Subject to all the rules, homemade honey beer turns out yellow or amber in color with a delicate floral aroma, light hints of hops, lush foam and bitterness in the aftertaste. The taste is difficult to compare with other drinks, you need to try at least once.
The method of making beer from honey is simpler than traditional brewing, since it does not require saccharification of malt (not used at all), which eliminates the need to adhere to a narrow temperature range when brewing. Let’s leave the debate about whether a drink without malt can be considered beer, an opinion on this issue can be left in the comments. Let me just say that honey wort is usually called “full”.
The recipe below was developed on the basis of the technology proposed in the book “Meading or the art of making drinks from honey and fruits”, prof. T. Tsesielski, 1906. Characteristics of hops and yeast have been clarified, a stage of carbonization and aging has been added.
Ingredients:
- honey – 1 liter;
- water – 8 liters;
- hops (alpha acidity 4,5%) – 10 grams;
- brewer’s yeast (top fermentation) – 5 grams.
It is advisable to use fresh flower or buckwheat honey. The amount of hops is approximate and depends on the desired bitterness. If you have no experience in brewing, be guided by the proportions and alpha acidity in the recipe, the bitterness will be slightly below average (for my taste). Only brewer’s yeast is suitable, on bakery or alcohol it will turn out mash, not beer.
Top-fermenting yeast can be replaced with bottom-fermenting yeast, but then you will have to maintain the temperature (10th stage) in the range of 5-16°C.
In order not to infect the wort with third-party microorganisms, all tools and containers used must first be sterilized in boiling water or in another way.
honey beer recipe
1. If necessary, bring the candied honey to a liquid state: put the jar in warm water for 25-40 minutes.
2. Boil 15 liters of water in a cooking vessel (recommended volume for proportions in the recipe is at least 8 liters).
3. Slowly pour liquid honey into boiling water, stirring constantly, so that a homogeneous mass is obtained, and honey particles do not stick to the bottom or walls of the pan.
4. After the honey is completely dissolved, measure the initial volume of the wort (remember or put a mark on the outer wall of the pan).
5. Boil the honey solution for 60 minutes without a lid on a uniform fire, constantly removing the foam.
6. Add boiled water to the initial volume, compensating for evaporation losses. Add hops, stir.
7. Cook for another 60 minutes. The first 30 minutes do not remove the foam, so that the wort absorbs the hops better. In the last half hour of cooking, the foam can be removed. Pour boiling water, bringing the volume to the initial value.
As a result, the total boil time is 2 hours after boiling: 1 hour only wort, another 60 minutes with hops.
8. As soon as possible (to avoid infection with pathogenic microorganisms) cool the honey solution to 18-22°C. If special equipment for brewing is not available, you can immerse the pot in a tub of cold water or ice.
9. After cooling, pour the wort into a fermentation tank, after filtering through sterile gauze to remove hop residues. Leave at least 20% of the volume free for foam and carbon dioxide. Add brewer’s yeast diluted according to label directions (in this top-fermenting recipe), stir.
10. Transfer the fermentation container to a dark room (cover) with a stable temperature of 24-25°C. Install a water seal of any design on the neck. Leave for 7-9 days.
Active fermentation will begin in 8-12 hours and will last up to 5 days, then the intensity will subside, and after 7-9 days it will stop altogether: the water seal will stop emitting gas, the beer will become lighter, a layer of sediment will fall at the bottom.
11. In storage bottles (plastic or glass), add 1 teaspoon of honey, dextrose or sugar (the worst option) for each liter of volume. This is necessary for carbonization – saturation of the drink with carbon dioxide as a result of repeated fermentation. Thanks to carbonation, a thick foam will appear and taste will improve.
12. Drain the honey beer from the sediment through a straw into the prepared bottles (do not add 2 cm to the neck) and close tightly.
13. Transfer the filled bottles to a dark room with a temperature of 20-24°C and leave for 10-12 days.
14. Honey beer is ready, but the drink is still slightly sharp and bitter. To improve the taste, you should put it to ripen in the refrigerator or cellar for 25-30 days.
At a temperature of 3-16 ° C, the shelf life is 5-6 months, it is better to drink an open bottle during the day.
