Christmas Ale honey addition

**Blackhawkbrew** · 09-01-2008, 03:35 AM

I will be brewing a couple Brewer's Best Christmas Ale kits soon and was thinking of adding some honey. I don't know how much for a full boil and when to add it.

Any thoughts?

**Coastarine** · 09-01-2008, 03:37 AM

I'm not sure what you mean by "how much for a full boil". Honey has been discussed at length. Without hearing the rest of the details of your brew, I'll tell you this: there is only one thing that I do with honey and that is add it directly to the primary fermenter. I've added it at high krausen or after fermentation is done. These are recent beers that haven't been bottled yet but I can tell you this much, they aren't infected and this is the best way to get the flavors and aromas from honey.

As for how much, I use beersmith and generally use 10% honey for a subtle note and 20-30% if honey is going to be one of the center stage flavors. This usually translates to 1lb or 2lbs, respectively.

Have you considered honey malt?

A recent thread that comes to mind: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/adding-honey-fermentation-stopped-77193/

**BigKahuna** · 09-01-2008, 03:41 AM

WARNING! DOn't boil that honey! (Search it if you're confused)

I added about a pound to my Kolsch 3 days after pitching yeast. That's right...just dump it right in there...it'll be fine. It's got a very nice honey flavor, but if it were any bigger I'd almost want to do 2#. Adding the honey after a day or 3 gives you a super battalion of yeast to go to work on it, and it should only take a few extra days in the primary to finish.

** Good Call on the link there coastarine.

**Coastarine** · 09-01-2008, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigKahuna

WARNING! DOn't boil that honey! (Search it if you're confused)

I added about a pound to my Kolsch 3 days after pitching yeast. That's right...just dump it right in there...it'll be fine. It's got a very nice honey flavor, but if it were any bigger I'd almost want to do 2#. Adding the honey after a day or 3 gives you a super battalion of yeast to go to work on it, and it should only take a few extra days in the primary to finish.

And most of the conclusions that I have made about honey have come from this guy.

**Blackhawkbrew** · 09-01-2008, 12:30 PM

Thanks Coastarine and Kahuna! I guess I should have taken the time to do a quick search, but it was getting late.

So I think I'll add about a pound after about 3 days in primary. This will add a few more days of fermentation? I read in the suggested thread that it was still bubbling after 3 MONTHS!? Will I have to wait that long? Kahuna, you mentioned that it would only add a couple extra days?

Coastarine, I was under the assumption that you added the honey to the boil, that's why I mentioned the "full boil" comment in my original post (didn't know if that made a difference).

Thanks again for the help!

**Coastarine** · 09-01-2008, 01:50 PM

Mine haven't taken anywhere near that long. The honey does ferment a little slower, but maybe an extra 3-4 days.

**BigKahuna** · 09-01-2008, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coastarine

Mine haven't taken anywhere near that long. The honey does ferment a little slower, but maybe an extra 3-4 days.

That's kind of what I've experienced. My Kolsch bubbled for about 5 days after honey addition, but I'd planned on 14 days in Primary anyway, I still had stable gravity by day 13 - 14 even with the addition of honey.

The guy that had a 3 month ferment had already racked his brew to the seconday, thus leaving behind the armada of yeast that we are talking about having in your primary.

Honey is extremely slow fermenter on it's own. But with the nutrients, and yeast volume that is available in a primary combined with the nutrients that the malts provide, honey in primary really breaks down pretty quickly.