White house beer

[DaBills]

Mashed a little lower in order to get a drier final beer - and the result has been very popular. Its an easy drinking English Pale Ale with nice honey aroma.

I mashed at 155. Pappers what do you think about ramping up the temp to 67.5 in 3 days? Would it help the beer or is it better to just leave it as it is.

 

[edds5p0]

Well my OG was 1.066. How does this compare with what you all are getting? What kind of FG can I expect? Pitched the Windsor Ale yeast last night and it started bubbling this afternoon. Can't wait to try this stuff.

My oG was 1.064, but I estimated the pitch temp, so it could be a little higher or lower. I also let it spend the first 3 days in the garage in the mid fifties in an attempt to control ester production. I'll be moving it in tonight to finish up.

 

[DaBills]

My oG was 1.064, but I estimated the pitch temp, so it could be a little higher or lower. I also let it spend the first 3 days in the garage in the mid fifties in an attempt to control ester production. I'll be moving it in tonight to finish up.

What was your final gravity? Unless it's still fermenting. If it's done how did it turn out how do you like it?

Edit: Whoops should have read more carefully.

 

[Pappers_]

I mashed at 155. Pappers what do you think about ramping up the temp to 67.5 in 3 days? Would it help the beer or is it better to just leave it as it is.

I sometimes will raise the temp towards the end of fermentation, but usually later than 3 days. 5 or 7dsyd. Whether that's optimal, I don't know, but my thought is that I'm helping the yeast in their clean up phase.

 

[edds5p0]

What was your final gravity? Unless it's still fermenting. If it's done how did it turn out how do you like it?

I'm still fermenting, I just moved the fermenter into the house to let it it start warming up after 3 days at lager temp. The airlock slowed way down and I want to keep it from stalling out too early. I suspect that with the pound of honey we should still get decent attenuation with the Windsor yeast. I'll be happy to see it finish between 1.008 and 1.018. It seems like every beer I make with added sugar, I get freakishly high attenuation. That's great for some styles, but I would like to see a bit of residual sweetness with this ale. Hopefully, this notoriously low attenuating yeast will deliver.

 

[DaBills]

Nice. Yeah I've never brewed with honey and I hope that flavor comes through. I'm hoping for low to mid teens.

 

[cwdrake]

I can vouch for Pappers' version. Sampled his last week. Very tasty brew!

 

[Pappers_]

I can vouch for Pappers' version. Sampled his last week. Very tasty brew!

Hey thanks, glad you liked it. I love sharing beer!

 

[sweetcell]

Wort temp is 62.8 I just checked it. good?

rockin'. pretty much perfect for this yeast. as mentioned above, after 3-4 days you should start to ramp it up, maybe hit 68-70, to get it to attenuate fully.

 

[bleme]

Yeast rafts, if that is what you are seeing, are normal. No 2 beers will ever ferment the same, even if you use the same recipe.

It is very doubtful that you got an infection from honey. Honey is a natural preservative. Jars of honey have been found in 3000 year old Egyptian tombs and they were still good.

 

[axacrusis]

I agree with giving it more time to see what you are dealing with. It's probably yeast rafts that will eventually fall back into beer or stay floating. If you notice a white film or pellicle forming a layer on top of your beer it is most infection. Even so don't worry your beer is not destroyed, still bottle and drink its perfectly safe. Nothing that lives in beer can harm you. Good luck!

 

[TopherM]

Here's what yeast rafts look like. Is this basically what you're seeing?

 

[MtnHiBrewin]

I tried a White House Honey Porter tonight after work. It tastes good. It's malty and sweet and very clear and pretty. I brewed it on October 7, added the honey at flameout, and left it in the primary the whole time since I was away for a while. I bottled it on October 26. I live in the mountains and we got a snowstorm the 29th and lost power for a week (thanks alot, Sandy). I wasn't sure it would carbonate because it cooled significantly, but it seems fine. I expect it will be really good by inauguration time (if there's any left).My OG was 1.055, FG 1.006, making it 6.4% ABV.

 

[casey914]

Tapped mine on tuesday(3 weeks from brewday) and I do have to say that it was still a little green. Tried some more last night and most of the harshness is gone. Thinking that by sunday it will be pretty ideal. Looking forward to it.

MtnHiBrewin, yours finished much lower than mine, Started at 1.062 and finished at 1.013.

 

[MtnHiBrewin]

casey914, your OG and FG were both higher. You may have more unfermentable dextrins than me (better for body and head retention). Our ABV is the same, though, at 6.4%.

 

[andrewmcd11]

Wondering how my WH Honey Ale is going to turn out...

I added 1/2 lb of honey at flameout. OG was 1.062. Primary for 12 days.

Added 1/2 lb of honey in secondary. Secondary for 14 days.

FG was 1.022 when I bottled. (It was only my second batch and didn't think much of it at the time since it was a different style than my first beer. I figured it was done fermenting after almost a month.)

