Honey Bear BEER

Alcoholic beverages which are not classified as spirits.

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fizzix
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Honey Bear BEER

Post by fizzix »

This is a distilling and brewing marriage hopefully made in heaven.
Take the Honey Bear grains in quantities to fit a beer profile, choose a nice ale yeast, and apply honey and spice hops.

Honey Bear Beer
5.5 gallons
Yeast: Nottingham
Brew-In-A-Bag, and sparge.
Boil Time: 90 min

Grain:
2.0 lb Corn
2.0 lb White Wheat
2.0 lb Red Wheat
2.0 lb Pale Ale Malt
1.0 lb Flaked Oats
0.5 lb Honey Malt
0.5 lb (pre-soaked) Rice Hulls

Hops:
1.0 oz East Kent Goldings (60 min)
0.5 oz Cascade (30 min)
0.5 oz El Dorado (30 min)
0.5 oz Cascade (Dry hop @ last 5 ferment days)
-----------------------------------
I'm not a beer designer at all and quite new to brewing itself.
If any of you old hands see a glaring fault, please speak now or forever hold your peace.

Will be cooking this up this Saturday, May 12. All my beers take 6 weeks (3 ferment, 3 bottle conditioning)
so it will be next month before the results are in.

Edited to show members' suggestions.
Last edited by fizzix on Thu May 10, 2018 3:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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dieselduo
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by dieselduo »

I think dry hopping the secondary with cascade until bottling day
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jonnys_spirit
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by jonnys_spirit »

I don’t drink beer anymore but I drank three beers for lunch today so this might just might bring me back. I was telling myself I wouldn’t mess with beer bottles anymore but liter bottles just might be acceptable.

I wonder if a toasted oak finger or two in the carboy before bottling would be good?

How long can you rest a carboy of beer before bottle conditioning?

Cheers!
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i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
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fizzix
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by fizzix »

dieselduo wrote:I think dry hopping the secondary with cascade until bottling day
Good idea, dieselduo. I bet that'd treat this nicely. Will do. (I modified recipe above to reflect this)
jonnys_spirit wrote:I wonder if a toasted oak finger or two in the carboy before bottling would be good?
How long can you rest a carboy of beer before bottle conditioning?
Considered that, jonny's_spirit, but I'm thinking that'll be down the road and not for the inauguration.
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bitter
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by bitter »

Rice hulls will be your friend for brewing this
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by fizzix »

bitter wrote:Rice hulls will be your friend for brewing this
What you say, bitter, about half a pound of presoaked rice hulls thrown in?
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by bitter »

Just couple hand fulls for 5g
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by fizzix »

Dry hopping with 1/2 oz. Cascade today per dieselduo's suggestion.
Will bottle this Saturday, June 2nd, then 3 weeks in the bottle until drink day.
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by fizzix »

Honey Bear BEER starting gravity was 1.058 and finished at 1.020 (before priming, of course), for a calculated ~5%.
Just a taste of the raw product reveals a nice ale flavor. Now bottled for 3 more luscious carbonating weeks.
Honey Bear Beer.jpg
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by Shine0n »

Sounds delish, I'll pm you with my address for some samples
Lol
You've done well, keep up the good work!
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by zapata »

What'd you mash at? Presumably not whiskey temps with that fg. Sounds perfect.

Sounds like a honey cream of wheat!
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by fizzix »

zapata wrote:What'd you mash at? Presumably not whiskey temps with that fg. Sounds perfect.

Sounds like a honey cream of wheat!
Kept it in the spirit of Honey Bear Bourbon:

Poured 2-gallons boiling bottled water (my tap water imparts a bad flavor) on the 2lbs of corn and let it sit, insulated, stirred 2x, for 3 hours (had the time).
Brought 5-gallons bottled water to boil in a 10-gal kettle and dumped in the cooked corn, in a Brew-In-A-Bag (BIAB), and killed burner.
Placed an Inkbird temperature alarm probe in the corn BIAB kettle, set for 155°F notification.
At 155°F mark, added all the remaining grain and hulls. Removed the Inkbird probe (I believe it was about 148°F).
Stirred well, and insulated kettle for 2 hours.
After that 2 hours, lifted and drained the BIAB into the 10-gal kettle.
Then squeezed the BIAB through a wringer mop bucket, sparging as needed (about 1-gal of bottled water).
Poured bucket wort into the 10-gal kettle, and boiled for 90 minutes, adding hops appropriately, and maintaining 5.5-gallons through boil-off/ bottled water addition.
After 90 minutes, crash cooled the hot kettle in a large laundry tub of cycling cold water.
Once down to "cool to the palm of hand" temperature, poured into fermenting bucket, aerated well, pitched 2 Nottingham (rehydrated) yeast packets and airlocked.
Kept ferment in constant 68°F basement for 3 weeks (dry hopped with 5 days left).
----
After 3 weeks, primed with 5 ounces boiled corn sugar gently stirred in and bottled as shown.
Remember: StarSan sanitizer is your ally in beer brewing!

The flat beer before priming and bottling had a nice taste. It was beer. The real taste happens in 3 weeks.
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Whoa! Looking forward to your notes on this and may just have to get a boil kettle and a burner... I could do 24 liter bottles in the cellar because I don't drink beer that often and maybe one day a keg system because I just hate dealing with beer bottles.. 1 liter bottles might be acceptable..

