Honkers ale was one of my first craft beers. I don't think I really loved it when I was first drinking it back in the late 2000s, but I think that's because I didn't really appreciate it and hadn't developed the taste for that style of beer. Unfortunately, it left the market around 2017 so when I attempted to brew this again, all I had to go on was memory. I watched a YouTube video from the brewery and looked at an archived page listing the ingredients, but didn't have a lot else to work with in developing a recipe. I was under the impression the beer was on the maltier, rather than hoppy, side. So when the beer returned in 2024, at least in a few markets, and I was able to buy and taste some, I was sort of surprised. It wasn't how I remembered the actual beer tasting. But surely the brewers at Goose Island know what they're doing, and it's just my faulty memory. Or maybe their recipe changed. Actually, it appears to have changed at some point, as the current site lists Pilgrim as one of the hops. Either way, my beer was good, and so is theirs, and I'm happy that this beer has returned.
Recipe (Brewed May 2024 and consumed before I bought the re-launched version in October 2024):
6.75 lbs pale 2 row
4 oz crystal 20
2 oz roasted barley
4 oz white wheat
1 oz Styrian Goldings (3.7 AA) at 60 minutes
1 oz Styrian Goldings at 30 minutes
Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire
