Winter honey bitter

[livewire]

Hi all
Ok here goes as I am not sure if this is the right section I am posting in
After looking around the internet for ideas, I was looking into how I could add to a standard beer kit and come up with something a little different small steps etc.
So here is my take on a winter honey bitter.
1 x Harris best bitter kit warmed in hot water for 20 mins, while I sterilised all my brewing equipment.
Added the contents of the can to the fermenting bucket plus 500grams of medium spraymalt and 500 grams of Demerara sugar.
Added 6 pints of hot water and lots of stirring to make sure the spaymalt/sugar was all mixed in, then added 500 grams of honey. you guessed it lots more stirring.
I then add bottled still spring water as I live in a hard water area I think this may have effected my first brew. lots more stirring after adding each 2lt bottle up to 23lts. left it for 15mins and taken a hydrometer reading of 1.048 before adding the yeast.

I will kept you all posted as to how it all turns out but smells great already and I have great hopes for this batch.

 

[dennisking]

Certainly sounds interesting.

 

[livewire]

Hi Folks

I thought I would give you all a quick up date, I have been monitoring the brew the last few days and hydrometer reading is at 1.008 which I calculate is about 5.25 %. its a great smelling brew and pretty clear, I have added Beer Britte to help the clearing process and all being well I should bottle tomorrow.

I will keep you all posted

 

[Piemaster]

Sounds very interesting, I would love to make a honey beer.

How did you decide how much honey to use? Do you replace the sugar with honey gram-for-gram, or do you need more?

 

[livewire]

Hi Piemaster

After doing some research from books & online, all the sugars in honey are fermentable, which should produce a dry yet distinctive character
All the recipes I found for any honey ales suggested adding 500g on top of the sugars used, I added the spraymalt to give it a bit more body to the final product and I thought the Demerara sugar would blend in with the taste of the honey for overall flavour.
I will kept you all updated as to how it turns out, its not quite ready to bottle yet, but wow it does smell great.

 

[livewire]

Hi Folks

Here is a quick update, after leaving for a few more days to clear, I have bottled the winter honey beer tonight.
Its very clear and has a lovely distinct honey smell to it. I had a cheeky taste while bottling and oh wow if its this good now its going to be amazing after conditioning.
Will keep you all posted as to how it turns out

 

[AdamJohn]

I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out after a little while in the bottle. It sounds like it is going to be lovely.

 

[livewire]

Hi Folks

Well after leaving it to condition for a few weeks here it is, my first pint of winter honey bitter.
It is very rich & smooth with a distinct honey flavour

 

[fbsf]

Nice one - you can be proud of that!

Another way of pepping up a kit is to add a hop tea just before bottling. Just put 15-20g of a nice hop (goldings for british bitters works well, cascade or amarillo for american pales etc) into a 6-8cup cafetiere and fill it with boiling water. Leave it for 5 mins then plunge it and pour the liquid into the beer and stir gently, then bottle.

Adds a lovely freshness without too much faffing around!