I’ve heard that honey ales tend to come out more than a little hot. Is it better to bottle these and let them sit a while or keg them? I generally just keg lighter stuff that is ready to go in a short time and am not familiar with how kegs will condition something.
Hotness depends in large part on alcohol content. Practically any high alcohol brew will display some ‘hotness’ when first finished and benefits from more extended aging (then again, I’m of the traditional opinion that just about any beer is better after aging…and long aging for strong beers.).
I’ve brewed normal strength ales and porters with some measure of honey, and never found ‘hotness’ to be an issue, even when the brews were tasted young. I’ve not found honey to contribute any unusual ‘hotness’ to any beer.
As far as bottling versus kegging ‘hot’ tasting beers, I just age them in the keg. You can always bottle some off if you need some in that form.
Just my own observation and some will disagree, but I’ve found that aging in bulk results in a better, cleaner tasting beer.
But again…that’s only my perception.
Your mileage may vary.
This is just Northern Brewer’s Honey Kolsch extract kit. It’s my first honey beer.
