[Iliff Ave]

I better understand those opinions to use honey malt with restraint...

I have always thought that I liked honey malt but never used it for more than 5% of any recipe. I have slowly been pushing the amounts up so that I can better identify it in the finished beers. I was never like, 'oh that's the honey malt'. My most recent blonde ale has about 7% honey malt and it is very noticeable. My fermenting pale ale has 9% but I think it will be okay since it will be balanced out by the hops.

I like the idea of a honey sweetness but it really seems to impart a lot of malty character as well. I would describe it as a mix between dark munich and crystal malt, at least that is how it makes sense in my head. For this beer in particular, it is too much. In the past, this blonde ale was a great sessionable/summer type beer. This version is definitely more full flavored and almost heavy tasting although it finished at 1.009. Sometimes my palate is a bit off and another tasting may uncover different impressions (I am hoping at least). At this point, I will likely reduce the amount in future batches or replace it with light crystal malt.

It is taking me a long time but I am slowly starting to understand how certain grains affect a finished beer. I may have gone overboard with my use of honey malt but at least I really know what it does when before I wasn't quite sure.

[denny]

I find that I learn more from my mistakes than my successes.  I applaud your sense of experimentation!

[Iliff Ave]

Haha yeah I am definitely learning more from my frequent mistakes than anything else. For this batch I also decided to add the lime zest and lemongrass after fermentation was complete instead of at the end of the boil. It is a completely different character but not necessarily in a good way. The lemongrass has a 'perfumy' thing going on that is strange. I either used too much (same amount as prior late kettle additions) or let it sit in the beer for too long.

[HoosierBrew]

I find that I learn more from my mistakes than my successes. 

^^^^^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Iliff Ave]

Having another taste now. It isn't as bad as I initially thought but the flavors do clash a bit. Next batch I think I just need to drop the amount of honey malt and the lemongrass a bit.

[erockrph]

Haha yeah I am definitely learning more from my frequent mistakes than anything else. For this batch I also decided to add the lime zest and lemongrass after fermentation was complete instead of at the end of the boil. It is a completely different character but not necessarily in a good way. The lemongrass has a 'perfumy' thing going on that is strange. I either used too much (same amount as prior late kettle additions) or let it sit in the beer for too long.

Next time dry hopping with an ounce or two of Motueka instead. It has a similar flavor, but its not as perfumy as using the fresh herbs.

[Iliff Ave]

Haha yeah I am definitely learning more from my frequent mistakes than anything else. For this batch I also decided to add the lime zest and lemongrass after fermentation was complete instead of at the end of the boil. It is a completely different character but not necessarily in a good way. The lemongrass has a 'perfumy' thing going on that is strange. I either used too much (same amount as prior late kettle additions) or let it sit in the beer for too long.

Next time dry hopping with an ounce or two of Motueka instead. It has a similar flavor, but its not as perfumy as using the fresh herbs.

Thanks for the advice. I use Centennial throughout and had contemplated a small dry hop addition of that as well...

[dunngood]

It has been my experience that Honey Malt and Biscuit Malt are way different if you steep them or mash them.