Indeed Brewing Company: Mexican Honey Imperial Lager clone

Indeed Brewing Company: Mexican Honey Imperial Lager clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.078 FG = 1.019
IBU = 17 SRM = 6 ABV = 8.2%

This golden-yellow lager with a subtle malt backbone is packed with floral notes of orange blossom and citrus thanks to the use of Mexican orange blossom honey. It has a bright hop flavor and features notes of graham cracker and honeycomb.

Ingredients
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) Pilsner malt
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) Vienna malt
3 lbs. (1.4 kg) Mexican orange blossom honey (whirlpool)
25 AAU Amarillo® hops (5 min.) (2.5 oz./71 g at 10% alpha acids)
Wyeast 2000 (Budvar Lager) or White Labs WLP800 (Pilsner Lager) yeast
2⁄3 cup (133 g) dextrose (if priming)

Step by Step
Mill the grains and mix with 3.75 gallons (14.2 L) of 164 °F (73 °C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 152 °F (67 °C). Hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear. Sparge the grains with 3 gallons (11.3 L) water and top up as necessary to obtain 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops according to the ingredient list. After removing from heat, stir the wort into a whirlpool, adding/dissolving honey in the process. Let the hot wort settle for 10 minutes. Chill the wort to 48 °F (9 °C), aerate, and pitch yeast. Ferment at 50 °F (10 °C) for 7 days, then let the temperature rise to 60 °F (16 °C) over 7 days. Crash the beer to 35 °F (2 °C) for 48 hours, and bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.25 volumes. After carbonation, lager at near-freezing temperatures for at least six weeks before serving.

Extract option: Substitute the Pilsner and Vienna malts in the all-grain recipe with 4 lbs. (1.8 kg) Pilsen liquid malt extract and 4 lbs. (1.8 kg) Briess Goldpils® Vienna liquid malt extract. Bring 5.4 gallons (20.4 L) of water to approximately 162 °F (72 °C). Add malt extracts while stirring, and stir until completely dissolved. Bring the wort to a boil for 60 minutes. Follow the remaining portion of the all-grain recipe.

Tips for Success:
You may adjust the strength of this beer to your own preference — so long as the ratio of grain to honey is 1 pound of honey for every 4 pounds of grain (0.45 kg of honey for every 1.8 kg of grain). Also, be sure to tightly control the initial fermentation temperatures: With a large infusion of simple sugars from the honey, fermentation can yield fusel alcohols if not properly controlled. Ferment on the cooler side of the lager range to ensure that the beer doesn’t taste “hot.”