I could also do with a couple special german bier recipes but this one here might prompt action in the form of spending $$ on some kit.

Cheers!
-j
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by fizzix »

dieselduo's suggestion to dry hop this with Cascade hops really makes it.
Not hoppy like an IPA, but mild hops like Billy Busch's Kraftig beer.

The head disappears quickly, but doesn't affect carbonation and flavor.
Nice hop nose, and it delivers well to the tongue. Very light and airy.
The malty hop flavor lingers for 10 seconds at the back and roof of the mouth.
The kind of beer that is suddenly gone after 3 "sips."
This beer WILL be made again and again. Much better than the cream ale I also just made.

Thanks to ShineonCrazyDiamond for the inspiration.
Honey Bear Beer2.jpg
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by fizzix »

Been a few weeks since imbibing this.
Had 2 other beers ---a N.E. (Schlitz clone) ale, and a fine beer called Bee Cave Haus APA that I've been getting soaked on, and had a Honey Bear Beer tonight and boy what a stand out!

The honey malt (lest we not forget ShineonCrazyDiamond's use of it) really makes this a sweeter beer.
Refreshingly, just enough sweet, not overpowering sucking on a cube sweet.

Funny thing about this beer, a couple of weeks ago I went to scope out a beer club meeting with a 6-pack of this to share, and my "sponsor" caught me at the door.
"Did you bring an IPA? We're short a beer in the judging tonight!"
"I brought a beer called Honey Bearrrrrr...." he grabbed two bottles out of my cooler and vanished.

Somewhat embarrassed, but more on the spot, I became curious how my "IPA" entry would score.
Hey, I DID dry hop it! Maybe that'll be enough for a bonus point.

Two judges called it "watery for an IPA," and one had the common sense to proclaim "doesn't qualify as an IPA."
Felt like an idiot for presenting an ale for IPA, even if I wasn't responsible for entering the damn thing.

All in all, got like a 28 score out of 50-something. Not too shabby.

Someone else try this beer. Curious on your take.
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by Shine0n »

I'd love to try beer but I just don't have the space and my still house isn't clean enough, the meads have all the available space for now.
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by fizzix »

Well I joined a beer club and took some Honey Bear Beer.
Just so happens there was a beer judge there and he kindly sampled it.

"Full body. Sweet. Good hops. But flavor initially promises a follow-through, but fails to deliver."

Scheisse! Good thing I have a indiscriminate palate, because this beer rocks my "impaired" taste buds.
I won't deny a judge's expertise, but wear what you dig, and drink what you make --even if an expert upturns a nose.

I'm having one now after some cream ales, and Honey BEER shines in my little world.
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

You know, when you first did this, I had one beer minded thought. To leave out the corn and make a beer just based on the other items, in their same proportion. I never had the Honey Bear Beer, so I can't say the judge was right. But I wonder if the corn didn't just thin it out. Like a honey bear bud light.

Just a thought, if you ever fancied giving it a go.

Keep on rocking on, though :thumbup: :lol:
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by fizzix »

ShineonCrazyDiamond wrote:You know, when you first did this, I had one beer minded thought. To leave out the corn and make a beer just based on the other items, in their same proportion. I never had the Honey Bear Beer, so I can't say the judge was right. But I wonder if the corn didn't just thin it out. Like a honey bear bud light.

Just a thought, if you ever fancied giving it a go.

Keep on rocking on, though :thumbup: :lol:
You may be on to something. When I mentioned corn in the recipe, she seemed to indicate (diplomatically) that corn contributes little but minor mouthfeel and some creaminess.
She was busy, so I didn't persist on an improvement suggestion. Maybe you nailed it though, SoCD.
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by BillyBob1808 »

The recipe sounds quite ok, I'll give it a go. Thanks, man!
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by Corn Cracker »

Ii know it's an older thread but, I'm just getting into beer brewing and have made and enjoyed the hbb. My Q is about the hoppyness of this recipe, i don't care for a real hoppy beer but am interested in brewing this but don't want it too hoppy for my likings,
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by howie »

compared to some of my beer recipes, i don't think it should be too hoppy at all.
the total amount of hops is not that big.
the majority of hops go in at the start of boil and half way through the boil as well.
the dry hops are not a huge amount either.
i've just dry hopped a beer with about 3oz of centenial/amarillo/citra, that will be hoppy :)
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by bitter »

Looking back at this I think you IBU is too high. Your what 44 IBU depending on your hops?

What style are you going for?
What flavors are you looking for..

APA could work or a NEIPA style with lots more hops. Also you are mixing UK hops with IPA hops so that might mess with judges.
IPA would be possible also. With the amount of wheat oats etc it will be hazy most likely so maybe look at a NEIPA

Corn is a bit much for most these styles though.. Its more suited to a cream ale. I'd also be tempted to use a different yeast especially if going NEPIA
Verdant IPA is nice.

For cleaner styles do us05 as it works in almost anything.

I know it will not match the grin bill but a nice Scottish ale be nice.. then age is on oak from aging Honey Bear for 60 to 90 days in secondary... for an oak and whiskey finish.

B
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Re: Honey Bear BEER

Post by dieselduo »

Has anyone heard from fizzix lately ?
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