Use of non pasturized honey in beer recipes

I have a source of raw honey here and want to use some in the next beer I brew. Not a lot of information out there on the use of non pasturized honey, or not much I could find and would like some help on this. I do the standard 5 gallon recipes and want to use honey in a pilsner I will be doing next.

My understanding is that if you add it at flame out, mix it in and let it sit for a few minutes at that temp beofre you start to cool the wort, you will keep most of the honey aroma, etc, and kill any nasties in it. I haven't used it in a brew, but this is just what I have read/heard.

I did add it to wine once, just straight into the primary - but that was store bought honey and pasturized.

Thanks for this info. Sorta what I have read, but no one seems to want to talk about flavors retained using this procedure. I figure a bit of honey aroma will go along just fine with a pilsner.

Some raw honey has bee parts and comb in it, so you'll want to ask your supplier. If it does, I'm not sure you want to dump it straight into the boil kettle. Or in the very least siphon from the brew kettle to the primary so you minimize bee part transfer into the primary.

bee parts will probably fall out with break material in the primary.

heat does destroy some of the subtle flavors and aromas, even added at flameout. many mead makers like myself won't heat our raw honey, ever. others do.

for a beer, I'd add it at flameout or during the chilling process so it can be mixed in evenly.

its not a huge risk of contamination.

My supplier centrifuges the honey before I get it, so the parts and pieces should be minimized. I understand two pounds is about the correct amount for a 5 gallon batch. Does anyone know if more hops needs to be added to make a pilsner?

I like to mix the honey with just enough water to dissolve it and add it to primary about 3-5 days into fermentation. I never heat honey.

I add it straight to the primary after the bulk of fermentation is complete, stirring to make sure it mixes in. It is amazing how much more honey character you get when it isn't exposed to heat or the CO2 scrubbing of primary fermentation. Just added a pound of wild flower from a local supplier into a 1.075 porter/stout that had some apple wood smoked malt in it.

Speaking from a microbiological standpoint(rather than direct experience) honey carries little chance of contamination. The high sugar content prevents bacterial growth, much like the high sugar content of jams/jellies preserves them so any bacteria in it if made properly will be extremely few in number.

However, that is not to say honey could not transport a germ from an unclean container into the wort so make sure you use it either directly from the bottle or only put it in sanitized containers.

Raw honey is naturally sterile, so you should have NO problems with it contaminating your wort. They actually found perfectly preserved honey in King Tut's tomb, which was still good several thousand years later. However, once the honey is diluted in water it is then open to infection.

DilvishTheDamned said:

Raw honey is naturally sterile, so you should have NO problems with it contaminating your wort. They actually found perfectly preserved honey in King Tut's tomb, which was still good several thousand years later. However, once the honey is diluted in water it is then open to infection.

Click to expand...

That simply isn't true, raw honey often contains botulism spores (which is why it is reccomended that you don't feed it to infants - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/infant-botulism/HQ00854 ), as well as yeast and other bacteria. That said, you are correct that these microbes won't grow due to the osmotic pressure of that much sugar in undiluted honey (once you add it to beer though there is some risk that the alcohol already present after primary fermentation will generally take care of).

Man didn't realize how much debate there is about honey and when to add to beer. Wish I would've research this before I bought a 2# bottle of raw honey this weekend to use in beer. Do I add at flameout and risk losing flavor/aroma or do I add to the primary fermenter and risk infecting the batch? I think the best thing is not to use it.

You're just not going to infect the beer with raw honey. Meadmakers never heat their honey and have zero problems. Add it after the beer has finished primary. By that time, the beer will be low enough in pH and high enough in alcohol to further prevent infection.