White house beer

[sweetcell]

Do you think it would be worth it to brew something complimentary and blend them? I've done that in the past with pretty good results. I've actually got a spiced Christmas Ale right now that I'm not too happy with--it ended up WAY over spiced for some reason, and I'm thinking about doing that. In your case, you could brew a big malty amber ale, or something like that, and blend the two together to make a better beer.

Whisky makers do it all the time, why shouldn't we?

not a bad idea. i'd brew something with an above-average amount of specialty malts, like a third of the total malt bill being a some sort of mix of biscuit, melanoidin, aromatic, C-120, etc. also consider using munich-based extract. the resulting beer should be very malty, rather sweet and of relatively lower alcohol for the amount of grains & extract you've added.

 

[Ben_D]

Great idea to mix it up with something complimentary however it is all in bottles. I think I will simpley need to finish drinking the rest, or possibley use it to cook with, to help me learn my lesson on reading recipes. this was batch 11 out of 12 for me. I have only had 2 botched batches out of 12 so far so my track record is still good. I did a strong brown ale that had the same 6 pound malt bill that was really great and just slightly different than the white house version. I was just at the start of my grain steeping when I noticed my mistake. Would there have been a better solution than to franticly grab the brown sugar? could i have paused the steeping to go to the store and grab my malt?

 

[Brewskii]

Just bottled today. 1.069 OG down to 1.018 FG. Today is day 14. I cold crashed it and gave it 3 days.

Man, Windsor is a weird yeast.....after the crash I had 1/2 of the Carboy crystal clear and the other half looked like Orange juice.

 

[mtnagel]

Here is a picture of my White House honey ale next to the White House honey porter.

I brewed these from the extract kits from Northern Brewer on 10/31/12. Left in primary for 4 weeks and bottled on 11/28/12. Left to carbonate until I put a few bottles of each in the fridge this weekend.

Overall, they are both okay beers. A honey ale isn't something I would normally drink or brew, but a friend requested some, so I figured why not. It's a bit hoppier than I was expecting, which is a good thing. I can taste the honey, but I probably wouldn't have called it honey if I didn't know it was added (I don't normally drink or eat honey).

As for the honey porter, I wish it was more porter like. It doesn't even look like a porter. Funny story about that from brew day. We brewed 5 gal of the ale and 10 gal of the porter. We got the wort cooled a bit, but wanted to grab some dinner as it was getting late, so we split them up in the buckets before running out to dinner and figured I'd pitch the yeast after coming back from dinner after it cooled all the way down. Well we come back and I had 3 unlabeled buckets I assumed based on the position of the buckets what was what, but they used different yeast, so I wanted to make sure. So I took out a sample of all three. They all looked the same. We tasted them and I was shocked that they weren't that different. But I did pick out the one that I assumed was the ale as the different one, so I pitched the different yeasts based on that.

 

[sweetcell]

that honey ale looks really dark... weird. should be more of an amber based on other folk's pix.

 

[emjay]

Yep. And contrary to his post, that porter certainly does look like a porter to me.

 

[DaBills]

Mtnagel mine was just as dark. I didn't care for it all that much but it was ok. I didn't do a full boil maybe that's why it was so dark?

 

[emjay]

Mtnagel mine was just as dark. I didn't care for it all that much but it was ok. I didn't do a full boil maybe that's why it was so dark?

Could definitely contribute, especially with extract.

Other possible factors are using older extract (particularly liquid extract, in this case) and adding all the extract early during the boil, rather than waiting to add most or all of the extract near the end of the boil.

 

[jerrodm]

Here is a picture of my White House honey ale next to the White House honey porter.

I brewed these from the extract kits from Northern Brewer on 10/31/12. Left in primary for 4 weeks and bottled on 11/28/12. Left to carbonate until I put a few bottles of each in the fridge this weekend.

Overall, they are both okay beers. A honey ale isn't something I would normally drink or brew, but a friend requested some, so I figured why not. It's a bit hoppier than I was expecting, which is a good thing. I can taste the honey, but I probably wouldn't have called it honey if I didn't know it was added (I don't normally drink or eat honey).

As for the honey porter, I wish it was more porter like. It doesn't even look like a porter. Funny story about that from brew day. We brewed 5 gal of the ale and 10 gal of the porter. We got the wort cooled a bit, but wanted to grab some dinner as it was getting late, so we split them up in the buckets before running out to dinner and figured I'd pitch the yeast after coming back from dinner after it cooled all the way down. Well we come back and I had 3 unlabeled buckets I assumed based on the position of the buckets what was what, but they used different yeast, so I wanted to make sure. So I took out a sample of all three. They all looked the same. We tasted them and I was shocked that they weren't that different. But I did pick out the one that I assumed was the ale as the different one, so I pitched the different yeasts based on that.

