White house beer

[hoppybrewster]

I am trying my version tonight. It is good. I taste honey up front then a malty sweet finish. Mild fruity hops flavor. I don't get any alcohol taste. It is a pretty heavy beer.

OG 1060
FG 1017

I used wildflower honey from a local bee keeper. The honey was awesome by itself.

I used caramel 60 for the "amber crystal malt."

It seems darker than the pictures from the video. iBrewmaster estimates 10 SRM which seems about right.

You describe my result to a "T". I thought I did something wrong. Lots of honey upfront, sweet, malty heavy finish. Not really fond of it. Gonna let it sit for a couple of months in the basement. What do you think?

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

What's so special about White House Beer?

 

[alestateyall]

You describe my result to a "T". I thought I did something wrong. Lots of honey upfront, sweet, malty heavy finish. Not really fond of it. Gonna let it sit for a couple of months in the basement. What do you think?

I think it's ok for what it is. Not too much to it really. But drinkable. It was fun to brew the same recipe as the white house. But I will go back to my usual styles now.

 

[Pappers_]

What's so special about White House Beer?

Within a person's lifespan, we have gone from Prohibition to the White House Chefs making handmade beer. I call that progress.

http://www.singingboysbrewing.com/White-House-Honey-Ale.html

 

[Pappers_]

You describe my result to a "T". I thought I did something wrong. Lots of honey upfront, sweet, malty heavy finish. Not really fond of it. Gonna let it sit for a couple of months in the basement. What do you think?

Here's my tasting notes http://www.singingboysbrewing.com/The-Blog.html?entry=white-house-honey-ale-tasting

A few weeks ago, we invited a group of friends over to brew a beer based on the White House Honey Ale recipe - you can see the recipe, view a White House video and read more about it here. Although it is still relatively young, tonight, I sat down with a glass and wrote down some tasting notes.

Aroma: Honey is prevalent, with jasmine and lavender elements, perfume-like; malt and hops aroma, if present, are overwhelmed by the honey.

Appearance: Deep copper with gold highlights; white head that dissipates and leaves good lacing; some haze, you can see through but it is not brillantly clear; it might be 'chill haze' which would go away if refrigerated for a few days.

Flavor: While the malt and hops were not apparent in the aroma, they do come through in the flavor; they are balanced, with good hop bitterness, as in a good English pale ale; honey flavor is also apparent, very pleasant, again with a lavender or jasmine element, not cloying; there is an underlying earthiness, which might be from either the honey or the English hops, or both.

Mouthfeel: Some alcohol warmth, but not fusel or 'hot'; medium bodied but with an easy-to-drink dryness to it.

Overall Impression: The honey-character of this beer is apparent from the first sniff and on through tasting; it gives the overall impression of an English pale ale but with significant honey aroma and flavor; it is dry and easy-to-drink, but the honey gives an impression of sweetness and fullness, which isn't really there.

 

[CGVT]

Overall Impression: The honey-character of this beer is apparent from the first sniff and on through tasting; it gives the overall impression of an English pale ale but with significant honey aroma and flavor; it is dry and easy-to-drink, but the honey gives an impression of sweetness and fullness, which isn't really there.

That is pretty much my impression of it, Pappers.

I made an all-gain version and I have it on tap. Mine is more of a golden color and is not near as clear as my other beers. I thought it might clear after it was in the keezer for a while, but that has not happened.

I have enjoyed it much more than I thought I would and will brew it again

Edit: And... I think it is really cool that they are brewing beer in the White House.

 

[alestateyall]

Here's my tasting notes http://www.singingboysbrewing.com/The-Blog.html?entry=white-house-honey-ale-tasting

A few weeks ago, we invited a group of friends over to brew a beer based on the White House Honey Ale recipe - you can see the recipe, view a White House video and read more about it here. Although it is still relatively young, tonight, I sat down with a glass and wrote down some tasting notes.

Aroma: Honey is prevalent, with jasmine and lavender elements, perfume-like; malt and hops aroma, if present, are overwhelmed by the honey.

Appearance: Deep copper with gold highlights; white head that dissipates and leaves good lacing; some haze, you can see through but it is not brillantly clear; it might be 'chill haze' which would go away if refrigerated for a few days.

Flavor: While the malt and hops were not apparent in the aroma, they do come through in the flavor; they are balanced, with good hop bitterness, as in a good English pale ale; honey flavor is also apparent, very pleasant, again with a lavender or jasmine element, not cloying; there is an underlying earthiness, which might be from either the honey or the English hops, or both.

Mouthfeel: Some alcohol warmth, but not fusel or 'hot'; medium bodied but with an easy-to-drink dryness to it.

Overall Impression: The honey-character of this beer is apparent from the first sniff and on through tasting; it gives the overall impression of an English pale ale but with significant honey aroma and flavor; it is dry and easy-to-drink, but the honey gives an impression of sweetness and fullness, which isn't really there.

