Honey Porter question?

dregus · 01-06-2009, 05:10 AM

I am going to be brewing a porter that I have done before a few times. I wanted to see how adding Honey to the mix would change the beer.

I was going to add 1 or 2 lbs of honey to the 60 min boil at about 20 minutes.

Anyone out there have any other suggestions about when to add the honey, how it might change the beer, or anything else that I might need to know.

Corey_James · 01-06-2009, 05:22 AM

Good question, I just brewed one on Sunday and added 1lb @ 60 for the boil.

dregus · 01-06-2009, 05:59 AM

I think I am going to try to add it near the end of the boil for more flavor I hope....let em know how yours turns out

Shawn Hargreaves · 01-06-2009, 04:07 PM

I doubt you'll get much noticable honey flavor in a porter, regardless of when you add it. It's a subtle flavor, and a porter has a lot going on already! The main effect will be a thinner, drier beer with higher alcohol.

Honey is actually a great way of boosting alcohol and drying out a beer: I find a pound or so produces less unpleasant yeast side effects than you'd get from a comparable amount of sugar.

Generally the later you add honey the better in terms of not boiling off the floral aromas. I usually add mine at flameout.

dregus · 01-06-2009, 04:41 PM

Thanks for the info...I will try adding it at the end of the boil...

Fat Guy Brewing · 01-07-2009, 03:23 AM

Do a search on the site for 'honey' and read some of the posts. The best time to add it is after initial fermentation has settled down, after 2-4 days in the primary.

DD2000GT · 01-07-2009, 12:47 PM

I am almost done with my keg of Porter that I "added" honey to. I wanted the honey flavor and aroma to come through as much as possible so I added it very late in the boil. I believe I only boiled it for 2 minutes or so and only added 1 pound. The longer the boil, the less flavor you will get out of it. Be aware that yeast will ferment almost all of the honey, so 1 lb. in 5 gallons of beer will give it very low amounts of honey flavor.

Mine turned out great - just enough honey flavor to taste if you are looking for it, but not enough to overpower the Porter.

**Hegh** · 01-07-2009, 06:59 PM

Might want to check out the Mead forum, which includes information about 'braggot', which is a malt/honey mix. The general wisdom seems to be that you shouldn't boil the honey. Bacteria can't really survive in such a concentrated sugar solution, so it's not thought of as an infection danger.

LewBrew · 01-07-2009, 11:48 PM

Just started drinking my honey porter after 3 weeks in primary and 4 weeks in the bottle...outstanding!!

I put 3lbs in near the end of the boil and it is delicious!

8.4% abv