Are you sure you didn't make the same beer twice? Those look pretty much identical to me. Do they taste the same?

 

[mtnagel]

that honey ale looks really dark... weird. should be more of an amber based on other folk's pix.

Mtnagel mine was just as dark. I didn't care for it all that much but it was ok. I didn't do a full boil maybe that's why it was so dark?

Could definitely contribute, especially with extract.

Other possible factors are using older extract (particularly liquid extract, in this case) and adding all the extract early during the boil, rather than waiting to add most or all of the extract near the end of the boil.

More details:

I followed the NB recipe with:

Full boil (maybe had to add half gallon top up at the end).
Added 2 oz hops instead of 1.5 oz to increase bitterness.
Used yeast starter.

 

[mtnagel]

Are you sure you didn't make the same beer twice? Those look pretty much identical to me. Do they taste the same?

No, the definitely taste different. The ale is sweeter, thicker and more bitter. The worts did taste similar though.

 

[sweetcell]

The ale is sweeter, thicker and more bitter.

well that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me... the porter should have been thicker and more bitter, IMO.

 

[mtnagel]

well that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me... the porter should have been thicker and more bitter, IMO.

I think the honey in the ale made it feel thicker to me (thicker might not even be the right descriptor).

And as I said, I also bumped up the hops in the ale and did a full boil on that (boil 6 gal for 5 gal batch) and did a partial for the porter (boil 7 gal for 10 gal batch). So the IBU calculators are saying the ale will be more bitter.

 

[Pappers_]

I think the honey in the ale made it feel thicker to me (thicker might not even be the right descriptor).

And as I said, I also bumped up the hops in the ale and did a full boil on that (boil 6 gal for 5 gal batch) and did a partial for the porter (boil 7 gal for 10 gal batch). So the IBU calculators are saying the ale will be more bitter.

The photo is puzzling - your honey ale, which is like an English Pale Ale with honey, should be significantly lighter than your porter. I didn't follow what you were saying about your brew day.

Also, honey ferments out fully, makes your beer drier, and usually a 'thicker' mouthfeel is associated with a higher final gravity, not a lower one.

 

[mrduna01]

So i read like 30 something pages and did not see what I was looking for other than some debate as to whether or not to add the honey at start of boil. I just bought the northern brewer version of the porter and it suggest adding the whole pound of honey at start of boil. Does everyone think this will be OK? I want a hint of honey but not overpowering and not unnoticeable. Anyone got any suggestions? Is this decided on any particular page?

 

[Qhrumphf]

So i read like 30 something pages and did not see what I was looking for other than some debate as to whether or not to add the honey at start of boil. I just bought the northern brewer version of the porter and it suggest adding the whole pound of honey at start of boil. Does everyone think this will be OK? I want a hint of honey but not overpowering and not unnoticeable. Anyone got any suggestions? Is this decided on any particular page?

Common knowledge says boiling honey kills flavor and aroma. Some stuff I've read has disagreed and says while it alters and subdues, it doesn't entirely eliminate (but this is also in the context of mead). So if you boil it the whole time, you're basically just adding expensive sugar. Either add it at the VERY end of the boil, at flameout, or after it's already chilled. I add mine after flameout, generally when it's at about 180-190, just for pasteurization purposes.

 

[emjay]

Common knowledge says boiling honey kills flavor and aroma. Some stuff I've read has disagreed and says while it alters and subdues, it doesn't entirely eliminate (but this is also in the context of mead). So if you boil it the whole time, you're basically just adding expensive sugar. Either add it at the VERY end of the boil, at flameout, or after it's already chilled. I add mine after flameout, generally when it's at about 180-190, just for pasteurization purposes.

I would recommend adding it at none of those times. The CO2 produced during fermentation can also scrub out much of the delicate flavor and aroma, so after the primary fermentation is already done is definitely the best time. The relatively aseptic nature of honey and the yeast and alcohol that's already present in the beer seem to take care of any potential infections.

With mead, you don't have the benefit of alcohol and a ton of yeast already being present, so if you're still concerned about bacteria and wild yeast, you can just do what we do for mead and add some campden to inhibit them. Honey is amazingly flavorful but delicate stuff, and it's such a shame to lose some of its character doing things you don't have to.

 

[seatbelt123]

Either add it at the VERY end of the boil, at flameout, or after it's already chilled. I add mine after flameout, generally when it's at about 180-190, just for pasteurization purposes.

I added it at flame out... You can absolutely identify the presence of honey in the beer, both in taste and aroma. Regarding the taste, it is NOT like honey malt - it is not sweet. My bet is that a longer boil would reduce its presence in the finished product.