The lavender and jasmine (or any specific flower smells/tastes) is what I don't get in my version. I know that will vary with the honey used but I had hoped for some of that in mine. Mine tastes and smells more like generic honey. I did get some flowery tastes in the raw honey I used but I don't think it translated to the beer.

I also wonder if I have some extract twang. This is the first extract beer I have brewed in a long time and it tastes like what I remember from extract beers.

But, I am not much of a beer judge.

 

[sweetcell]

What's so special about White House Beer?

1. it's from the white house.
2. it's become a communal experience, as 51 pages of comments here - and numerous other threads - illustrate.

the recipe itself is nothing life-shattering, although reviews have been generally positive.

 

[seatbelt123]

Here's my first pour. I'm happily surprised by this beer. How about that gorgeous head?!

I did the all grain recipe. It will definitely clear in a few days. As a CGVT mentioned above, this beer is characterized by two traits: It's an English ale with Honey. From the Maris Otter and British yeast you get nice bready/nutty and floral/estery notes. And from the honey, a unique aroma and flavor (and alcohol). If anything, my only criticism with this first pour is the elevated alcohol level for the given grain bill - not quite balanced (you might be fine with that, it's just not my preference).

A few quick notes about brewing and fermentation: I did this using my single vessel electric BIAB rig. Brewed this on 11/9 using Wyeast 1098 British Ale yeast (about a 1L stir plate starter). Fermented at about 65F (wort temp) in my fridge for 10 days, plus a few days of diacetyl rest at about 70. Crash cooled at about 34F for 4 days and kegged today.

I chose to brew this because I'm hosting 4 of favorite family member who LOVE Obama. They are going to drink a lot of this!

Cool project. Nice to see the community give it a shot.

Cheers!

 

[Starderup]

I ruined mine because I added WAY too much gypsum to the mash (3 TBS). Entirely my fault. Otherwise, this would have been a great beer. The excessive sulphates gave it a terrible phenolic taste. I had to dump it after drinking about half a gallon. I will definitely do this again, and use S-05 as before. This is an American beer, but I could see doing it English style like the President's staff did. They just don't understand the basics of beer styles, and it is to be expected of noobs.
My favorite part of the whole experience was seeing the picture of the President and a guy drinking a glass on the White House lawn. That guy was a Medal of Honor winner. How cool is that? It is time that our veterans get the recognition they have always deserved.

 

[alestateyall]

This is an American beer, but I could see doing it English style like the President's staff did. They just don't understand the basics of beer styles, and it is to be expected of noobs.

Styles are meant to be broken. I went another direction. I tried to reproduce their recipe exactly, including brewing the extract version. I wanted to drink the same beer as the President and the Medal of Honor winner.

 

[passedpawn]

My favorite part of the whole experience was seeing the picture of the President and a guy drinking a glass on the White House lawn. That guy was a Medal of Honor winner. How cool is that? It is time that our veterans get the recognition they have always deserved.

Hear hear.

I didn't vote for him, but nonetheless it would be an incredible honor to sit on that lawn and have a homebrew with the man. I can't even imagine it.

 

[CGVT]

I ruined mine because I added WAY too much gypsum to the mash (3 TBS). Entirely my fault. Otherwise, this would have been a great beer. The excessive sulphates gave it a terrible phenolic taste. I had to dump it after drinking about half a gallon. I will definitely do this again, and use S-05 as before. This is an American beer, but I could see doing it English style like the President's staff did. They just don't understand the basics of beer styles, and it is to be expected of noobs.
My favorite part of the whole experience was seeing the picture of the President and a guy drinking a glass on the White House lawn. That guy was a Medal of Honor winner. How cool is that? It is time that our veterans get the recognition they have always deserved.

I made it with S-04 and didn't add any gypsum. I didn't have the high alcohol level that seatbelt123 had. I used about 11 lbs of malt and a lb of honey for 5.2% abv. It turned out pretty tasty.

And I agree about the MOH recipient and the Prez.

 

[jerrodm]

I ruined mine because I added WAY too much gypsum to the mash (3 TBS). Entirely my fault. Otherwise, this would have been a great beer. The excessive sulphates gave it a terrible phenolic taste. I had to dump it after drinking about half a gallon. I will definitely do this again, and use S-05 as before. This is an American beer, but I could see doing it English style like the President's staff did. They just don't understand the basics of beer styles, and it is to be expected of noobs.
My favorite part of the whole experience was seeing the picture of the President and a guy drinking a glass on the White House lawn. That guy was a Medal of Honor winner. How cool is that? It is time that our veterans get the recognition they have always deserved.

Yes, I (and I suspect many others) "Americanized" the beer, using Am. 2-row instead of MO and US hop varieties (Cascade and Willamette) rather than British. I did use an English yeast (WLP007), just because it's my favorite ale yeast and I wanted to start with that as a benchmark, though I may try US-05 next time if I brew it again.

