Honey - add in boil or at flame out?

Hi folks! I know, I know, I know - this question has probably been answered elsewhere, but I'm looking for YOUR opinion. I'm brewing my honey hef from extract for the first time this Friday night. I've scaled the recipe down quite a bit as this will be my first from-scratch recipe. Here it is (followed by a question I'm really hoping you all can help me with):

HONEY HEFEY
3 lbs. wheat dme
6 oz. honey malt (steeped)
1.5 oz. saaz hops (1 oz. for 60, .5 with 5 minutes left)
Safale US-05 (going for neutral ferment so as not to mess with the honey flavor I'm looking for)
2 lbs. honey

Here's my question - what the hell do I do with the 2 lbs. of honey? I've thought about using 1 lb. for the full boil (knowing that I'll lose any and all flavor/aroma from the pound, but will add to the SG I really need), then the other pound at flame out (letting it rest for 10 mins at flame out with hopes I'll pick up the additional flavor/aroma, along with adding to the OG). I'm looking for a nice honey flavor on the nose and palate. Do you think my plan will suffice?

Any help, as always, is greatly appreciated. Thanks folks!

Brandon

I've been planning a batch of honey kolsch and have been searching the threads on this too. I'm thinking of using 1lb honey (along with some pilsen DME, the rest to be added as a late addition) at 60 minutes and priming with honey after fermentation is complete. I've been told that you'll get more of the honey flavor if you prime with it than you will from the wort.

On the other hand, some people have suggested NOT priming with honey as they have had unpredictable results...bottle bombs. Right now, though, I'm planning on using 1 lb honey in the wort at 60min (or maybe as a late addition) and about 8 tablespoons (133g sugar) for priming my 5 gallon batch.

I've also settled on using orange blossom honey...seems to be the recommended honey. Although many have used other types of honey with success, there are some that I've read impart bad flavors (barnyard). Let me know how you make out.

-John

I would not add honey to a boil. I would add all of it after flameout and probably even after it cooled down to about 160F or so. Boiling will push out all of the character of the honey, so that you are basically down to table sugar. Probably why you hear people get more from priming with honey is because it is not boiled.

The method that I've heard of which makes the most sense is to pitch the honey in the primary when primary fermentation is dying down, but not completely halted. That way you will be adding the honey to alcohol, instead of wort. This environment is more sanitary. The yeast will also be active enough to recognize the sugars and eat them up without completely blowing off the aroma via highly active C02, or giving you a sweet mess by adding too much in the secondary off of the yeast cake. It's also fine to prime with. Northern brewer has a priming calculator that shows you how much honey you need to use. I would probably rely on both of these methods for a beer with 10%+ honey in it.

honey in beer I add in the boil, real late 5min or so.
mead I don't heat at all.

I just bottled a honey green tea ipa and used a lb of clover honey at FO also used it to prime ill be cracking the first bottle Saturday and will post my results

crash568 said:

I just bottled a honey green tea ipa and used a lb of clover honey at FO also used it to prime ill be cracking the first bottle Saturday and will post my results

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Nice. That's going for it homebrew style. What hops?

Bitter Columbus
Flavor warrior and centennial
Aroma centennial
Dry hop sorachi ace whole leaf

What a great help - thanks to everyone who has responded. One other question - and this could be a dumb one (I'm still learning) - will the gravity be effected depending on when I add the honey?

What's the recipe on that honey green tea ipa . Any suggestions on making that from extract , how did you introduce the tea and amounts ?

I can post the full recipe later today I'm on my phone at work now but as far as the tea goes I made a gallon of green tea that I let cool as the wort cooled then used it to top off to the 5 gal mark then I dry hopped with a white tea for aroma. Like I said ill post full details later

Effingbeer said:

I would not add honey to a boil. I would add all of it after flameout and probably even after it cooled down to about 160F or so. Boiling will push out all of the character of the honey, so that you are basically down to table sugar. Probably why you hear people get more from priming with honey is because it is not boiled.

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+1. No reason to boil honey ... you just drive off flavor compounds which defeats the whole purpose of using it.

Honey has its own antimicrobial properties so very little risk of infection from honey (you can actually pack wounds with it...works great). For meads I dont boil at all...just add honey to hot water and mix well. And a practice in mead brewing is staged honey additions during ferm where raw honey is added directly to the fermentor...the combination of honey, alcohol, CO2, and competing yeasties minimizes risk of infection.

Also choose your honey wisely...the sugars are highly fermentable so what remains is the other flavor components minus the sweetness...those dont always taste good. Fermenting a small sample first to taste test is a good idea.

ok so here is my extract Honey Green Tea IPA recipe

-Steep 14oz Crystal 10L @ 155* for 30min
-3lbs of Golden Light LME @ 60min boil
-1lb Amber DME @ 60min boil
-3lbs Golden Light LME @ 15min
-1lb Clover Honey @ flame out

Hops
- 0.3oz Columbus @ 60min
- 0.4oz Warrior @ 60min
- 0.4oz Centennial @ 30min
- 0.4 oz Columbus @ 15min
- Remaining of the 3oz combined at FO
- Dry hop for 5-7 days with sorachi ace whole leaf

Topped of with about 1gal of green tea to the 5 gal mark I made with around 18-20 tea bags then let cool with the wort also "dry hopped" with a white tea called ya bao for about 6-7 hours for some tea aroma.

Ill be cracking the first bottle this weekend so I can keep you posted the only thing I really wish I did was change up my hop choices this is only my second batch ever and didn't know much but ill be going back and doing this over for sure.

Can't wait to hear how it came out , I've only just brewed my second beer as well

I don't know why I didn't mention honey malt before. I use it all the time for some basic honey flavor. It is in my IPA in the fermenter right now.

Well dear, that's a fine question. With Muddy Creek I add it after the boil, just before I start cooling.

All of you guys rock. I brewed this batch a couple weeks back using the last recipe I posted, I believe. I ended up using 2 lbs. of honey at flame out - dissolved and let sit for about 10 minutes. Fermentation went well and I actually ended up with a FG of 1.000. Bottled this last weekend and tasted before doing so - tasted absolutely delicious. The honey is there - not faint and not in your face. I also got a toastiness from the malt which was an added bonus. For anyone interested in the recipe, I will post! It was really straightforward.

I'm working on my first all-grain batch. I just posted the recipe/process to the all-grain section. If you guys would be so helpful and review that for me, I'd truly appreciate it. I've learned a lot from you all already!