Honey Lager Additions?

[andrewl]

Thinking about putting on a honey lager next batch and was just wanting to get some feedback on what people thought. Recipe is as follows:

1.7kg Morgans Blue Mountain Lager
1kg Body Brew
500g Yellow Box Honey
Approx. 18g Cascade hops???
Saf S-23 yeast???

I also have an extra 250g of Yellow Box honey as well that i might throw in 10 or so longnecks at bottling time just to see if it improves or ruins it.

Any input for this is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[barls]

having used yellow box honey before, be prepared to wait for at least 8 months after bottling for it to mellow the eucaliptus flavour out. id go for something more like orange blossom or clover and coolibah myself

 

[andrewl]

That long??? Bugger!
Might put it on as I already have the honey anyway and leave a few bottles at the back of the fridge...
Any ideas on hops and yeast?

 

[barls]

ok it may not take as long as i said but mine is just becoming awesome at about the 2 year mark.
the s23 should be fine as long as its in its temp range.
im not sure what hops id use if i was to do it again, i didnt use any the first time round, but did in my honey blonde

 

[andrewl]

ok... thanks barls

 

[barls]

not a problem mate. good luck with it let usknow how it turns out

 

[James Squire]

Hey Andrewl,

I think the yellowbox is probably too much of a flavoursome honey for that brew.

I'd suggest to head down to the supermarket and hunt down 500g of NZ Clover honey (the white honey) it makes for a mean brew and adds an awesome dimension to the Honey Wheat Beer that I make! :chug:

By all means if you want to use the yellowbox cos you've already got it then go for it! Experimenting with your own taste's and styles is half the fun! Just remember that as barls said it's gonna take time for the taste to calm down and mellow out.

Rock on...good luck!

Regards,

JS

 

[James Squire]

Oh yeah almost forgot,

Steer clear of using more than 500g in the brew, any more will be too much. Much of the talk that people have about honey beers taking a long time to 'balance out' is due to the overpowering taste. The mellower the honey taste the better for these beers.

Oh and the S-23 is fine, the honey will dry the beer out just fine so the yeast doesn't need to be too attenuative. Oh, and the hops sound good too.

Happy brewin,

Rant over.

 

[Airgead]

having used yellow box honey before, be prepared to wait for at least 8 months after bottling for it to mellow the eucaliptus flavour out. id go for something more like orange blossom or clover and coolibah myself

[post="120933"][/post]​

I made a braggot using 50% honey (ironbark and white box blend from memory) and it took about 3-4 months to become drinkable. After that though every bottle just got better and better. By the time I finished the last one it was fantastic.

Box honeys in a mead take about 6 months to mellow and become halfway drinkable so I would expect the same in your beer.

Cheers
Dave

 

[andrewl]

Thanks guys... Might have to make up a "special batch" for the odd night when a few good mates come over.