 

[Starderup]

Styles are meant to be broken. I went another direction. I tried to reproduce their recipe exactly, including brewing the extract version. I wanted to drink the same beer as the President and the Medal of Honor winner.

I definitely agree that styles should not be carved in stone. If I had done mine as an English, though (and that recipe IS English), I'd have called it that.
My all grain translation included All American ingredients. American 2-Row, American Hops, and American yeast.
I am a big fan of the English styles, too. I might try the exact recipe like keehar.

 

[breweringbeaz]

I'm reading a lot of reviews regarding the whitehouse honey ale-- has anyone brewed or tried the honey porter?

 

[nghtmre4u]

Would Tettnanger and Willamete hops work for this? I have plenty on hand

 

[jerrodm]

I'll be getting to the porter soon. Would have brewed it first but SWMBO wanted the lighter one. Have to keep her happy--she doesn't complain about all the money I spend, so I brew enough SWMBO-friendly beers to keep her supplied. Works out well.

 

[breweringbeaz]

I'll be getting to the porter soon. Would have brewed it first but SWMBO wanted the lighter one. Have to keep her happy--she doesn't complain about all the money I spend, so I brew enough SWMBO-friendly beers to keep her supplied. Works out well.

I understand that's why I have a pale ale fermenting vs a brown ale. But the honey porter is my next on deck beer I think.

 

[Ben_D]

I'm the one that misread the recipe and missed 3.3 pounds of malt and substituted it with 1.5 pounds of brown sugar. bottled today and i have no real complaints. the alcohol taste wasn't to bad it was overrun by some serious sweetness from the honey and brown sugar, not much malty taste to it however. I'll be back in a couple of weeks to give the final tasting notes. Thanks to those providing insight to my mistake.

 

[mtnagel]

I'm reading a lot of reviews regarding the whitehouse honey ale-- has anyone brewed or tried the honey porter?

Just bottled it last night (did both the ale and the porter) and it doesn't look like any porter I've ever seen. It's more brownish reddish than black like a porter. Tried both right before bottling and not a huge difference. The ale had more honey for sure. I will post reviews and pictures side by side in a couple weeks when I crack them open.

 

[breweringbeaz]

Just bottled it last night (did both the ale and the porter) and it doesn't look like any porter I've ever seen. It's more brownish reddish than black like a porter. Tried both right before bottling and not a huge difference. The ale had more honey for sure. I will post reviews and pictures side by side in a couple weeks when I crack them open.

Thank you awaiting the pic and review

 

[jpappilli]

Hey all. So I bottled my honey ale last night but before I did I did a taste test. There was a hint of honey but very bitter. Does this sound right to anyone?

 

[Brewskii]

Just finished the honey ale 30 min ago. Hit all my numbers on the mark. I've now got 5.5 gal at 1.068 sitting in the fermentation fridge. Made a 1L starter of Windsor and hit it with 2 min of O2 after pitch. So far-so good.
It was a good brew day over all but made some last min adjustments. Added all 1.5 oz Fuggles at 10 min and added the honey at flame out. I used beer smith to convert to a 5.5 gallon all-grain brew with 2row brewers malt as the base malt. Due to the full boil increased hop utilization I used only 1 oz of the EKG for bittering.
So far so good... Can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[bleme]

Hey all. So I bottled my honey ale last night but before I did I did a taste test. There was a hint of honey but very bitter. Does this sound right to anyone?

It sounds like you might have mixed up your hop additions. It is supposed to be a very mild beer.

 

[nmfree]

I'm reading a lot of reviews regarding the whitehouse honey ale-- has anyone brewed or tried the honey porter?

See signature. I was going to bottle it tomorrow, actually, but then More Beer put their bottle trees on sale, so now I'll wait for that to get in.

 

[cheesecake]

Im going to be ordering the northern brewer 1 gallon kits of the ale and porter.

 

[Brewskii]

Boy, Windsor is a sprinter, eh?

Hour 10 I had to hook up the blow off. I know it's not a very good attenuator, but it sure took off like a bat out of hell...

 

[OhReally]

I bottled my WH Ale on 11/11/12. I just cracked one open after letting it sit in the fridge for couple days, and I can't say I'm very pleased. And yes, I realize that at 3 weeks it can still be considered green, but it's got a bitter taste that my tongue can't reconcile. I think it might the gypsum. This is the first recipe I've done using gypsum, and I put the stated 2 tbsp. of it in. Having tasted this I now think that's too much for not only a partial boil (which I did), but perhaps also my local NoVA tapwater profile. (It was after this brew that I began experimenting with bottled water to improve tastes).

All in all, it's not particularly pleasant to drink. I'm half tempted to throw it all out, but then the rational part of me kicks in and says to keep it and check back on it in a few weeks. Only time will tell if it gets any better.

So much for blindly following a recipe...

Guess it's all part of the learning process, though.

 

[OhReally]

This is the first recipe I've done using gypsum, and I put the stated 2 tbsp. of it in.

EDIT: 2 tsp. The rest of it stands.