I’m fairly new to brewing with a few solo brews under my belt. I’ve been brewing strictly from NB kits. However, I am looking to try something a little more advanced. I want to step out of the comfort zone of the kit and add a few of my own ingredients. I am going to purchase an American Wheat Beer extract kit and add 1oz of Sweet Orange Peels, 1oz of crushed Coriander seeds, and 1 pound of honey (maybe 1/2 lb?). I am going to add these with approx. 15 minutes left in the boil.
I am curious, has anyone tried something similar? Also, any ideas on what type of honey, or will any honey do (maybe orange blossom, or will it be too ‘orangey’)? And, should I steep these ingredients, or just throw them in?
ANY recommendations will be much appreciated. This has certainly become an addiction!!
The honey will ferment out and leave little to no flavor, but it will boost the gravity. The orange peel and coriander I would add at flameout. This will be a VERY tasty wheat beer. Good luck, and brew on!!!
Looks like it would come out similar to Blue Moon, depending on what yeast you use.
Agreed with Dr. Gonzo that 1lb honey added late boil won’t give you any honey flavor, but having said that, I will admit that honey is my go-to anytime I want to raise my OG. I prefer using it rather than sugar.(I’m an old hippy want-to-be).
Thank you for all the responses! I can’t wait to get this brew started. As soon as the weather in NY warms up a bit, I’ll be outside brewing.
So, it looks I’m sticking to the orange peels and coriander. Just to clarify, I should steep these ingredients versus simply throwing them in (similar to how I add hops)? Also in regards to the honey - should I add more, get rid of it all together, etc? The honey was primarily for flavor and I would love to have a subtle hint of honey - I just need the correct amount.
[quote=“Calabrezzze”]Thank you for all the responses! I can’t wait to get this brew started. As soon as the weather in NY warms up a bit, I’ll be outside brewing.
So, it looks I’m sticking to the orange peels and coriander. Just to clarify, I should steep these ingredients versus simply throwing them in (similar to how I add hops)? Also in regards to the honey - should I add more, get rid of it all together, etc? The honey was primarily for flavor and I would love to have a subtle hint of honey - I just need the correct amount.
Thank you again!![/quote]
Just throw the coriander and orange peels in like you would flame-out hops. The honey won’t add any flavor if you add it to the boil, regardless of how much you use. You can get a VERY slight flavor if you add some honey after the beer has mostly fermented out, or slightly more if you use it instead of priming sugar (about 6.5 - 7.5 oz by weight would be about the right amount). But the best way to get honey flavor would be to steep some crushed honey malt before you boil. The amount depends on how much honey flavor you want, but anywhere from 4 to 12 oz would likely be in the range.
I brewed the NB American Wheat last year with 1 lb honey, some Clementine peel, coriander and a sprig of fresh rosemary all added late in the boil (~5 minutes left). Turned out very tasty. Adding at flame out sounds like a good plan too.
I would agree with the above posters mentioning honey malt but will caution that using any more than 8 oz. in a 5gallon recipe could result in a cloyingly sweet beer. I would start with 4 oz. and increase it in future iterations of the recipe if you feel it needs a little more.
Awesome! Thanks for all the input. So, it looks like I can add Honey Malt versus actual honey. I’ll stick to a small amount first.
I’m really going for taste versus aroma, so I plan to add the orange peels and coriander during the last 5-10 minutes of boil. Is this a good idea to get flavor? Also, just to clarify, I should steep crushed honey malt before my boil (approx. 2-4oz)?
In regards to aroma, I would love to have some type of citrus smell - should I tweak anything/add anything in order to achieve this? I hope I’m not asking a lot!! :shock:
That is correct, it would get steeped with whatever other specialty grains come in the kit.[/quote]
Awesome. Being that I’m brewing an American Wheat beer kit from NB, there are no grains. This leads me to my next question - how long should I steep the crushed honey malt before I add the Wheat Malt? 10-20 mins?
