Tasting Day: Honey Orange Wheat

Recipe and Brewday here.

It is hot in Bangalore and this is a good time for a light crispy beer, say, a session ale or a Hefe.

I haven’t made a Hefe in some time but I did brew a Honey Orange Wheat a few weeks back and I think it spent enough time bottled up and going by my calculations it would have been carbonated well. And so I cooled a bottle of the Honey Orange Wheat the other day.

The beer poured with a strong white head and which slowly settled down to half a finger thick head. The yeast cleared up well and this showed in the beer. This beer wasnt fermented with a wheat yeast and so the traditional clove or banana aroma were missing. What immediately hit my nose was the strong orange notes.

The first sip was revealing: wheat, orange and malty sweetness, of which orange was the strongest and lasted the longest in the mouth. I tasted an inherently strong alcohol note later which was what a late addition of 100 grams of honey contributed to the wort.

Although the orange aromas were enjoyable at first, it became an issue later on because it was overpowering in every sip. This was when I realized that I overdid it with the orange peels. I have to tone it down if I make another batch and I believe it is best to go with peels from one orange instead of two.