BeerBorg

I brewed this recipe this past weekend as-is: http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/prod ... _Cream_Ale

But am wondering, what does the 1/2C of honey add? I mean, why honey, and not just table sugar/booster/UME to increase ABV. I figure it has some characteristic that is different from sugar or booster, etc.

It thins out the brew. 1/2 cup on brew day will leave none to extremely little of a honey taste. It will add a small amount to the ABV in the end. IMHO, u could keep the honey in the cabinet for addition to some tea or cooking additions and replace it with sugar. Sugar will do the same thing, add a small amount of ABV and thin it out a little bit. Some will say it adds taste, I tried it a few times and not once could I detect any honey in the brew. Again, IMHO.

I replaced the honey with extra light dme, and ended up really happy with my choice. Creamy, full body beer.

Daddy Jim's Cream Ale
---------------------
Brewer:
Style: Cream Ale
Batch: 2.14 galExtract

Characteristics
---------------
Recipe Gravity: 1.051 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 16 IBU
Recipe Color: 4° SRM
Estimated FG: 1.013
Alcohol by Volume: 4.9%
Alcohol by Weight: 3.9%

Ingredients
-----------
Extra Light DME 0.50 lb, Extract, Extract
Mr. Beer BrewMax Pale - LME 0.55 lb, Extract, Extract
Mr. Beer/Coopers Patriot American Lager1.87 lb, Extract, Extract

Mr. Beer/Coopers Patriot American Lager1.00 oz, Pellet, 5 minutes

FrozenInTime wrote:Some will say it adds taste, I tried it a few times and not once could I detect any honey in the brew. Again, IMHO.

Well, based on my experiences with adding fruit puree, I'm doubting I'll detect any honey flavor, either. Oh well, we'll see, I guess.

You can steep some honey malt if you want honey flavor. Just a few ounces in an LBK-sized batch.