 

[Brewskii]

I too, added honey at flame out and I can say that the honey is noticeable in my beer. It is still subtle and if you didn't know it was there, you might miss it. Once you know it's there there's no denying it.
The beer is sweet -blame this on Windsor ... A notorious poor attenuator. The honey flavor is deceptively boosted by the combination of this sweetness and the Toasted Buiscuity flavor of the Amber malt.

I think it's a very good honey ale. It has enough without being blow-your-head-off or fake.

 

[MicheleE63]

I made the Honey Ale back in September and it has really gotten good over the last couple weeks. At first I didn't like it very much, but it has gotten really smooth and tasty as time goes on. I added the honey at flameout and it's there, but not overpowering. Definitely not a sweet beer, and I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[techbrewie]

Yeah I know kinda sad isn't it. Beer is beer is beer, no added politics necessary.

For me it isn't about the politics so much. If Obama was an avid home brewer and didn't make a big deal out of it that would be pretty sweet. But it seems more like using something i love as a political stunt to make me feel like he's an average Joe. From the right or the left i just don't like being manipulated. To be fair every politician does it, but i still don't like it.

On the positive side It's awesome to see the hobby get some serious publicity. How many new brewers probably started because Obama did it? And anything that helps grow the industry can only mean good things for us :-D

Cheers!

 

[chicken]

I made the Honey Ale back in September and it has really gotten good over the last couple weeks. At first I didn't like it very much, but it has gotten really smooth and tasty as time goes on. I added the honey at flameout and it's there, but not overpowering. Definitely not a sweet beer, and I'm pretty happy with it.

I got impatient and tried it after only two weeks in the bottle, and I wasn't too thrilled. Hopefully mine will also get better in time.

 

[RobertRGeorge]

For me it isn't about the politics so much. If Obama was an avid home brewer and didn't make a big deal out of it that would be pretty sweet. But it seems more like using something i love as a political stunt to make me feel like he's an average Joe.

I don't see it that way. I don't see him making a big deal about it. I don't see him holding up his beer at a press conference and telling everyone he made it.

Evidently the dude likes good beer. Maybe he is aware that home brewing is becoming more and more popular and wants to try some. Maybe the chef in the White House knows he likes good beer and made him some. Maybe it turned out great and the staff wanted to share the recipe like many people on this forum do. Maybe Obama would be an avid home brewer if he had the time, but I doubt that he does. There are many possibilities other than "political stunt" here.

 

[Pappers_]

This is a really interesting thread about an interesting recipe. Thanks to everyone who has contributed!

A gentle note of caution to keep the discussion to beer and away from politics. Keep in mind that it isn't the President's beer and he isn't making it. Its the White House ale made by the White House chefs, with honey from bees tended by the White House gardener. Nothing partisan or political about it.

Back to the discussion: anyone going to (or already have) make a second batch? I think I may. I'm down to my last three bottles of it which I was thinking I might enter into a BJCP contest as a specialty beer (English pale ale with honey). It may be a little under-stated to do well in a competition in that category, but thought it might be interesting to get some feedback anonymously.

 

[robotgas]

I'm definitely giving this one another go. Not only did MY palate enjoy it, but it was also well-received by my beer nerd friends. Balance was the word I heard a lot.
I used the Austin Homebrew extract version of this, and I'm not changing a thing.

 

[MicheleE63]

Yeah, I'm going to make another batch of this as well. So far this is the beer everybody seems to like. I'm slowly trying to get my swill drinking friends to recognize something other than Corona or Lite, so if this beer gets them trying my beers, I'll make 100 gallons! (I have to get my friends on board - I can't possibly drink all of the beer I brew)

 

[Qhrumphf]

I'll give the Honey Porter a shot (will probably be late next year though). And after that, I might rebrew the Honey Ale eventually.

 

[alestateyall]

I think I will re-brew the honey ale. This beer has lots of complexity. It is a pleasure to drink.

I need to try the porter also.

I think I will convert the recipes to all grain next time. I did extract for authenticity purposes this time. It was expensive.

 

[ghpeel]

I would recommend adding it at none of those times. The CO2 produced during fermentation can also scrub out much of the delicate flavor and aroma, so after the primary fermentation is already done is definitely the best time.

I agree.

 

[mrduna01]

Well I decided to meet in the middle and add it with five minutes left in boil. Hopefully it comes out ok I'm sure it will. Btw does anyone else hate the little jugs that NB packs the lme in? It took 15 minutes just to get the dang things emptied even with heating them prior. I also got a grain bag that was too small to comfortably fit all the grain that was itself in a Baggie that had several wholes in it and spilled out during shipping. All is well just kind of annoying... I still love NB! . End rant