Tupelo Honey Amber Ale |
| This next specialty beer will be replacing the much-loved 2000 Oktoberfest. Now we have a new treat the Tupelo Honey Amber Ale. It is named as such because of the addition of Tupelo honey to the fermenter. Honey is made up mostly fermentable sugars, similar to wort. When honey is added to fermenting wort it gives the yeast a boost of sugar. The yeast removes most of the honey sugar and the malt sugar and converts it into, among other byproducts, alcohol. There are very few components from honey left in the resulting beer, but one wonderful characteristic that carries over is the delicate honey aroma. Tupelo honey is produced by placing beehives near Tupelo trees. Therefore the only flower source is Tupelo blossoms. This is how other mono-floral honeys are made, i.e. Clover, orange blossom, wild flower, and etc. Placing hives near a single flower source give the resultant honey a unique character depending on the flower source. The added challenge with Tupelo honey is that the Tupelo trees grow in the swamp and marshlands. The hives must be placed on small floating barges and moored near the trees. Then the bees do their work of collecting the nectar. When the hive is full, they are reeled in and the honey is harvested.
The base beer we brewed was an amber ale, which would be tasty in its own right. It will be a bit darker than the Pipe Organ Pale and a bit lighter than the Pious Monk Dunkel. The Tupelo Honey Amber will be light to medium in body with a slight caramel note. The hops used were Nobel hops which are very delicate. The amount of hops used were used sparingly so as not to overshadow other aromas. The bitterness was kept low in order showcase the malt. In order to lend additional character, we brewed with 120 lb. of Tupelo honey. Remember the honey character won't come through as a sweetness. It will be noticed mostly in the nose as a distinct yet delicate honey aroma. |
DetailsOriginal Gravity: 13.0°P (1.052 specific gravity)Bitterness Units: 20 IBU's Alcohol: about 5.0% ABV Malt Used: Pale malt, CaraPils, Special B, Wheat malt Hops Used: Tettnang, Crystal |
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