Poll: How Much Honey Malt in a Wheat Ale?

[Scooby_Brew]

I'm thinking of brewing some Honey Wheat for the hot days of summer, but I'm going back and forth on the amount of honey malt I need to use in it. I'm leaning somewhere between 4-12 oz. What do you guys think?

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

Batch size?

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

Grain Bill?

 

[bwomp313]

I made a honey wheat ale fairly recently and used 12 oz for a 5 gallon batch. Now it's a little overpowering on the honey but I think it's still very tasty. I'd go with 8 oz

 

[JLem]

My approach to honey malt is to think of it as a crystal/caramel malt. I know that technically it is not, but in terms of adding sweetness to the beer they are similar. So, if you are comfortable with 12 oz of crystal malt in your wheat ale, in terms of flavor, then add 12 oz of the honey malt. Personally, I think that would be too much and would shoot for the 4-8 oz range. Also, I try to keep the total honey+crystal malt in check - if I use honey malt I take out an equal amount of crystal from the recipe. I have had a bad experience where I used a fair amount of honey malt on top of an already fair amount of crystal and ended with an overly sweet beer.

 

[PorterIdontknowher]

Well... my naive brew was a wheat IPA with 2 lbs of honey malt... it is currently a pina colada beer between the Amarillo, the banana from the yeast and the bitter orange peel I added... but it was brewed about 3 weeks ago...

I figure a few weeks and it will blend and mellow, but it was only the second recipe I had ever put together on my own... so I'm allowed to make some weird mistakes...

I'll drink it over time... still... moderation is best...

 

[PorterIdontknowher]

Well... my naive brew was a wheat IPA with 2 lbs of honey malt... it is currently a pina colada beer between the Amarillo, the banana from the yeast and the bitter orange peel I added... but it was brewed about 3 weeks ago...

I figure a few weeks and it will blend and mellow, but it was only the second recipe I had ever put together on my own... so I'm allowed to make some weird mistakes...

I'll drink it over time... still... moderation is best...

And a few days later, the banana is starting to fade... still, 2 lbs of honey malt in a 5 gal batch is too much...

It isn't bad, but its like taking a grapefruit half, putting a little honey on it and breakfast is served...

 

[Scooby_Brew]

So I just brewed a batch of American Wheat with 6 oz. of honey malt and some Willamette hops. It turned up very nice, and the honey malt gave the beer sort of lager-like taste. So next time I'll brew the same beer but with some "lager" hops like Hallertau or Saaz instead. Two thumbs up for honey malt in American Wheat