What have I created?

Well, I tried to make what I think is gonna be a triple styled beer, but I think it's gonna end up being Meade like. My OG is a whopping 1.102! I'm using wyeast 1214. I put nearly 3 lb s of honey in along with 14 lbs of Pilsen grain. Will this end up being so sweet that it won't be drinkable, or do y'all think I can salvage this with time?

Is this one of those "it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission" type of things?

How much yeast did you pitch? Just one packet?

I reckon that if you pitched enough yeast this is going to be a dry, intensely fusel quad of sorts. You know they usually use candied sugar not honey.

I smacked the pack till it swelled about 3 days out then made a starter. Actually I used some candy sugar as well. I was just disappointed in my last attempt at this same recipe because it came out almost tasteless.
Just wanted to try the honey. I like beers with the honey taste, like Urthel Hyburnus Quentum

Did you boil the honey? I've heard that you lose the flavor that way. From what I hear, it is better to add it to secondary (after the main part of fermentation is done, in a beer this big). No personal experience.

I recently made a Mad Elf clone and boiled 2 lbs of honey for the last 15 mins of the boil. The honey taste is still definitely noticeable. I have no experience in putting honey in secondary, but it seems like it wouldn't dissolve as well without some heat added to it?

newtobrew36 said:

I recently made a Mad Elf clone and boiled 2 lbs of honey for the last 15 mins of the boil. The honey taste is still definitely noticeable. I have no experience in putting honey in secondary, but it seems like it wouldn't dissolve as well without some heat added to it?

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The yeast would rise to the occasion breaking down and dissolving the honey into solution.

Yeh, I've read the same. I did however add to the boil at the last 15 minutes. My total boil time was about 1hr 20 minutes. I was just shocked at the OG being so high. I'm wondering if it'll be too sweet and if I could dry hop it to help balance it a little. I'm gonna primary it for 3 weeks then sample it and switch it over to secondary for a minimum of 1 month. If it turns out like I'm planning, I may just keg it and make another batch to secondary for several months.

Perfect thread (since I cant find the old one... and don't want to start a new one)

I added 2 lbs of honey to the boil of an oktoberfest best brewers kit.. came out with a unique almost Belgian flavor.. but crisper.

Doing same recipe again, this time adding to secondary after the D-rest. Will I need a second D-rest ? OR will just letting it ferment in the secondary for the 2-3 weeks in the cold will be enough ?

I am doing this as an experiment to see the differences in both types, and to see if I can get a more sweet note with more honey flavor in the final product than the dryer crisp Belgian ale flavor I had in the first one.

Any tips, hints, warnings..?

That's the question I was asking. I was just so surprised at how damn high the OG was. Hopelly it will taste like a Belgian. That's my goal!!

Honey malt for more honey flavor, honey is 100 percent fermentable, so not a lot is left at the end.

As for what the beer is, tripel? Quad? It will be lighter colored so that is a big factor. But if you get that thing to finish fermenting the abv will be out of here so. How about a Belgian Quint?

Lots of time will help the flavor, maybe putting it in a secondary with something and just let it sit for a few months? Fusels can be hard to get rid of so don't let it ferment to hot, it's already going to be paint thinner

I have tried "Honey Malt" and never have I drank a batch made with it that I thought it truly had honey in it. To me its like using imitation Vanilla and not the real thing. It kind of has the sweetness and aroma of honey.. but its not truly honey. That to me is like saying I could make a Mead with Honey malt and no honey..

Anyway, I do have one tip.. make sure the spout on your secondary is closed when you transfer.. it avoids you losing a 1/3 of your batch or more. :smack:

Daffypuck said:

That's the question I was asking. I was just so surprised at how damn high the OG was. Hopelly it will taste like a Belgian. That's my goal!!

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Definitely added to my OG as well.. took my Oktoberfest from the 3-4% ABV range to the +7% range.

The extra 2 lbs I added to my Oktoberfest, you could taste I don't care what anyone else says about the honey disappearing, it does add to flavor and aroma somewhat. The 2lbs I added were from cheap grocery store processed clover honey as well, that on its own didn't have a lot of flavor or smell in the first place. So if you use more natural unprocessed honey you should see the flavors and aroma more.

That said, being that you added 3 lbs and your start was really high.. If you finish at 1.2 you will have a dry 8-11% beer. But you may not finish that high if your yeast can't take it.

I would say if you finish higher than 1.20 you will probably need to add Champagne yeast to carb if you are bottle conditioning.

Overall it should still be good, I find the honey softens the bite of the alcohol.. overall I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Naw, Im gonna keg this, then bottle a few from the keg to age.

I dont understand, why is the beer gonna be so "dry"?

And why exactly is it that it will be so high in fusels? Ive read that not letting the temp get too high or flucuate too much can help with that as well. Its fermenting at about 67-69 degrees.

Honey = Sugar ( Yeast <3 Sugar )

More sugar to ferment = More Alcohol

More Alcohol = thinner "drier" tasting beer.

But Not always.. if there are enough unfermented sugars they can smooth out the beer.

67-69 is good for an ale..

Mine are Oktoberfests and are Lagers so I ferment lower at 50 degrees or so.. then up to the MId-60s for a D-Rest at the end.

OG on my Oktoberfest/Marzens is supposed to be 1.060 and finish 1.016 for about a 4-5% beer, with the added honey I get up to 1.075 and still finish at about 1.016 for a ABV of about 7% if memory serves. Makes my Oktoberfest have a drier finish that I and others like. Added bonus more ABV :cross:

The first time I added honey at 15 minutes left in a boil I had a high FG. To overcome this I cold crashed and then brought the fermentation back up to 68 degrees, if I remember correctly, my FG was 1.014. It all depends on the yeast, I had used abbey ale yeast. The yeast will convert all of the honey before acting on the more complex sugars in the malt, potentially hitting the alcohol limit before reaching full potential. Whenever I use honey I balance it with crystal malt to overcome some of the dryness. I have had much better attenuation when adding honey to secondary. I had brewed 2 batches of a Saison recipe plus 2 lbs 12 oz of honey that year for New Years Eve two years ago, and friends still talk about it.

Well all seems good so far. It fermented,bubbled, for about 3.5 days. Just checked it and the airator is static. Im gonna let it sit for 2 more weeks in the primary then move it to secondary. Ill carb a small sample and see how it tastes and decide if I should maybe dryhop it in the secondary. Im scared it wont have enough hops in it to counter all the sugar. I only used one hops during the entire bboil. Im still new at brewing and learning.

It won't be high in fusels unless it ferments hot,I was just saying to watch that temp. Because with the already high abv, if you throw fusels in there it will have an unpleasant alcohol taste, especially the first few months.

As far as it being dry, it could from all the honey. It might be an issue of the body of the beer with the honey not leaving behind a lot of unfermentables. I treally comes down to how well your yeast do. If you finish say above 1.020 then it may seem sweet even with all the alcohol. If you get below that it would be better but you might have to repitch. You should also taste it, leaving a little sweetness might counter act the alcohol.

Just remember 67-69 on the outside is well into the 70s in the middle of your fermenter.

Funny thing about reality.. coincidences happen a lot.

Last night at my local bar.. (Which BTW has a wickedly good selection of Beer) and they had Ommegangs three philosophers Quad Belgian on tap.

I have to say that is VERY VERY close to what I have been creating with my Brewers Best Oktoberfest and 2-3lbs of honey. ONly difference is mine is a slight lighter and cripers. Whcih I would assume is to the lager yeast and lagering I have done on it.

So go find that and I think you will have a good idea of what you made will taste like.