Coopers Australian Pale Ale - with Honey

[Guest]

[innocent] Hi guys,

for my next batch, I was thinking about making a Coopers Australian Pale Ale - with some honey.

I have the Pale Ale mix, I have the BE2, and I've seen other similar posts where it was recommended to reduce the sugar, dex or BE to accommodate the honey.

 

I was thinking more of using the mix as per instructions but adding a little honey just to give a hint of flavour - without overpowering it, making it into a superstrength beer, or mucking it up too much.

 

i.e. Put in the mix, add the pack of BE2, and just add some honey for flavour; keeping in mind it may increase alcohol as well as coplexity of flavour and texture.

 

I understand that adding any amount of honey, sugar or the like may increase alcohol content, and I'm okay with getting my Alchol up to maybe 6 - 7% or so, but would 250ml honey be enough to give a hint of flavour etc without mucking up an otherwise great beer or turn it into rocket fuel?

[RussellB5]

G'day Ben

 

I made up a Cascade Choc Mahogany Porter using 1kg of a local stout combo and adding 500g of Honey to the fermenter to try and clone a Taverners Honey Porter. After 3 weeks in the bottle it was a heavy drink, with strong honey flavours and always a huge head, pretty much unpourable, though still very much drinkable. Now after a few additional weeks it has really settled down, the taste of honey is still definately there, though more as an aftertaste and it has thinned out quite considerably. Its a really nice drop, awesome aroma, colour and taste but in reply to your comment about increased alcohol content, i dont believe the 500grams of honey had any significant affect on ABV.

Have a go, 250 grams may be a bit light on but just be prepared to let it mature in the bottle a little longer than normal

[Nick]

Hey Ben, i have made the Strawberry Blonde on a couple of occasions using the how to brew recipe. the honey flavour has been evident in both my 1 week and 2 week tasters, but it is completely gone after a month. I used yellow box which is fairly mild, but honey with a stronger eucalyptus background may well retain its flavour for much longer. I read earlier posts regarding this beer, that using stronger flavoured honey spoiled the taste, you may need to consider this when adding honey to APA

[Guest]

Thanks guys,

 

considering your comments, I think I'll go with 500g of honey; as it's a first attempt at anything exotic, I'll just use what I already have here, just a Capilano Australian Honey - not too special, but not a no name generic, so it should work out okay.

It's a good honey, not too strong flavour but distinctive not bland, so I think it's a good pick to add.

 

I seem to recall that Bees Knees started out as a beer made for the Capilano guys, using some of their honey, so I shouldn't go too far wrong with that.

 

Honey has antibiotic properties too, so it should keep any nasties out whilst the fermenting is going on.

It works amazingly well as a substitute for growth hormones when taking plant cuttings too.

 

Thankfully I've still got a fair few bottles from my first batch, so I'll just get through all of those before I start drinking my Honey Ale; just to make sure it's got time to mature.

So long as SWMBO accepts that I'll be wanting to get onto a new batch again each time I have enough empties (is that how everyone else does it?)

 

Cheers.

 

[King Ruddager]

Whenever I try something new I always think it's better to go way over the mark and then dial it back, because until you know what the difference between "none" and "too much" is then you can't be sure if what you've got is "just right".

 

As such, when I brewed an English Bitter with honey I used a full kilo. It was too much, but not by much! That kit has a lot more flavour and bitterness than some of the others so using more honey made sense. Next time I reckon I'd use 750 or 800g.

 

That's my philosophy anyway. Learning by doing.

[Guest]

Hi Ben & guys.

 

I just went back through some notes I made on using honey as a substitute for dextrose/sugar in some brews I did last year, both with the Coopers Pale Ale kit as the base. When using honey as a direct replacement for dextrose/sugar, substitute it at a factor of 1.25:1. For example if your recipe is using 400gms of sugar, replace that with 500gms of honey. Honey brands & styles differ slightly, but as a general rule expect that 75% of the honey is made up of fermentable sugars that will completely ferment out (like dextrose/sugar) & increase your alcohol percentage.

 

The brews I put down used 375gms of Capilano honey & I found after 4-6 weeks aging they displayed a nice subtle undertone of honey flavour when combined with the Pale Ale kit. I certainly wouldn't be afraid of throwing 500gms at that kit if I do another brew with honey.

 

I would also advise making sure you thoroughly dissolve the honey into your brew mixture. I did find in the first brew, some inconsistencies from bottle to bottle which I put down to inconsistencies in the brew wort by me maybe not dissolving the honey in hot enough water at the time. I rectified that in the next 2 brews. [biggrin]

 

The amount of honey you like in the overall flavour may well differ from all of the quantities we have mentioned, so that will be something you will have to experiment with to find a level you like.

 

Good luck with it Ben, & let us know how it turned out. [cool]

 

CC

[Otto Von Blotto]

So long as SWMBO accepts that I'll be wanting to get onto a new batch again each time I have enough empties (is that how everyone else does it?)

 

That's how I do it. I have built up a stockpile that allows me to have around 5-6 batches bottled at any one time. As I drink the bottles I count them so that I know when I have enough to be able to throw the next brew into the FV. I used to just mix and ferment on the same day when I was doing kits/extracts. Now that I'm doing all grain my brewdays are often a month or two before fermentation - I just mix one up whenever I have an empty cube.

 

[DavidK20]

I reckon the Aussie Pale Ale kit with honey would end up great [biggrin] Im not hugely experienced, but my mate used to brew his lagers using honey and they were unreal. Let us know how you go with the brew, using hioney is something I want to experiment with in the future too. cheers [happy]

[Guest]

Sigh.... FFS Honey is not 75% fermentable it is more like 95% and don't ruin it by boiling the crap out of it. Just sit it at about 75C-80C for a while and you'll get a much better result.

