Honey Bear Bourbon

[rager]

good luck buddy. id love to have a taste when it come out of that barrel.

a barrel is on my list for xmas too. going to take me alot longer than you to fill....

[MichiganCornhusker]

[quote="ShineonCrazyDiamond"] That honey flavor hearts at the end before tails is freaking awesome. Especially white.

Fixed that.

Ordered my xmas Gibbs 3 days ago. Stuffing my own stocking this year!

[rager]

That honey flavor hearts at the end before tails is freaking awesome. Especially white.

Fixed that.

Ordered my xmas Gibbs 3 days ago. Stuffing my own stocking this year!

just bought myself a smoker, whats another couple hundred bucks for a barrel

i know that no one esle is going to be buying me a barrel this xmas.

cheers

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

good luck buddy. id love to have a taste when it come out of that barrel.

Deal!

I really wish I had my shit together 6 months ago, so that I would have something to send out to a few people for the holidays. I'm just kicking around jars that I had since my 5 gallon boiler. Some I'm not ready to part with, some that aren't ready. Now I'm trying to pump out a bunch now, and finally be ahead of my stock.

Funny. I have jars that are over 2 years up there, and I can't bring myself to drink them. At first it was, let's see how long I can go. Now I can't let go and give in.

I'm a whiskey hoarder.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

The jig is up!

I want to know which one of you bastards is blowing my Honey cover .

Went to the brew store tonight on my way home. Shootin the shit with my guy there, and of course I have to smell the big ol' sack of Honey malt. Not that 5 lbs of Honey malt would give me away or anything in this story...( I just really like the specialty malt). He preceedes to tell me that he is going to have to start buying the 50lb sacks of this malt because it's become so popular with his customers. I said "really"? He says yeah, it's like the hottest trend right now. "Really...!" I ask, "what kinda recipes are they using them on? ". He says, "you know what it is?, it's popular with the distilling crowd".

I of course have never told him my other hobby, but he might suspect with me in there so much, and maybe he was trying to get me to confess. Might even be a member here.

Anyways, he tells me one example is his buddy, who has begun using it in his rye whiskey. Brought a sample in to him and told him it makes his rye whiskey smother and fuller! I haven't tried rye yet, but that's cool to know.

Anyways, which one of you is it Is got to be one of us!

And cheers Here's to distilling making a positive impact on small business!

[Oldvine Zin]

Maybe... I always get the look when I buy 50 lbs bags at the brewshop

OVZ

[Shiny Coke]

Wasn't me, no sir

50lb bags of Honey malt would raise eyebrows here too as you only use like 8oz in a 5gal batch of beer at most. If I wanted a whole bag though I'd just go for a little drive to Gambrinus and pick it up myself.

[Oldvine Zin]

Just sampled a bit that has been sitting in a used 1 gal barrel for 3 months - wow good now going to be even better in another 9+

OVZ

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Just sampled a bit that has been sitting in a used 1 gal barrel for 3 months - wow good now going to be even better in another 9+

OVZ

Hopefully squeezed my last 55 drum tonight to get the 5 gallons I need to fill a Virgin barrel. Will strip this weekend, spirit next. I think if I get close enough, I will top it off with water and let the spirit decide its barrel proof through this journey. Rough go with ec1118, lots of high fg's. But, it adds to the sweetness. And is nuetral. It will be a great and memorable barrel, for sure. Then in the attic until the end of the summer.

[DSM Loki]

I've gotta say, that honey bear bourbon is still one of the greatest things I've had the pleasure to imbibe. You ever need a hand "disposing" of a quantity of it, you just let me know.

[cuginosgrizzo]

Hi, I wanted to let everybody know that I am giving this a try.

I cannot find red wheat so I am just using melanoid malt (0,25kg), diastatic malt (1kg), wheat malt (1kg) and polenta flour (3,5kg) for a 25L batch. OG came out at 1065, I am really satisfied! I pitched with bakers yeast.

Will update as things go on.

[Anode Effect]

I just ordered the malts to do multiple batches. I've been intrigued by this recipe for a while. I've finally got other ferments out of the way to give this a shot.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Well, I sure am glad to hear of other folks thoughts. Thanks for letting me know that you are venturing out on the recipe. I truley hope you will let us know how it goes for you guys.

I'm excited about taking it to the next level. Introducing, the first Honey Bourbon Barrel (that I know of)

I filled it a week ago. And, the barrel never leaked. That barrel it wet because it is damn hard to fill the barrel through a small funnel with the wife holding!

I've gotta say, that honey bear bourbon is still one of the greatest things I've had the pleasure to imbibe. You ever need a hand "disposing" of a quantity of it, you just let me know.

I think I will have plenty to have you help me with. 5 gallons is a lot of freaking liquid! My headbands it just kept coming out of the storage vessel into the barrel.

[Oldvine Zin]

1 gal Gibbs that I filled a few months ago, Thanks for that recipe!

OVZ

[Anode Effect]

I ground the grains today. 25 lbs corn, 5 lbs each of the malts except for 3 lbs of the honey malt. I just sprinkled 3 packs of Prestige WD yeast on top. I used both enzymes, Alpha and gluco. This is my first time using any of these malts. I've used malt barley and rye up until now. This is easily the best smelling ferment I've made. That honey malt smells great! I can't wait to try it. There will be 4 more ferments to go after this one and then a big spirit run. I still haven't decided what to do with the remaining 25 lbs of the malts once I'm done with this recipe.

