Honey to an IPA

I am planning on adding 1 pound of honey to the IPA I am about to brew on Saturday. I've read mixed reviews on when to add. Some say to pasturize it first on the stove/oven and then add it to the primary at high krausen. Others say to add it around 10 minutes left in the boil. Nothing is too clear on the notes. I'm looking to get some of the aromatic and flavor profile more than boosting the gravity. Any tips would be greatfull.

I am getting ready to do a Honey Gingerl Ale w/ about 1.5 lbs of honey. From what I have gathered online or from people who have worked with it, adding it to the end of the boil will net you the aroma factor you are looking for. No matter when you add it though, it still will boost your gravity due to the amounts of sugar in the honey. As for flavor, adding it during boil or fermentation, will pretty much kill the flavor of it I have heard. I plan on using it to bottle w/ or adding it to the keg when I pressurize it.

If you want honey flavor, try adding some honey malt. I use it all the time and think its fantastic

I'd add it as the beer cooling down. Plenty of people make meads that aren't boiled at ALL. Honey is naturally impervious to bacterial infection anyway. If you boil the honey, or even pasteurize it, you will loose some flavor.

Don't boil the honey. It's not necessary as honey has no pathogens. Plus you'll drive out most of the flavor. You don't get much flavor by putting honey in beer because of the small quantities, bittering, etc. Mead is another story. Add it post boil and mix well. You can even add to secondary but don't aerate while mixing. It's gonna dry/thin the beer out so if you want to add a lot maybe add some cara-pils also to balance.

I would add Honey Malt instead. A small amount though. I have never had any real honey flavor come out with the addition of honey.

I already have the honey malt and cara pils on the grain bill. Looks like we are on the same page. Maybe I'll boost the quantity of the honey malt and only add a half pound of honey at flameout. It's all about trial and error. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try and remember to post results.

Poobah58 said:

Don't boil the honey. It's not necessary as honey has no pathogens.

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Not true. Botulism is a common pathogen in honey.

TokyoRoad said:

Not true. Botulism is a common pathogen in honey.

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Bah!! Wikipedia's page on botulism only mentions honey in regards to infants less than 1 year old, as does the WHO Organization page on botulism.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs270/en/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism

Basically, botulism spores from honey are only a problem for infants who's digestive tracts are still anaerobic. Apparently, virtually ALL people have an aerobic condition in their digestive system by 1 year of age. The botulism spore can only activate in anaerobic conditions, so its not a concern.

Please don't spread fear about honey!! It's a delicious and safe product. Well, at least don't give any of your Honey Beer to any infants.

Just be careful with honey malt, once you get around 5% it can get overpowering...bottle with honey to get a nice aroma within the first two months

ghpeel said:

Bah!! Wikipedia's page on botulism only mentions honey in regards to infants less than 1 year old, as does the WHO Organization page on botulism.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs270/en/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism

Basically, botulism spores from honey are only a problem for infants who's digestive tracts are still anaerobic. Apparently, virtually ALL people have an aerobic condition in their digestive system by 1 year of age. The botulism spore can only activate in anaerobic conditions, so its not a concern.

Please don't spread fear about honey!! It's a delicious and safe product. Well, at least don't give any of your Honey Beer to any infants.

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Spreading facts, not fear. The original comment was that there are no pathogens in honey. That is false.

I am not an expert by far but from my experience making what few meads that i have and all the reading that i have done honey takes time to come out as a flavor. its something that you are going to want to age. My raspberry mead took about 2 month before the honey flavor came out and i added about 1lb of honey (in my 1 gal batch). since your doing an IPA aging isnt really desired so adding it around bottleing/kegging would be my first choice.

TokyoRoad said:

Spreading facts, not fear. The original comment was that there are no pathogens in honey. That is false.

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You are factually correct, but I will state again that the only beer drinker who need to worry about botulism in honey beers are those with severely compromised digestive systems. All "normally" functioning adults are impervious to this risk. And there's no way an adult wouldn't be aware of their condition ahead of time.

I just don't want a "normal" adult to read your statement and start to avoid honey. I've literally had to google about 10 different search phrases to get even the first hit on honey being a danger to adults.