 

Don't take advise from people who have no idea and you will have more success in your beers.

 

Read THIS LINK about honey for a better idea.

 

I'm going back to Obelix now [alien]

[Canadian Eh!L]

You just couldn't resist, eh Bill![biggrin] [cool]

 

It's good to see you're still alive and kicking![wink]

[Guest]

Hi Chad, I have been attacking Obelix a bit today so thought I'd have a quick look at the old haunt.... I looked around and there is so much false information flying around here now it is almost shameful so I thought I would correct some [innocent] [rightful]

 

Whether I stay or not is questionable at the moment, I'm just happy sitting here with another glass of my rendition of Fat Yak and thought I'd see what the old troopers were doing [wink]

[Canadian Eh!L]

It's a laugh a minute around here these days![lol]

 

On the other side though there is a good group of guys around and we do have some good chats and pass arond some good tips. We are even chatting about AG a little bit![joyful]

[Hairy]

Hi Chad' date=' I have been attacking Obelix a bit today so thought I'd have a quick look at the old haunt.... I looked around and there is so much false information flying around here now it is almost shameful so I thought I would correct some [innocent'] [rightful]

 

Whether I stay or not is questionable at the moment, I'm just happy sitting here with another glass of my rendition of Fat Yak and thought I'd see what the old troopers were doing [wink]

Lucky bastard!

 

I would give my left nut for a beer right now but my boss already has a hold of it (figuratively speaking).

 

Welcome back vigilante Bill [biggrin]

[Guest]

Hi Chad' date=' I have been attacking Obelix a bit today so thought I'd have a quick look at the old haunt.... I looked around and there is so much false information flying around here now it is almost shameful so I thought I would correct some [innocent'] [rightful]

 

Whether I stay or not is questionable at the moment, I'm just happy sitting here with another glass of my rendition of Fat Yak and thought I'd see what the old troopers were doing [wink]

Lucky bastard!

 

I would give my left nut for a beer right now but my boss already has a hold of it (figuratively speaking).

 

Welcome back vigilante Bill [biggrin]

wow where do you work???i never want a job there [lol] [lol]

[Guest]

lol, I got the day off so thought I'd make the most of it [innocent]

[Guest]

lol' date=' I got the day off so thought I'd make the most of it [innocent']

im only new on here but it IS very good to see your comments again Bill[biggrin]

[Guest]

Thanks Ned, I may ruffle the feathers and stick around a bit yet [pouty]

 

I was talking to Yob recently about the package he gave you. Yep, even though I wasn't here I still have a grasp of what has been happening [innocent]

 

Hopefully that has you converted now and your outcome will only improve the more playing around you do.

Good luck with it

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

"Gospel truth" there's an oxymoron if ever I've heard one. [lol]

[Guest]

Thanks Ned' date=' I may ruffle the feathers and stick around a bit yet [pouty']

 

I was talking to Yob recently about the package he gave you. Yep, even though I wasn't here I still have a grasp of what has been happening [innocent]

 

Hopefully that has you converted now and your outcome will only improve the more playing around you do.

Good luck with it

thanks Bil...yep Yob has pretty well converted me, when i get back home ill be into alot more K&B....loving it

[Guest]

lol Ned, it shouldn't be long now then until we convert you. [devil] It's even better if you can get the odd few hours here and there. A very little more effort with a far superior result. [cool]

[Guest]

lol Ned' date=' it shouldn't be long now then until we convert you. [devil'] It's even better if you can get the odd few hours here and there. A very little more effort with a far superior result. [cool]

Between your fine self and Yob and a few others yes youll convert me but i cant see me doing AG while i live here....no room for such stuff.....mind you...i could convert the old caravan.lol

[Hairy]

lol Ned' date=' it shouldn't be long now then until we convert you. [devil'] It's even better if you can get the odd few hours here and there. A very little more effort with a far superior result. [cool]

Between your fine self and Yob and a few others yes youll convert me but i cant see me doing AG while i live here....no room for such stuff.....mind you...i could convert the old caravan.lol

You don't really need much room. I do it on my stove and a small section of the kitchen bench.

 

What you need is more time [innocent]

 

You would need more space with Yob's setup [devil]

[Guest]

Yep, no need for room... you can do it with a $20 Big W 19L pot on the stovetop. Grab a bag for $10-$30 or make one from Swiss Voile for about $8. imo easier to buy one I reckon.

 

Grab some grain and hops and away you go [biggrin]

 

Really the time factor is not as bad as it sounds either. Most of the time you are waiting for something to happen so you can do other things in the meantime.

[Guest]

stop it you lot [lol] time i dont have at the moment but maybe later ill look into biab stuff.......i got abit of stuff to do for a few weeks then maybe ill check it out......for now its K&B for me bastards!!!![lol] [lol] [lol] [lol]

[Dave from Kiwiland]

I love it when you Aussie's have a maritial fight, makes good reading. Ben, if you want to do a goood Honey Ale, just google The White House Honey Ale and you will find a good recipe for one, yes it actually is a Barack Obama and kitchen staff recipe, I cant comment yet on how good it is, mine was only bottled 2 weeks ago, but promises to be a good ale judging by how good the wort tasted. Keep on experimenting, you are the only judge on the end product. If you want to put honey in a pale ale , do it, im pretty sure that the guy that put an oily hop flower in a brew was scorned apon too.