What is with you guys? Back in December I had an Idea of how I could use an unwanted package of fermentables. It was going into the trash before I rescued it with the plan to brew it up. My contemplation of what the result would be led me to reach out to fellow home brewers with three questions:
1) Has anyone tried using this glaze packet for brewing?
Apparently no one had
2) Should I up the IBU's to balance the maltodextrin sweetness?
No response.
3) What the heck is Honey powder?
No response.
What I did get is warnings of how it probably won't work. Even Larry who is usually optimistic to a fault, advised cautionary taste tests. Beware of preservatives. Not worth the try. Just pass on it. Add it to the secondary.
So with no help from you guys, I brewed it up anyway, and waited until it was fermented out to report the results. It fermented beautifully, with the only flaw, for lack of a better word, being that the spice part of the addition was subtle at best or imperceptible at worst. In the end, I have a fantastic American Brown Ale that will be consumed and enjoyed, I can assure you.
After reporting my findings I received another warning of how it will kill the yeast (1.008 FG by the way), a lengthy over-engineered process essay from Nosey on how I messed up and how I should have done it (Still love you Steve), and a response on how it would be easier to formulate my own spice regiment. What could be easier than opening a packet and dumping it in?
I know how to make a spice beer. If all I wanted was to make a spice beer I would have done that and left you guys out of the equation. What I didn't know is what this procedure would render.
The whole purpose of this endeavor was to see what effect, if any, that the addition of one "Ham Glaze Spice Packet" would have in a fermented beverage.
Result: Little to none.
I had planned to send each and every one of you a six pack, but now upon reflection, as the "Little Red Hen" of Ham Glaze Beer, I will keep it all to myself.
Don't you feel foolish now?