Found Collection

 Has anyone made a batch of Papazains Rocky Racoon Honey lager? I'm wondering
if it makes much difference as to the type of honey one uses. What sort of
flavor will this beer have? I have made a batch and am waiting for it to bottle
condition. Does this beer need a lot of aging? Also, I fermented my beer at
room temperature ~65 deg F, will this affect the flavor or must this beer be
done at lagering temperatures?
  This beer is highly praised by Papazain and is also very simple and
economical to make so I couldnt resist but I'd like to know what I should
expect.

I hope yours turns out better than mine did. I was very disappointed.

Mine is a year or more old now and it still has an unpleasant bite to it.

I suspect the main reason mine didn't turn out is exactly this reason.
I don't have a beer fridge and any lager styles I try don't turn out,
whereas my ales are usually quite decent.

One Papazian recipe I can recommend (especially since cherry season
is coming up) is "Cherries in the Snow". The sour cherries give
the beer a slight cherry flavour and a refreshing tartness.

Yes

I'm sure it does.  Everything else makes subtle differences.  However, I've
only tasted the one batch, so I can't tell you what to look for.

To tell you the truth, I was less ecstatic about the honey beer I tried than
Charlie seems to be about his.  It was pretty decent, but didn't have anything
really stunning.  A refresher sort of beer.

No more than usual.  I tried it first when one would expect it to be green,
and it was. A couple weeks later, it was fine.

Of course it will affect the flavor.  The real question you need to ask is will
it taste _good_ if you brew it at room temperature.  This I can't really say.
Hang on, what's the date?  18 June?  _My_ room temp batch of honey beer will
be ready for first try tomorrow.  You see, I also couldn't resist the praises
sung in  Papazian.  My brew buddies' batch was pretty decent, but only the
third batch they've made so I didn't think it was fair to judge by that alone.
Not that it wasn't a fine beer on it's own, worthy of my trying-- if you're
reading this, guys, I'm not flaming you here.  But the high praise paid in
everyone's favorite book didn't seem justified, and another experiment by a
slightly more experienced brewer was in order.

I'll post tomorrow about the second try, OK?

Cheers!
Robert

  I brewed a batch last year and wasn't crazy about it either. It too had that
bite.

  I would agree with that. I regret only making two batches last year. It
didn't hang around long. My all-time favorite CP recipe is Winky Dinky Maerzen.
I've made several batches, and found that an important key is to avoid Hop
pellets. I don't know why, but I don't think the batches with pellets came out
as well as those with leaf. I only use Hallertauer in it so I don't know how
other hops would do.

Steve

Well, as I mentioned yesterday, I had a batch of ale-yeast honey beer coming
up for first bottle today.  I'd had a friend's honey beer before and found it
less than spectacular-- not bad, mind, but nothing special.  Being a bit more
experienced than my buds, I tried my own (subsitituting ale for lager, 'cause
after all, it's summer and I don't have a lagering fridge).  Had to see what
the fuss was about.

My verdict (after two test pints, a month and a week after bottling)-- ehh.
Again, it was a pleasant enough beer.  Very light in color, lots of esters
in the taste (as one would expect with that much adjunct sugar-- honey-- added)
a touch on the bitter side (which doesn't bother me).  I was extra special
***about sterility, and I'm no slouch usually, so I'm pretty sure it tastes
like I asked it to taste.  I'm sure my beer buddies and I will make short work
of downing it all.  But it once again begs the question-- why the fuss?  Has
anyone had any of this that was outstanding?

Drinking in good health
Brother Robert