Need help for husbands Christmas gift

[Vkp23]

I'm new here and not really into alcohol myself but my husband fancies himself a beer expert/lover what have you, and likes fine liquors. Over the past year and a half he's been learning how to home brew beer. He's by no means an expert but is learning. He's said before he wanted to create some time a honey based beer recipe and call it honey badger. (Inside joke) He's also mentioned wanting to learn to still his own whiskey. (For person use of course). Anyway, I was searching for beer related gifts for him for Christmas. I came across personalized little oak barrels for aging and it got me thinking...it snowballed into a barrel personalized with "honey badger. Thomas the train" (a joke nickname he was given at work) a 64 oz growler personalized with "Fear the honey badger" a little home still a leather bound recipe journal I will print and paste a simple honey whisky recipe in the first page, whiskey yeast and our girls (11 and 7) picked out a home brew beer kit for him from the home brew shop in town. I was also going to try and go to the local botanical gardens and get the gallon of local honey he would need to make his first batch. But I was trying to come up with ideas of suggestions of things he could try adding to it to make it his own but I have no clue where to start with that sort of thing. I was hoping some home brew experts could help me with ideas to write down in the recipe journal. Any help would be welcome. 😊 Sorry to be so long winded. Lol.

 

[ThomasPaine]

A wheat beer with honey and coriander, orange peel and other spices would be something to research. A Blue Moon clone extract recipe would be something to google. You shouldn't need a gallon of Honey for a five gallon batch, just a pint will do. As for distilling, I think a corn, wheat, or rye mash would be best to distill and then he would add honey to the barrel for aging. You need to make sure you get a barrel for aging and not just serving.

 

[ThomasPaine]

Oh, a honey "based" beer would be a mead, and I personally don't care for them. If he were to add maybe a half gallon of honey to a regular beer, it would really stand out but maybe not so good.

 

[jmcquesten]

A wheat beer with honey and coriander, orange peel and other spices would be something to research. A Blue Moon clone extract recipe would be something to google. You shouldn't need a gallon of Honey for a five gallon batch, just a pint will do. As for distilling, I think a corn, wheat, or rye mash would be best to distill and then he would add honey to the barrel for aging. You need to make sure you get a barrel for aging and not just serving.

Don't think you can talk about the "D" word here, just brewing.

 

[m00ps]

barrel aging may be a bit too big of a step for a fledgling homebrewer....I might get him some nice equipment

 

[Mismost]

Years ago I quit trying to figure out what to get loved ones for Christmas. I just buy a stack of Gift Certificates and let them have the fun of shopping for whatever their little pea picking hearts desire. My "shopping" takes one hour and everybody always likes their gifts and nobody ever returns or exchanges them. The Visa gift cards are taken just about every where.

Just a thought.

 

[ThomasPaine]

Don't think you can talk about the "D" word here, just brewing.

Oh thanks, I didn't know that.