Sweeter Than Honey

I brewed this beer at the request of my girlfriend. I named this beer after her because she is so sweet. This is my first attempt at formulating a beer recipe.

Brewer:	Stephen Spinogatti		Email:	-
Beer:	Sweeter Than Honey		Style:	American Brown
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	5 gallons
Color:	43 HCU (~20 SRM)		Bitterness:	35 IBU
OG:	1.060		FG:	1.017
Alcohol:	5.6% v/v (4.4% w/w)
Water:	All water was run through a charcoal filter and boiled.
Grain:	.5 lb. American crystal 40L 2 oz. American chocolate .5 lb. Belgian Special B
Steep:	Filtered water and specialty grain was put into boiling pot and brought to 170°F and allowed to rest there for 20 mins. Then the grain was removed and discarded.
Boil:	60 minutes	SG 1.100	3 gallons
	6.6 lb. Light malt extract 1 lb. Wildflower Honey
	After removing grain added malt extract and brought to a boil. Added 1 oz Centennial hops, after 30 mins added 1 oz Spalt hops, after another 25 mins added another 1 oz Spalt hops. After 1 hour total removed from heat and chilled in an ice water bath until the wort reached 80°F. added sanitized water and wort to fermentor to make 5 gallons total. Pitched yeast, aerated and put onto dark closet.
Hops:	1 oz. Centennial (9.5% AA, 60 min.) 1 oz. Spalt (5% AA, 30 min.) 1 oz. Spalt (5% AA, 5 min.)
Yeast:	Re-hydrated Danstar Nottingham yeast.
Log:	Brewed on 11/25/07. Primary fermentation for 6 days at 68°F Racked to secondary on 12/1/07 and added 1 lb of pasteurized wildflower honey. Because of the honey the IBUs are off they should actually be 39 IBUs. Secondary fermentation for 2 weeks at 68°F. Bottled on 12/15/07.
Carbonation:	2.7 volumes	Corn Sugar: 5.00 oz. for 5 gallons @ 68°F
	Racked to bottling bucket and added 5 oz corn sugar. Bottled and allowed to bottle condition for 2 weeks.
Tasting:	Overall I am very pleased this is my first attempt at formulating my own recipe and it came out great. It has a nice brown color and is pretty clear. Good hear retention with a thick frothy head and Belgian lacing. A good scent with a crisp malty taste. I can taste the honey in the background. Smooth hop profile with a good hop malt balance. Some problems are, a little too much carbonation, cut down on the priming sugar next time. A little cloudy, perhaps use some finings. Also perhaps use more honey and a dash more chocolate malt. and I should use some yeast nutrients when adding the honey. I think I have such a high final gravity because the honey didn’t ferment all the way. Overall 9 out of 10.

Recipe posted 01/07/08.