Added honey to brew... still fermenting?

Hi everyone,

I brewed up a wheat beer from an extract kit two weeks ago and decided to throw in what was left of an old jar of honey I had (not much... must have been around 8 oz of honey) at the beginning of the boil.
After 8 or 9 days in primary, the S.G. was staying steady at 1.018 (O.G. was 1.052 and the recipe said the F.G should be around 1.012.
Just to make sure I didn't have a stuck fermentation, I transferred it to secondary, where it's been for 5 days.
I could see some really small bubbles rising to the top, so I decided to do some research before I bottled it to play it safe(I had my bottles ready to go and everything). I read that honey can a while longer to ferment out (maybe b/c of more complex sugars for the yeast to break down?) I took a S.G reading and got about a 1.016, so it looks like this may be the case.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Are the little bubbles I am seeing from the honey slowly fermenting. If so, how long should it take to complete? I am letting it sit in the carboy for now...

A bit of gas still comes out of beer even after its done fermenting, the only way to tell if its still fermenting or not is to take a gravity reading.

Sounds like you are done if the FG has not moved. Some Co2 is still in solution and will continue to escape from the liquid.

from what i understead / have read / have been told

once the gravity stays in the same place for 3 consecutive days --- it is time to either move to a secondary -- or bottle

i am not sure how kits work ---- never used one

Posted in wrong thread, oops

Honey is a simple sugar and ferments fast and completely. You added a very small amount to the boil and it really didn't do anything to your beer other than increase the gravity a bit. On an extract brew, a FG of 1.016 is not bad when the target was 1.012, so you are in range.

Tips and hints:

Next time, wait at least two weeks before you take a gravity reading. You got in a hurry at just eight days in, as evidenced by the fact your FG continued to drop.

Almost every single problem involving timing in brewing is because of doing something to soon - not to late!

Do not use a secondary. Let the beer sit on its yeast and reach FG. If you need to dry hop/add spices/age, consider secondary then.

You do not have to take three gravity readings to get a FG. Just take one, then a second one two days later. (take one on Mon, and one on Wed)



Cheers! Pez.