Honey Badger Redux

So this is the next evolution of my famous Kölsch style/honey ale hybrid, Honey Badger. The hop schedule should be about the same as the previous incarnation of this recipe that I posted last year, but I have changed a few things.

For starters, I no longer intend to mash 2 row barley with torrified wheat during the preboil. Frankly, I’m not sure if my prior method adequately converted enough of the starches in the wheat into fermentable sugars. I like the boost of head retention that the wheat offers, but I’m pretty sure that I can get that from a pound of Carapils instead, which can be steeped according to Briess.

Secondly, I know some Kölsch breweries do add wheat to their overall grain bill. Since I’m no longer using the torrified wheat during the preboil, I intend to add some wheat DME to help achieve the desired flavor profile.

Lastly, I’ve omitted the ounce of Saaz for dry hopping. This is already a fairly hoppy brew, and I want the aromatics in the honey to come through instead of a wall of lupulin.

Otherwise, it’s business as usual down at the Honey Badger Picobrewery. Cheers!

Honey Badger (2014)

Style: Kölsch with honey

Water:

2 ½ gallons in brew kettle, heated to 155 F to steep specialty grains.

1 gallon in separate pot, heated to 155 F for sparging specialty grains.

Grains:

1 lb. Carapils

Extract:

3 lbs. extra light DME

2 lbs. wheat DME

Hops:

1 oz. Hallertauer pellets (bittering @ 60 min.)

1 oz. Tettnanger pellets (flavor @ 15 min.)

1 oz. Saaz pellets (aroma @ 5 min.)

Honey:

2 lbs. of orange blossom, clover, sunflower, or other light honey added at flameout

Yeast:

Wyeast 1007 German Ale

Other Ingredients:

1 Whirlfloc tab or 1 tsp. or Irish moss (added 15 minutes before flameout).

Water to add to the wort to achieve 5 ½ gallons of total volume in the primary fermenter.

¾ cup of corn sugar or 1 ¼ cups of ex light DME boiled in 2 cups of water for five minutes to prime the beer before bottling.

Notes:
The original gravity should be around 1.060 and the beer should finish around 1.010, making for an ABV of around 6.6%. Happy brewing if you try this one. I'll make it soon and post my tasting notes.