How many days until I add honey?

See subject.
Making a Belgian Style Ale, and adding honey to the primary.
I pitched the yeast last night and the krausen is starting to come up.
People talk about adding honey to primary, when would you guys suggest I do the adding?
I'm putting in 2lbs btw.

Honey typically goes into the boil. Never tried it on the cold side.

I would suggest adding at flameout so the honey can properly dissolve into the wort. Mix it in good and cool as per usual. You don't need to worry about boiling honey since it naturally had antiseptic qualities all on its own.

Since it is already too late for that, add it as soon as possible so the yeasties can assess the job at hand and hopefully chew through the honey.

I had read something about adding it to the primary, and the beer is already in there. So, it's too late to boil =(
Anyone have any suggestions now? lol =)

othevad said:

I had read something about adding it to the primary, and the beer is already in there. So, it's too late to boil =(
Anyone have any suggestions now? lol =)

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I think you can still add it at any time and I have read about people adding honey as late as secondary or even bottling or legging with it. If you are kegging you can add it late and it will fall to the bottom this is how some people add nice sweet honey flavor to their beer as they pull a pint.

You could probably boil it in some water (in order for it to mix well) and add it in small doses to your primary. Maybe .25lb at a time over a day or two so that you don't overwhelm the yeast. Might want to consider getting a yeast starter going though. That much fermentable sugar this late in the game will probably stress out the yeast.

I would add it right now while your yeast is most active. In the future, though, I think flameout is the way to go.

If I was in your position I would mix the honey with a small amount of distilled water (i.e. sanitary water) to make it a little less viscous - I think 4-6 ounces of water would be plenty to thin it out. Then I'd drizzle it into my actively fermenting beer, maybe even while giving a little swirl to the fermenter. The more active the fermenting beer is the better since it will help to mix the honey around.

If you're concerned about introducing nasties into your beer then you could certainly give a boil in the water beforehand and cool it, but you WILL drive off most of the aromatics naturally found in the honey.

I just made an English IPA with 2# honey. I added mine as soon as the krausen began to die down, 4-5 days in. I mixed it into a little warm water to make it easier to pour, but that probably isn't necessary. I've read that heating honey changes flavors, and honey naturally doesn't carry any nasties. When I added it, fermentation went nuts, so make sure to use a blow off tube.

The beer came out great by the way!

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm gonna try to mix and match ideas. Boiling 1 lb of it (1/3 lb at a time) over the next couple days and then adding 1 lb when the krausen starts dropping for the final spike. Hopefully this will work out!

People add it after the boil all the time...me included. For me, and a few other posters, add it when the krausen begins to fall (36 hours). You can also add it to a secondary then rake the beer onto it. I prime almost all my beers with honey as well