Notes: This beer originated in my mind as a honey oatmeal stout, but i decided milk and honey went together better. I was originally going to use 2 pounds of raw honey, but everyone i have talked to and all the honey beers i have tried that did so wound up tasting funny a few weeks after bottle conditioning. Decided to skip raw honey and focus on high amounts of specialty grains, lower abv, and lighter color. Borrowed this recipe for a base:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/237836/chocolate-milk-stout-patio-1812-
This recipe was chosen for its lighter color and lower abv as not to overpower subtle honey notes.
I then substituted my own yeast and hops varieties, changed the chocolate grains to 1 lb specialty honey malts sourced from Root Shoot Malting (keep it colorado local!) and substituted crystal for 4 oz roasted barley.
Was considering using a Lager yeast to help with sweet notes, but my local brewshop (Elevated Fermentations of Loveland) recommended keep it ale but do a hefeweizen. this is going to let those sweet notes and possible banana notes to come through, complimenting the honey notes (in theory)
i am not too familiar with Cluster hops but their flavor profile did not match my goals so i chose Magnum for bittering since it does not impart a strong flavor profile, again allowing the subtle honey notes to come through, then cascade for aroma. I feel the fruity/sweet notes of cascade will accentuate the honey, and is pretty common in most colorado beers from what i have found.
Originally hoped to do a yeast starter but my schedule won't allow so just going to hope for the best and pitch straight from the tube on brew day, which should be fine. In the future if i make this again i will make a starter to maximize my potential.
My hope is that the flavor profile will be simple enough to be able to taste light forward notes of honey, subtle underlying notes of coffee, and a chocolate finish. Should have a creamy mouthfeel but otherwise light. |
