .5 oz. Citra Hops
o 05-0: Add 2 lbs. Honey, 1 oz. Sweet Orange Peel
o 02-0: ¼ tsp. Paradise Seed
o 00-0: Add .5 oz. Citra Hops

I also plan to use a yeast nutrient and clarifying foam.

 

[NathPowe]

I'd move the both of the current cascade additions to flameout. Enjoy the brew.

Cheers.

 

[BigDaveBrewing]

I wanted to hop it continuously for some reason. I felt like that would give it a more full happiness. But again, I don't have much experience. I see that a lot of people add honey after the primary fermentation as well. Is that something I should probably consider to get a good honey flavor going?

 

[wingedcoyote]

Assuming that's a five-gallon batch, two pounds is a looooot of honey malt. I haven't used it personally, but I think everyone who has says that it's very strongly flavored and even a pound would be risky. Especially since you have crystal in there too.

 

[NathPowe]

Yeah I missed the grain bill some how. 2lbs honey malt seems like way too much. Same for the crystal. You might want to just use 1/2 a pound of each and make up the lost gravity with light extract or 2-row.

 

[BigDaveBrewing]

Thanks guys. I will cut back on the caracrystal and the honey malt. I have a lb. of Ashburne and a lb. of castle on hand. would either of those be a good mild replacement?

I'm shooting for 5.5 gallons here. I have a 6.5 gal carboy, and I like to use the extra space.

 

[BigDaveBrewing]

Alright so here is how this ended up:

• 6.3 lbs. Maillard Malts Amber Malt (Extract Syrup)
• 8 oz. Maillard Malts Gambrinus Honey Malt (Grain Crush)
• 8 oz. Maillard Malts Bries Caracrystal Wheat Malt (Grain Crush)

o 90-75: “Hot Break”
o 75-00: Add .5 oz. Apollo Hops
o 60-00: Add .5 oz. Apollo Hops
o 45-00: Add .5 oz. Cascade Hops
o 30-00: Add .5 oz. Cascade Hops,
o 15-00: Add .5 oz. Citra Hops
o 05-00: Add 1 oz. Sweet Orange Peel
o 02-00: ¼ tsp. Paradise Seed
o 00-00: Add .5 oz. Citra Hops, 2 lbs. Honey

I tried it a month after bottling and it was really good but a little harsh. After 3 months it is amazing! the hops have mellowed out nicely and the honey malt really shines through. Turned out quite darker than I expected but head retention was excellent.

 

[BigDaveBrewing]

Calling it an "India Amber Ale" for lack of a better description. I am in the process of converting this recipe to all-grain. This is what I tried this weekend:

9 lbs. US 2 row
1 lb. Caramel 20L
1 lb. Caramel 40L
1 lb. Caramel 80L
8 oz. Honey Malt
8 oz. Caracrystal Wheat

Mashed at 154F for 1 hour.

Almost the same boil schedule except I had to substitute Horizon hops for the Apollo. And I switched the Citra around with the Cascade.

o 90-00: Add .5 oz. Horizon Hops
o 75-00: Add .5 oz. Horizon Hops
o 60-00: Add .5 oz. Citra Hops
o 45-00: Add .5 oz. Citra Hops
o 30-00: Add .5 oz. Cascade Hops,
o 15-00: Add .5 oz. Cascade Hops
o 05-00: Add 1 oz. Sweet Orange Peel, 2 lbs. Honey
o 02-00: ¼ tsp. Paradise Seed
o 00-00: Add .5 oz. Cascade Hops

Let me know what you guys think!