[Oldvine Zin]

I ground the grains today. 25 lbs corn, 5 lbs each of the malts except for 3 lbs of the honey malt. I just sprinkled 3 packs of Prestige WD yeast on top. I used both enzymes, Alpha and gluco. This is my first time using any of these malts. I've used malt barley and rye up until now. This is easily the best smelling ferment I've made. That honey malt smells great! I can't wait to try it. There will be 4 more ferments to go after this one and then a big spirit run. I still haven't decided what to do with the remaining 25 lbs of the malts once I'm done with this recipe.

WTF no honey malt and the honey malt smells great...

OVZ

[cuginosgrizzo]

My first ferment took a week to reach 1.000 so yesterday I ran it. It took me only 40 minutes to squeeze the liquid out of the polenta like mash, I feared more work there. Then I stripped it. Got little more than 5L@32% and low wines are very tasty, I can tell it will come very good! Thank you SCD!

4 more ferments to go now.

[Anode Effect]

5 lbs of white wheat malt, red wheat malt and pale ale malt. 3 lbs of honey malt.

[Still Life]

Forgive the newbie questions, but after some all grain failures this recipe sounds too good for me to risk failure yet again.
And frankly, some recipes take for granted some knowledge (which I don't have yet) when you vets post them...

Is this recipe truly stated as-is?
In other words, does the corn have to be pre-cooked to hell and back before starting?
And do the other grains (malts) have to be ground up in any manner? Or just whole?

I'm green, but I want this one to work for me. Quit laughing.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Still life - no worries. We all have been there.

Yes, it really is as easy and straight forward as it states. I prefer corn meal for all my recipes because it gells faster. But I did it with cracked, too.

Put corn and any other grains that are not being used for conversion into a bucket. Pour in boiling water, cover and wrap up well. Let it come down naturally to 150, dump in malt, wrap up again. Let it come down to pitching temps, or force chill after an hour or so if you want to speed it up at that point.

When you put boiling water in, it comes to rest with corn around 180. It will sit and cook it self. I have made allot of bourbon, and have never had a flame under corn. Ever. Do make sure it's a rolling 212 boil, though, and not a cute 208 boil. Makes a difference

Yes, all your malts and grains need to at least cracked (rolled), or you can grind them to a flour. Straining will be rough, though. I recommend corn meal, and a standard LHBS crack. It's the best balance between efficiency and strainabilty, in my opinion.

Good luck buddy .

[Still Life]

-from one Pink Floyd fan to another..
Thank you for the response. This just may be a winner for me.

[Anode Effect]

I add both of the high temp enzymes as insurance but other than that, I mash exactly the way SCD described.

[Still Life]

I add both of the high temp enzymes as insurance but other than that, I mash exactly the way SCD described.

I've got the enzymes and just may "insure" as well. Appreciate the tip.

[Oldvine Zin]

5 lbs of white wheat malt, red wheat malt and pale ale malt. 3 lbs of honey malt.

Sorry I miss read the 3 lbs of honey - should only post sober

OVZ

[MichiganCornhusker]

Been long away from my shed but hope to reunite with my HBB variants soon. Will keep y'all posted.
Oh, and I too have a BadMo barrel of honeybear (or two)

[nerdybrewer]

5 lbs of white wheat malt, red wheat malt and pale ale malt. 3 lbs of honey malt.

Sorry I miss read the 3 lbs of honey - should only post sober

OVZ

Counts me out (althouth I did be able to go back and turn off capslock and try again!)

[Anode Effect]

5 lbs of white wheat malt, red wheat malt and pale ale malt. 3 lbs of honey malt.

Sorry I miss read the 3 lbs of honey - should only post sober

OVZ

It's all good OVZ. I didn't take it the wrong way.

[Still Life]

Cover me. I'm going in.
Picked up the grain bill today for the Honey Bear.
My 3 fermenters are tied up till the weekend, then I'm giving it a shot.
Excited about this one.

[cuginosgrizzo]

Today I started the second batch od HBB. I got a rather consistent 1060 OG. Last time it took a week but now weather is warmer, let's see

[Shine0n]

So I'm taking the plunge into AG by doing this recipe, sounds so good and as simple as AG can be for a no cook.
First things first I'll start by getting all my ducks in a row, I'll insulate my 55 gal drum by 2" of spray foam and then covering wrapping in wood slats to keep temps held for longer. Build a drill stand to ease my back and arms from the thick muck.

I'd like to be able to have enough for the strip and spirit all in one whack.
My not so local brew shop has all ingredients necessary for the mash but the prices are a little scary but I'll get them lbs at the time and that will give me time to insulate and cover my barrel.
I'd like to get into AG the right way and feel if I take my time to get things lined up I won't be a statistic of the horror stories I've read thus far and not want to further myself in this great hobby.
I've gotten my rum down to a science, my peach brandy is fine and the sf if a hit but now the mighty AG is calling my name.

I will follow this recipe to the letter, and from the posts of others who have tried this say what a great tasting drink this is I'm sure I'll enjoy as well.

Thanks SCD for this recipe and I'll try and do it justice.

Shine0n