New Brewer from Lancaster, PA
 

Just starting out! I'm so relieved to have an awesome forum for some guidance. I've been hanging out in this forum and have learned so much.
I haven't started my first batch yet but I've been reading and collecting my supplies. Any advise on a secondary fermenting and the use of honey for fermentation and priming would be appreciated. I have two car boys. One is 6.5 gallons and I'd like to transfer to the second carboy for further fermentation to minimize sediment in the bottles. Not sure if this is a wise idea, or if there is a better way to keep the sediment out. Worried about carbonation and fermentation in the secondary.

welcome to the obsession! Carboys are fine for both fermenting and secondary. You may want to use a blowoff tube for the primary. I ferment in a bucket and have never had the problem of blowoffs personally. The secondary is just a clearing tank in actuallity and just helps drop out most of the remaining sediment. Haven't ever used honey for carbonation so will let someone else comment on that. Alot of people don't even use a secondary. I do if I have plenty of time and there is still something to drink while waiting otherwise just keg it. Have fun and enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I am a novice, so I may be very wrong.

I have made a honey red batch yesterday and am planning on priming with honey as well. I see alot of measurements for honey in LBS and oz and not something simple like "cups".
I used 1 lbs (which is 1 cup) of honey in the wort after I removed it from the boil, I stirred it in and then chilled the wort. From what I have found and read yeast will convert the honey. For priming I am going to use 4 oz.(1/2 a cup). This is for a 5 gallon batch..... I will be watching this thread because honey is FTW! Good Luck

Thanks for the advise.
I may try the bucket instead.
Seems like the more popular way to go.
Thanks again!

Zamial,
That is a huge help on the honey. I think you're on to something.
I've heard similar measurements.
Please let me know how it turns out for you.

Welcome to HBT! I think you will find that small amounts of Honey adds very little flavor to a brew - but it does kick up the gravity readings. It is highly fermentable, but probably a little more slow to completely ferment.

What I'm trying to say is that if you want to add some honey flavor to your brew, adding a little bit at bottling time isn't going to do much in the way of added flavor, and will probably increase the time until the beer carbs up.

That said - it's your beer. Enjoy your brewing & try out whatever you like.

XXguy,
Thanks for the feedback.
It's good to hear the pros and cons.
Sounds like you've had experience with it.
I've been wanting to try a rich organic clover honey mostly for priming.
How long would you recommend for proper carbonation?
Thanks

I'm not the expert on it, other than trying what you're asking about & failing to get any real flavor from the honey added at priming.

There are recipes in the recipe database that use honey. I'd tell you to look through there if you want to try to get more information & ideas with proven results.

XXguy,
Hey there's an idea! Sorry, I'm kinda new to the forum so I guess I have
some more exploring to do.
Thanks again!

No problem - HBT has a ton of info already written, just finding it & learning it is half the battle.

Good luck with it !