Brewed up a honey blonde/honey weisse as my last batch of the season. Threw a pound of honey in shortly after flameout during chilling and another pound after a week primary fermentation. The first pound was labelled as a “honey blend” and the second was wildflower honey. Drinking the final product now there is definitely “a flavor” that I’m guessing is from the honey (kind of a spicy pear flavor I guess? Very mild, not at all offensive) but is not quite what I was going/hoping for.
I think I definitely will brew this again this spring but I guess I want to get some kind of definitive contribution from the honey flavor-wise. What would be the best honey to use in a beer of this style? I know I have heard that clover is not a good choice and I’m not sold on an orange blossom flavored beer.
I brewed a honey wheat with clover honey and loved it. Tried wildflower and it’s alright. I like the strong flavor from the clover. Really gives a noticeable honey character. If you like the honey, you’ll probably like the beer.
meadowfoam. Worth every penny. You can get it on Amazon or shipped from some apiaries in Oregon for around $10/lb.
I’ve also found that it is better to add then honey at flameout if you are going for a balanced beer, like a nondescript ‘honey ale’, or honey kolsch (whatever the hell that is :mrgreen: ) that our sponsor sells
If you are going for a drier beer, such as an american/belgian/french/farmhouse style, it is better to add the honey, dissolved in boiled, cooled water a few days into fermentation. You will get a lower FG this way and still retain some of the honey’s aromatics.
[quote=“Rookie L A”][quote=“Pietro”]meadowfoam. Worth every penny. You can get it on Amazon or shipped from some apiaries in Oregon for around $10/lb.
[/quote]
Last year I got a three pound jar of meadowfoam at the Gresham (OR) farmers market for $15.[/quote]
Well how about shipping some to your east coast buddy instead of just gloating about then? :mrgreen:
[quote=“Rookie L A”][quote=“Pietro”]meadowfoam. Worth every penny. You can get it on Amazon or shipped from some apiaries in Oregon for around $10/lb.
[/quote]
Last year I got a three pound jar of meadowfoam at the Gresham (OR) farmers market for $15.[/quote]
I’m not gloating (maybe a little). I live in Vancouver now and didn’t feel up to making the run to Gresham at the start of the market this year so I didn’t get any and don’t know if the price increased or even if any was available this year.
