Yankee Brew News Archive

Ask the Beer Doc

Originally Published: 07/95

By: Dr. Connard Brasseur

Ask the Beer Doc

By Dr. Connard Brasseur

Dear Dr. Brasseur,

Have you priced malt extracts lately? Man, this is getting to be an expensive pastime! Give me those cheap old cans of Blue Ribbon malt any day.

Name Withheld by Request,

Danvers, MA

Dear guy with a wicked strange name,

It is getting a bit pricey out there, especially with all these trendy pisscutter homebrewers now. You see them all parking their damn Volvos and Masaydees cars front of the homebrew shop. You know the guys I'm talking about, they got those damn Thankful Dead teddy bear stickers all over the windows! If it's any consolation, just remember, we were homebrewers when homebrewing wasn't cool.

Dr. C.B.

Hey Doc,

Have you heard about that guy Joe Kennedy down in Washington D.C.? He's talking about labeling beer with stuff like WARNING: Don't mix alcohol and illegal drugs. What do you think?

Al Live Free or Die Conti

Berlin, NH

Dear Al,

From what I've heard, I think HE ought to mix both, and leave everyone else alone. By the way Al, that's a wicked good nickname.

Dear Beer Doc,

My dad and I want to try brewing a honey beer. Can you help out with a recipe? Please include hopping schedules, IBUs and gravity readings.

Many thanks,

Rudy Grabowski, Springfield, MA

Dear Rudy Grababrewski,

You're not one of those damn MIT beer weirdos, by any chance? You know the guys I'm talking about; they write articles all the time talking that technical bullshit. Last time they wrote me, I told them to knock it off or I'd drive down there and give them a wicked beating. So forget about

all that technical crap and just brew. Like Gosselin keeps saying, it's only beer.

Now as for honey recipes, that's another thing. We got lots of honey up this way, but it's kind of tricky to get your hands on it. Sure, it's easy to go down to Greenville and hit the IGA for a couple of pounds.

But being the nature-loving cheap bastard that I am, I prefer to get mine for free--right from the source.

Charlie White Owl's father, Horace Hawk Nose, was an expert at getting the honey out of the hive without getting stung more than a couple of times. Horace used to light up a stogie, stuff that big beak of his into the hive and then start blowing smoke out of his nose. This used to

scare the living crap out of every bee in there. Maybe they thought he was some kind of smoking anteater or something invading the hive, but whatever it was, they got the hell out of there quick. Just to be on the safe side however, Charlie and I used to stand a good distance away.

We'd take this big bucket of honeycombs back to the brewkettle, clean them out, and then add about a pound per 5 gallon batch. Not only does honey beer make a great Labor Day thirst quencher, it's a great brew to take fishing with you. Here's our recipe:

Hawk Nose Honey Beer - 5 gallons

2 cans Superbrau Light Malt Extract (hopped)

1 pound honey

1 1/2 oz. German hops (Charlie and I like Tettnanger)

Red Star or Munton & Fison Ale Yeast

(Editor's note: Wyeast 1056 or 1007 also work fine)

Moss (either Irish or French Canadian is OK)

Nasty cigar (size of Ted Williams bat or equivalent)

Light cigar to scare away bees from honey and malt extract. Dissolve extract and honey in two gallons of hot water, bring to boil. Add moss and 3/4 oz. of hops, boil for 10 minutes, then add remaining hops, boil for 5 more minutes and remove from heat. Add three gallons of wicked ice

cold Somerset County spring water (you can use that stuff they sell in the grocery store if you want, just put it in the freezer an hour or so before you begin brewing). When beer reaches 75 degrees or lower, pitch yeast. Ferment and bottle as usual. Makes 20 homejugs (quarts) of beer.