I was excited to try this malt. I have now used it in three brews, ranging from 3% to 15% of the grain bill. In every beer, I get an intense toffee-like sweetness, not the subtle honey character I was expecting. It can easily come across as diacetyl, as several comp scoresheets will attest. I have a lot of judging experience and know how to detect and avoid diacetyl - I am convinced it is the malt and I most likely will not use it in the future. What's your experience?
I like to use it in very limited amounts in IPAs/APAs and every now in then in Belgians where I would like a sweet note. However, it is never more than 4oz in a 5.5gal batch (2-3% depending on gravity). 2oz can be enough, depending on the beer. It is pretty intensely sweet, and I wouldn't quite describe it as honeyish on its own, but I wouldn't describe it as toffee, either. I will say that if you add honey to a beer brewed with honey malt, you will get a prominent honey flavor. The malt provides the sweetness that ferments out of the honey, and the honey provides the floral aromatics that the malt doesn't have. Either on its own doesn't do it. I like to add the honey after high krausen.
I haven't gotten an intense sweetness at 5% and under. I actually have an Am. Wheat with 2% Honey malt and a 60/40 Wheat/GP grain bill. I don't get any diaceytl, or intense sweetness from it, and would think the wheat wouldn't be able to mask something like that. @CurtFromHershey sampled some of it, so maybe he noticed a bit of that character?
A friend who just got his Master BJCP dork rating tasted a fresh IPA I brewed using honey malt (2%) with the rest being pale malt, wheat malt and carapils, said he picked up a slight bit of caramel sweetness in my IPA. Its very slight, but its there. No diacetyl like flavors or oily mouthfeel, but I think the beer would likely be better without the slight sweetness I picked up from the malt. A local brewery has gotten rid of honey malt from their beers and won't use it because they don't like the sweetness and weird off flavors can impart.
I like it. I have never used more than half a pound in a 5 gallon batch. Also, I recommend initially using it in the absence of other specialty malts to understand its contribution.
I was on a Honey Malt kick for awhile, but yes, it can have a stale caramel sweetness (possibly because it is not fresh also)...anyway I now mostly avoid both (honey malt and caramel malts) and tend to add Munich in their place (at least for American IPAs).
It was noticeable, but I probably wouldn't have picked it out if I didn't know it was there. Then again I don't tend to be as sensitive to sweetness in beers as others. I do work for a candy company ya know.
The ladies love a little bit of mystery. Or something like that. But getting back on track, I do love me up to 1/4# honey malt in my hoppy beers as well as brown beers. Had a pinch in a Pils/white wheat w/ WLP029 "Kolscheweizen" beer that was pretty tasty as well
I like honey malt in small amounts around 4-5oz. without using caramel. It provides good aroma, flavor and not much sweetness at that level. I usually pair it with the same amount of victory, biscuit or special roast and like the results. It has never produced anything similar to diacetyl.
I think it ends up being very similar to C20 or C40 when used in similar amounts. So an APA with 5% C40 or 5% honey malt will end up close. I never used more than 10% before and I never got anything I would have called diacetyl. What were your 3 beers that you used it in?
I used it in an ESB, IPA, and a N. English Brown. I used the highest proportion in the ESB, and the lowest in the IPA. The toffee character was least noticeable in the Brown.
I think this is an interesting discussion. IMO, how an ingredient presents itself is dependent on a number of variables: · How much of the ingredient is used; percentage of the grain bill in this case. · How the ingredient is used; in the mash for this example but hops could be used in differing ways · The style of beer being made · Etc. A certain ingredient can have very drastic flavor differences based upon the variables. Cheers!
Has anyone ever brewed Jamil Zainasheff's Scottish ales from Brewing Classic Styles? I brewed the 60 shilling version when the book first came out and really liked it. The number of specialty malts in this recipe is high -- honey malt, crystal malts, pale chocolate (I ended up using a non-pale variety due to availability, adjusted downward), and a feeble half pound of Munich (I usually disrespect Munich when used in specialty malt addition amounts). Anyhow, I wanted to make a counter point to my earlier post that suggested to try honey malt in the absence of other specialty malts (especially crystals). This was one recipe where have so many specialty malts seemed to work.
Honey malt is good in stouts and browns, and porters. I think it's shit in IPA's and such. I've never used it more than 5% of the grist in anything though. It's too sweet.
Great Lakes Chillwave got me interested in honey malt. It's a delicious and aromatic beer when fresh, but the sweetness overpowers it as it quickly fades. I have used honey malt three times in Mosaic IPAs and reduced the percentage each time, 4% then 3% then 2%. Grain bills were different. 3% was good with pale malt base and very attenuation yeast. 2% seems ok in my current batch with GP base and less attenuative yeast, but I think I'm finding something from the GP that I don't care for in a pale beer. 4% was too much in a partial mash with pale malt and DME.
