Settle a fermentaion debate?

With stars in my eyes and a hopeful heart I recently brewed an all grain Honey DIPA. As a person who has never fermented honey before, I went to a friend with a few questions and eventually asked for his opinion on how long to ferment my beautiful baby.

My initial thoughts were if I let it ferment for around 10-14 days and take a refract reading I would probably be pretty close.

My friend, however, thinks that because the honey makes up a large percentage of the fermentable sugars (~16.6%) we should let it sit on the yeast cake for 5-7 weeks and even feed it nutrients.

His claim is that it is similar to a braggot because of its high honey content and must be fermented and aged in a similar way.


The Honey DIPA bill was comprised of 10 lbs of grain and 2 lbs of honey for a 5 gal batch.

I used California Ale WLP001.

Its been fermenting at 74*F~ for 6 days now and its still bubbling 8-10 times a minute.

What do you guys think?

Cheers!

Honey should be fermented longer than other sugars. I think 5-7 weeks might be a bit long, but 2 weeks is not enough.

Honey is highly fermentable. I can't imagine it taking much longer than any other fermentation. I did a honey brown that had two pounds of honey and it was done in just under two weeks. Just take gravity readings. They tell all.

Rambleon said:

Honey is highly fermentable. I can't imagine it taking much longer than any other fermentation. I did a honey brown that had two pounds of honey and it was done in just under two weeks. Just take gravity readings. They tell all.

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Right. It's low in nutrients, so a sack mead (straight honey) needs nutrients added. But in beer wort, which has plenty of nutrients, the honey is a simple sugar and should ferment quickly just like any other sugar.

2 pounds of honey isn't a huge amount. The beer is probably nearly done.

And 74 is pretty warm for Wlp001- I'd try to keep it at 70 degrees (beer temp) or under.

Yooper said:

Right. It's low in nutrients, so a sack mead (straight honey) needs nutrients added. But in beer wort, which has plenty of nutrients, the honey is a simple sugar and should ferment quickly just like any other sugar.

2 pounds of honey isn't a huge amount. The beer is probably nearly done.

And 74 is pretty warm for Wlp001- I'd try to keep it at 70 degrees (beer temp) or under.

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Damn yoop your fast. Was just about to add the 74 degree thing.. I refresh and u got it.
Damn. You go girl.

Yooper said:

Right. It's low in nutrients, so a sack mead (straight honey) needs nutrients added. But in beer wort, which has plenty of nutrients, the honey is a simple sugar and should ferment quickly just like any other sugar.

2 pounds of honey isn't a huge amount. The beer is probably nearly done.

And 74 is pretty warm for Wlp001- I'd try to keep it at 70 degrees (beer temp) or under.

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Thanks Yooper! I'll make that adjustment straight away. My OG was 1.072 and I am aiming to get down to a super dry 1.008. I'll post back in a few days after I take a refract reading.

I'll post back in a few days after I take a refract reading.

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Use a hydrometer to get your readings after fermentation has started.

beergolf said:

Use a hydrometer to get your readings after fermentation has started.

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I use a refractometer.

ZackOMalley said:

I use a refractometer.

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They are not accurate in the presence of alcohol.

Once fermentation has started, the refractometer will no longer accurately read the sugar content of a sample because alcohol is now present. If you are using the refractometer for a final reading calculations are needed.

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beergolf said:

They are not accurate in the presence of alcohol.

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This is the best correction chart I've found....

http://seanterrill.com/2011/04/07/refractometer-fg-results/

Denny said:

This is the best correction chart I've found....

http://seanterrill.com/2011/04/07/refractometer-fg-results/

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Great chart! I typically use both a hydro and refract reading, do the conversions, and compare.