Two pounds of fresh honey!

[MrHadack]

Hi all,

A co-worker gave me 2 pounds of fresh honey collected from his bee hive (he raises them). His request was that I use it to make him a batch of beer. Of course I am more than happy to do so!

I'm looking for a good recipe to use. I do all-grain brewing in batches up to 5.5 gallons. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[chocotaco]

What does he like? AFAIK honey and wheat go well together, though I haven't ever done it. Maybe an American Hef with honey and sweet orange peel?

 

[jakenbacon]

try the popular white house honey ale, or make a wildflower wheat following DFH's recipe, I tried it and it was great....

 

[MrHadack]

What does he like? AFAIK honey and wheat go well together, though I haven't ever done it. Maybe an American Hef with honey and sweet orange peel?

Good thought-- I have a recipe for a wheat beer that turned out really well with some kefir lime leaves and lemon zest. In that recipe I used honey malt, but it would be pretty cool to use the actual honey instead.

I asked him what he likes as far as styles go, and he said "nothing too dark like Guinness." I initially was thinking a honey porter which might be nice this time of year, but I'm wondering if that would be too "dark" for him.

 

[taalhiker]

This -> https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/cottage-house-saison-254684/

 

[chocotaco]

Honey will not taste like honey malt. If you want the finished beer to have any honey flavor you should use some honey malt as well.

Sounds like porter is what he doesn't want.

I would make a straightforward American hef with a touch of honey malt in the grist, FWH and late kettle with cascade, some sweet orange peel in the boil and maybe a pinch of dried orange blossoms (if you can find them) at flameout along with the honey. Sounds pretty tasty to me, maybe I will do that too!

 

[MrHadack]

Okay, after consulting with some other people as well, this is what I have come up with:

Double IPA:

7# Pale 2 row
6# Munich Malt
1# Crystal 20
0.75# Honey malt
1.5oz Amarillo @ 60 minutes
1oz Chinook @ 30 minutes
1oz Citra @ 15 minutes
1oz Amarillo @ 5 minutes
WLP001

I will pasteurize the 2lbs of honey and throw it into the primary toward the end of the initial fermentation.

Thoughts?