Wheat beer creations/additions

New to the brewing scene here. Made a good American Wheat from NB (extract kit) and used cherry/apricot extract when bottling. Want to try messing around with honey/zests for the next go around. Maybe increase alcohol % a bit. Think I saw the honey addition may do this. I'd like to know when these are typically added...10 minutes/5 minutes before the end of the boil? I really don't know and am also looking for what other brewers have done to liven up this basic brew.

Thanks!

If adding honey to the boil, I would say to add it with 10 minutes or less remaining. The longer honey is boiled, the more aroma will be lost. Alternatively, honey can be added post fermentation. For this method, I would either boil the honey in a small amount of water for a few minutes, or pasturize the honey in water. Then, cool and add to the primary as fermentation is winding down. Another alternative is to add honey malt which can be steeped. I've had a good results adding a small about of honey malt to an American Wheat beer.

You can add zests to the beer toward the end of the boil, ten minutes or less. The white rind part of the fruit will add bitterness and is typically avoided. You could also use late hop additions that mimick the taste of different citrus fruits which might give you better results. Hop description site: http://www.hausofhomebrew.com/hop-chart.html

I just recently did a cream ale brew where I added honey to secondary. There is a LOT of debate about the use of honey (when, how much, boil/not, etc.). Honey (in its undiluted form) is semi-resistant to bacteria because of the lack of water. When used in secondary, the alcohol content should also help prevent any infection. I boiled water to sanitize it and then removed it from the heat and stirred in the honey while it was still hot. I had no issues with sanitation or infection using it in this manner. I haven't tasted it yet because it's still bottle conditioning, but it definitely kicked up a secondary fermentation when I racked from primary and was going strong for another 10 days after transferring. My guess is that it's had finished out lower than the expected FG for the cream ale but I didn't take a reading because I only had 1 gallon of the honey brew and didn't want to waste any. Although I haven't tried it yet, others say that using honey this way won't impart much honey flavor, but more than if you had boiled it (due to the volatility of the flavor compounds). If you really want "honey flavor", I've heard it's better to use honey malt in the mash.

[ Another alternative is to add honey malt which can be steeped. I've had a good results adding a small about of honey malt to an American Wheat beer.

You can add zests to the beer toward the end of the boil, ten minutes or less. The white rind part of the fruit will add bitterness and is typically avoided. You could also use late hop additions that mimick the taste of different citrus fruits which might give you better results. Hop description site: http://www.hausofhomebrew.com/hop-chart.html[/QUOTE]


When you say a small amount of honey malt...what is that in relation to a 5 gallon batch. And do you steep the zest or just dump it in? Apologies for the ignorance, and I appreciate the responses.

I've had no problem adding honey after flame out. Be careful buying honey off the store shelf. Some honey comes from China or is blended with honey from China. I wouldn't touch that stuff. If you use good honey, your main concern is botulism (rare if handled and stored properly), which can be killed by heating to 185F for 5 minutes according to the CDC. Boiling does destroy much of the natural flavors in honey.

ww.bt.cdc.gov/agent/Botulism/clinicians/control.asp

IlladelphiaBrewer said:

When you say a small amount of honey malt...what is that in relation to a 5 gallon batch. And do you steep the zest or just dump it in? Apologies for the ignorance, and I appreciate the responses.

Click to expand...

My American Wheat used 2.5% of honey malt which imparted a nice flavor. I probably wouldn't go above about 5% honey malt for this beer style.

Steeping implies that something is soaked in hot water, but not necessarily boiled. I assume you mean does the zest need to be in a bag, or simply added to the boil loosly, but either way you're boiling the zest for a short amount of time to sanitize it. Both, adding the zest loose, or using a grain bag is acceptable, it's your call. If added loosly, the zest will settle to the bottom of the fermenter and shouldn't be much of an issue.

Think I'll try some zest for 10 minutes til end of boil loose and honey at flame out. Depending on the result, switch it up with the honey malt. Salud!