priming with honey, got some questions.

SO, i started this pumpkin ale on 08/28/12, i put it in secondary on
10/10/12.
the end abv is about here




so low end, around 4 maybe under i think. didn't do the math
1.044 was my start? first time so was looking for some help with that.
my main question is i am botteling tonight and bought some local honey.
For 5 gallons of beer how much honey should i use and does my ABV play a role in determining this since mine is low?

Also since i let it sit more a week or two past the recipes six weeks ( i should have bottled it last wee or the week before.)
Is their anything i can do to have it ready in one week less honey? more honey? ECT. i need it for next weekend. Or is that not doable. if not i can just give it away with a best by date. It's just for a shindig with friends.
First batch still! so thanks in advanced for the help!

so if i did this math right my end reading is 1.012? so 1.044 and 1.012 give me an abv of 4.2?
I did not controle the temps so not 100 percent but i knew it would be low. does this sound right?

About yes, but technically 4.1%. Thats a good finish,but not really that low. I would consider that a good finish for a pumpkin ale. That finish should get it some flavor for a smaller abv beer. Your abv doesnt matter with how much priming sugar, how much priming sugar = how much carbonation you want.
As for how much honey: Use 4.7 oz for exactly 5 gallons of volume.It is equivelent to using 4 oz of corn sugar per 5 gallons which is about normal.
Although Ive read mostly that corn sugar is quicker(est) to carb up compared to dme or honey. If you want to impress them you really should wait a few weeks more,thats where kegging would be good- to drink it sooner. It may not even fully carb up by a week.Just try to keep them room temp 70's to help that timeline.You should chill them down a few days also when you want to drink them. You may want to test one before you decide to share them.
Looks like you have some nice clarity there.

Everyone says minimum 3 weeks to get decent carbonation. I think you can do better than that.

First, don't prime with honey. Honey is slow to ferment. Just use simple sugar. Honey is OK to prime with, and you would use the same amount as you would corn sugar; it just takes longer to be done.

Use plain table sugar. 4 ozs in 5 gallons is a decent amount. To do it right, look up a priming calculator. As normal, dissolve in water and mix with beer in bottling bucket.

To reduce priming time, you need to keep the bottles warm. Somewhere around 80 F would be good - no guarantees.

Try twisting the botttles after a few days to try and stimulate it a little also.

Awesome! Thanks so much everyone! I am gonna stick with honey cause i buy locale honey and want to see what it does. I will just give them out with a best by date. And I will tell everyone when they are good to drink.
Thanks do much for all the help!!

Your beer is at 4.26% That's a good Pumpkin Ale. I just bottled a pumpkin last night it came in at 6.3% That's about as high as I like to go for a pumpkin ale

Thanks Wayne! Sounds good.

jonmohno said:

You may want to test one before you decide to share them.

Click to expand...

I would highly recommend that too, unless you know that you make good beer every time, but even then I would taste it myself first before serving it to someone else.

Oh well, advices are asked only not to be followed anyways.

No! I will be following this advice!

its primed! so three weeks...4.7 oz. (2/3 cups? slightly tipsy as i write this so forgive)
I did not dilute in warm water just stirred as i bottled and ended up 3 bottled short. Due to sludge and slight spillage.
We will see. I would like to thank all the people on here for all the help for beer number 1. I'm gonna keep these puppies at 70-80 and swirl them almost everyday. see what happens. had some tonight. honey obviously came through and the hops and pumpkin spice where their.. next time i plan to boil pumpkin/butternut squash in as well as more barley and more hops. working to get a mix of pumpking and dogfihs head punkas a end result. the pumkin pie and crust taste as well as a hop punch.

I love priming with honey and use it almost exclusively as my bottling sugar. Be careful what kind you use, some will add nothing in terms of flavor but some will give you a nice hint.

Yeah, I have heard that. I used local wildflower honey. I will try this recipe again and next time I might try local buckwheat honey.

So I had a little accident. Late late into the evening filling the beer I realized my wand was fillin up with hip pellet particulate.
This was cause by me carrying the growler up and shaking it a bit. (Bruised rib so carry stuff is complicated)
So some bottles have a normle acceptable amount of stuff floating in the bottle.
Others have a MASSIVE amount on the bottom. How can I excpect this to affect the flavore? The more in a bottle the more affects? Or will it just be a nuisances?

OK! so one eek in prime. and i decided i wanted to see what it was turning into. SO i opened a bottle up.
I have been keeping it at 70-80. lightly spinning the bottle once or twice a week.
My first pour was like this

This head is nice and foamy but as you can see...theirs a lot of it. Now, its not over carbonated. Well what i mean is it is not overly fizzy.
It has some fruity flavors. ( probubly off flavor from my not cooling it fast enough. but not enough to ruin it. it is slightly bitter as i added bittering hops. The only other issue is a LOT of hop residue due to a issue involving my not noticing hop residue building up in my syphon. so some bottles have WAY more garbage in them then others.
My question concerns the carbonating with honey. As time pass's will this beer get more carbonated or less? and if after two more weeks it is over fizzy would letting it sit more do it any good? thanks in advanced!

So, my beers have become very overly carbonated. is their any cure? like letting it sit? making it cooler, or warmer. or should i just pop'em and pour'em befor they explode Al a braking bad?
please help.