Hey friends! There’s a new beer in town and here’s the buzz…
We’ve had a little bit of fun over the years making beers and using honey as one of the ingredients. Sometime in the past year, Brian and I were discussing possibly new beers for the upcoming year. Brian’s really enjoyed making lagers, and a helles (pronounced hell-ess) was on his lager list. I enjoy a good lager as much as anyone, but I also am always trying to think of something unique about each beer we make. I suggested that we add honey to the helles and call it “honeybee helles”.
Our graphic designer, Brooke Kipp of Grindstone Design, knocked it out of the park with the Honeybee Helles label design which features honeybees and Missouri wildflowers (which she knows really well thanks to her family’s business–Hamilton Native Outpost).
Todd & Kristy Fudge of Licking MO Honey
About the time we were finalizing our beer release plans for 2024, Todd Fudge of Licking MO Honey contacted me about using local honey in a beer. He was able to provide us with a pail of wildflower honey from local bees! (In the past, we have had to get wildflower honey out of Texas because we couldn’t find a local supplier that could provide us with the amount we needed.)
Honeybee Helles arrived at the BARn the first weekend of March…and just about everybody came to try it and brought a friend. Chrome 45 raised the BARn roof. Licking MO Honey had a table with information about beekeeping and cute little honeybears full of more delicious honey for sale. It was a wild but fun day.
So here it is…Honeybee Helles, our spin on the classic German-style helles using local honey from the Fudge family apiary in Licking, Missouri. This beer is golden in color from the honey with a very smooth finish and a hint of honey. This is a perfect beer for spring!
