Over the weekend, I took a crack at a Honey Brown recipe I found online. The beer is crisp, refreshing and has just a kick of sweetness to make it a satisfying fall time brew. The body of the beer is a dark amber color, and although traditionally a lager, can also be brewed as an Ale for an even fuller body.

My recipe was taken from the internet. The original title was Nuttin’ Honey Brown, and is an extract recipe.

.5 lbs Crystal Malt

.3 Lbs American Chocolate

.5 lbs American Victory

3.3 lbs light extract

2 lbs honey

1.5 oz fuggle

1 oz tettnanger

As a homebrewer, I tend to do things on the cheap and easy. Windsor English Ale Yeast was called for in the recipe, but I had some Irish Ale Yeast left over from the previous week, so I opted to use that.

I began by steeping the grains while my water heated, which was wonderful because it took almost an hr to do so, so the colors and flavors of the grains really had time to absorb into the water. Next came the extract. My oz of fuggle was in for 40min, followed by 1/2 of my honey for 15 min, and then finally the tett for the remaining 5. Now the recipe called for 1.5 oz of fuggle, however as you may know, hops only come in 1 oz packages, so I opted to toss in the other half of my cascades, left over from my Hefe into the mix.

After the wort cooled, I poured about half of the honey into the bottom of the carboy, filled, and then added the remaining honey. Idea behind this was to give the yeast more sugars, and also provide an extra little sweet kick. The yeast became active within 5 hrs, and as of this morning, the bubbler was still going strong.

The Honey Brown will probably remain in the primary until at least Sunday, so 8 days, and maybe longer depending on the activity of the yeast. The color is a beautiful golden dark brown. Pictures will come tonight.

Overall, easy recipe, and I will report back on the taste in a few weeks. In the mean time, for all homebrewers out there, AVERY BREWING IN BOULDER PROVIDES FREE BOTTLES TO ANYONE WHO STOPS BY THE BREWERY. I know, bottling sucks, but for those of us that are dirt poor and cant afford expensive kegging units, bottling is the next best thing. Next up…Peanut Butter Porter?

CHEERS