Will my beer be OK?

Q: What is the consequence of bottling at a high FG?

 

[jtejedor]

Exploding bottles.

 

[Pappers_]

Wondering how my WH Honey Ale is going to turn out...

I added 1/2 lb of honey at flameout. OG was 1.062. Primary for 12 days.

Added 1/2 lb of honey in secondary. Secondary for 14 days.

FG was 1.022 when I bottled. (It was only my second batch and didn't think much of it at the time since it was a different style than my first beer. I figured it was done fermenting after almost a month.)

Will my beer be OK?

Q: What is the consequence of bottling at a high FG?

If the FG is high but fermentation is complete, then the consequence is you will have a beer with a heavier mouthfeel and more perceived sweetness.

If the FG is high and fermentation is incomplete, you may have exploding bottles, as the fermentation completes inside your bottles.

Since you added honey in the secondary, it could be that your fermentation is incomplete, but there's no way to know for sure now. If you are ever unsure whether fermentation is complete, you can check your gravity for a few days in row - if the gravity is steady, doesn't go down, then you know fermentation is done and its safe to bottle. If gravity decreases over those few days, the you know fermentation is still active and you need to wait to bottle.

For now, you can keep the bottles in a case inside a plastic trash bag, incase you get any bottle bombs.

 

[andrewmcd11]

If the FG is high but fermentation is complete, then the consequence is you will have a beer with a heavier mouthfeel and more perceived sweetness.

If the FG is high and fermentation is incomplete, you may have exploding bottles, as the fermentation completes inside your bottles.

Since you added honey in the secondary, it could be that your fermentation is incomplete, but there's no way to know for sure now. If you are ever unsure whether fermentation is complete, you can check your gravity for a few days in row - if the gravity is steady, doesn't go down, then you know fermentation is done and its safe to bottle. If gravity decreases over those few days, the you know fermentation is still active and you need to wait to bottle.

For now, you can keep the bottles in a case inside a plastic trash bag, incase you get any bottle bombs.

I opened one last night (after seven days of bottling) and was okay. Not fully carbonated, still pretty green.

Will there be any signs to look for if fermentation is not complete? (besides exploding bottles.) like over carbonation? beer gushing out of opened bottled?

 

[Pappers_]

I opened one last night (after seven days of bottling) and was okay. Not fully carbonated, still pretty green.

Will there be any signs to look for if fermentation is not complete? (besides exploding bottles.) like over carbonation? beer gushing out of opened bottled?

Yes, the bottles will be overcarbonated before they explode. If you find that, you can open the bottles, let some pressure escape, then recap.

 

[andrewmcd11]

Yes, the bottles will be overcarbonated before they explode. If you find that, you can open the bottles, let some pressure escape, then recap.

Thanks!
Tried another beer tonight and all was well. Hoping for good things.

 

[Chriso]

Kicked the keg! I will have to make another batch of Honey Porter with fresher honey this time.

 

[OhReally]

Finally bottled the Honey Ale today. Here's the story:

Brew day: 10/21
Bottling day: 11/11
OG: 1.070
FG: 1.015
ABV: 7.2%

OG was a little higher than others because I had an extra 1.15 oz. of DME laying around that I wanted to use up. Did three weeks in the primary, then straight to bottle. Honey flavors are noticeable, but balanced. Still green obviously, but can't wait to see how this matures in the next 10 weeks. That should be plenty of time before inauguration day.

Cheers!

_______________________________________
Primary: Ex-Pat 1800 English IPA (try #2)
Secondary: Nae Foolish Wee Heavy
Bottled: Belgian Honey Wit, White House Honey Ale, Devil's Milk
Drinking: India Black Ale, Nefarious Blonde, Pumpkin Spice Porter, Ex-Pat 1800 English IPA,

 

[sweetcell]

OG was a little higher than others because I had an extra 1.15 oz. of DME laying around that I wanted to use up.

1.15 oz of DME would add about 0.001 to a 5 gallon batch, so unless you brewed a much smaller batch the reason for your high OG lies elsewhere.

did you mean pound instead of oz?

 

[OhReally]

1.15 oz of DME would add about 0.001 to a 5 gallon batch, so unless you brewed a much smaller batch the reason for your high OG lies elsewhere.

did you mean pound instead of oz?

No, it was 1.15 oz. But now that you point it out, it seems obvious that that small of an amount wouldn't raise it to 70. D'oh! That's my noobiness talking.

Possibility 1: I do partial boils (starting with 2.5 gal. for steeping grains), and then top up in the primary to get to 5 gallons. Do partial boils affect it?

Possibility 2: I usually take the reading, prior to pitching yeast, directly in the primary (until last week, when I got a beer thief and can properly utilize the hydrometer test jar). The wort at this point is usually between 70-75 degrees, so failing to adjust for this temperature could be the cause. Would this be a likely candidate?

The only other thing I can think of is that I used White Labs 005 instead of Windsor yeast, and used crystal 40L where they call for "amber crystal malt" (which I found out later supposedly means 60L), but I can't see how these would be it.

Thanks! Cheers

 

[superfknmario]

Just wanted to let I guys know that my version came out great. The only big difference was that I added another lb of honey after one week. The beer tastes a little sweet, but very good and quite strong! Great stuff!

 

[sweetcell]

Possibility 1: I do partial boils (starting with 2.5 gal. for steeping grains), and then top up in the primary to get to 5 gallons. Do partial boils affect it?

Possibility 2: I usually take the reading, prior to pitching yeast, directly in the primary (until last week, when I got a beer thief and can properly utilize the hydrometer test jar). The wort at this point is usually between 70-75 degrees, so failing to adjust for this temperature could be the cause. Would this be a likely candidate?

possibility #1 is your most likely explanation. when doing a partial boil and then topping up, it is difficult to get the sweet sugar-water and the plain water to mix properly. getting a higher than expected gravity reading is quite common because you pull for the denser, sugar-ier water (Revvy has a good post to this effect, maybe he'll swoop in with the goods).

if you are using extract, it's really really hard to miss your numbers. X amount of extract + Y amount of water will always yield Z gravity. you can change Z by length of boil (i.e. removing water) and a few other little tweaks, but you can bank on being within 2-3 points of expected OG. crystal malts are pretty dependable too, you're just soaking out the sugars.

 

[SteelCityBrewery]

Looking to brew a ten gallon batch of this for x-mas time. When should I get started? Mind you, I am still new to All Grain and have only brewed a few IPA's but I had a bottle of this from my buddy's extract Northern Brewer kit... Delicious.

 

[colincbn]

Hi All,

I will be making the White House Honey Ale as an all grain soon, but I can't really get Amber malt where I am (Japan). I am having some biscuit malt sent from the states soon, so I have that covered, but I was hoping to use ingredients that I can buy here for the rest of it.

The original recipe (extract) is:

INGREDIENTS
2 (3.3 lb) cans light malt extract
1 lb light dried malt extract
12 oz crushed amber crystal malt
8 oz Biscuit Malt
1 lb White House Honey
1 ½ oz Kent Goldings Hop Pellets
1 ½ oz Fuggles Hop pellets
2 tsp gypsum
1 pkg Windsor dry ale yeast
¾ cup corn sugar for priming

But the Northern Brewer extract kit comes with:

SPECIALTY GRAIN
- 0.75 lbs English Medium Crystal Malt (according to their website this is 50-60° L)
- 0.5 lbs Belgian Biscuit Mal

So my problem is that I can't get "English Medium Crystal Malt" nor "amber crystal malt" here.

I can get Crystal 15/40/60 though. Some people have said that the best sub for Amber is biscuit/victory, but since the recipe calls for that already I think using it would make a fairly one dimensional beer.

I am currently just planning on using crystal 40° or 60° but I wanted to see what other people thought before making the decision.

Here is what I am thinking right now:

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name
2.00 tsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 45.0 mins)
3.40 kg Maris Otter (Crisp) (7.9 EBC)
0.34 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC)
0.23 kg Biscuit Malt (45.3 EBC)
42.0 g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 45.0
42.0 g Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04)
0.45 kg Honey



Any ideas?

For reference the only kinds of grain I can get are:

2-row
Pilsner
Munich Malt
Vienna Malt
Maris Otter Pale Malt (this is my standard base malt)
Crisp Malting Pale Ale Malt
Wheat Malt
WEYERMANN Smoked Malt
Crystal 15/40/60/75/150
CaraRed
Munton's Chocolate Malt
Black Malt
Roasted Barley
Flaked Barley
Flaked Oats
Flaked Rye
Rice Hulls

This is a complete list. Every single recipe I make has to use these grains exclusively, unless I want to pay to have it shipped internationally.

 

[Soup4you2]

I was thinking of trying:

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 5.70 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.20 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.065 SG
Estimated Color: 10.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 36.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 72.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
11 lbs 1.2 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 88.7 %
13.5 oz Crystal Malt - 60L (Thomas Fawcett) (60. Grain 2 6.8 %
9.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.5 %
1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 45.0 Hop 4 24.5 IBUs
1.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 11.9 IBUs
1.00 lb Honey (Boil 5.0 mins) Other 6 -
1.0 pkg Windsor Yeast (Lallemand #-) [23.66 ml] Yeast 7 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 7.7 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 15.60 qt of water at 168.6 F 150.0 F 75 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 3.30 gal water at 168.0 F


However i felt the recipe kit i tried out from NB needed more of a honey character added to it. It was present, just not as distinct as i would like. So next time around i think i might add in an extra 8-10oz of Honey Malt.