honey to bottel

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

sibs

Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2012
Messages
22
Reaction score
0
Location
germantown
hello i would like to know if u can use honey to bottle your beer ? if so how much honey would i need to used for it to be carbonated ?

ty in advance
 
Plain old sugar is much more reliable, so you might want to stick with that. I hear that different kinds of honey will have different fermentable sugar contents, so it's tricky to figure out how much you'd need based on what kind of honey you have. Corn sugar is much more reliable and easier to figure out.
 
Depending on the honey, you usually use 1.25x the weight in honey that you would normal priming sugar. Use one of the calculation sites to figure out how much sugar to use, or pick "honey" if it has an option. Really, it does depend on what you're bottling, how much you're bottling, temperatures of what you're bottling, etc...

Personally, the 1.25x was pretty reliable for me, when I was bottling with it. Since I've gone to kegs, I don't worry a lick. :D

If you REALLY want to be accurate, you'll need to figure out the sugar concentration/level of the honey. Of course, that's no guarantee that the sugar content is 100% fermenting sugars. :eek:
 
You can use it but major question is "why?".
If you want to give you beer taste of honey you can add it in primary.. although I brewed two batches with honey and I didn't noticed significant difference, at least not so significant to be worth of effort.. IMO

If you really want to prime with it add 20%-30% more honey than table sugar.
You can calculate actual percent by measuring OG of honey:

- dilute honey with water in ratio 1 oz : 1 cup
- measure OG with hydrometer
- calculate PPG-> PPG= (SG - 1) * 1000
- calculate how much is sugar ppg (46) higher than honey ppg, eg. if you get 38 ppg for honey, it is 1.21 times higher
- honey have approximately 95% fermentability, so count that up. For 38 ppg it would mean that you want 1.27 x more honey that you would add simple table sugar (46/38= 1.21 x 1.05= 1.27), note that 1.05 is from 95% (1/0,95).
 
I've boiled a pint of water for 5 minutes, dissolved a half cup of local wildflower honey in it (after the boil ended), and used it to prime 5.5 gallons before. It wasn't precise but it worked with no problems and no discernible flavor.

Why did I do it? I don't know.
I guess some people might be interested in it due to an aversion to or avoidance of corn products such as sugar.

I've used cane sugar (turbinado) about a dozen times and have noticed a cider flavor developing in about half of the beers over time.

Corn sugar does seem to be the easiest to control and get a consistent flavor.
 
I only use honey and it is very reliable...never a bottle bomb or non-carbed beer in over 50 batches. In young beers you will get a tiny and subtle aroma and flavor, but in bigger beers or aged beers you will get nothing.

The typical 2-2.5 vol carb would be 2 tablespoons to 3 tablespoons. That is 1 oz to 1.5 ounces or 42-63 grams. I used to do 3 tablespoons (63 grams) but it was all little too carbed and had that bite. I use 2 tablespoons with a fantastic carbonation for my pales and IPAs all the time. Hope this helps
 
I only use honey and it is very reliable...never a bottle bomb or non-carbed beer in over 50 batches. In young beers you will get a tiny and subtle aroma and flavor, but in bigger beers or aged beers you will get nothing.

The typical 2-2.5 vol carb would be 2 tablespoons to 3 tablespoons. That is 1 oz to 1.5 ounces or 42-63 grams. I used to do 3 tablespoons (63 grams) but it was all little too carbed and had that bite. I use 2 tablespoons with a fantastic carbonation for my pales and IPAs all the time. Hope this helps

I have to ask, since you didn't post it, what batch SIZE are you bottling there? Can't be 5 gallons since the numbers (honey amount to CO2 volumes goal) don't add up.

As mentioned, if you let it go too long, the honey flavor will mellow/smooth out to something you really can't detect. Which means you don't add flavors that way (with some brews).

IF you really want to add honey flavor, use honey malt.

DON'T heat the honey above 100-110F. When you do, the more delicate flavors and aromas evaporate. The higher you heat, the more you lose (less delicate are lost at higher temperatures). You'll quickly reach a point where you're blowing off all you would have gained.

ALWAYS weigh honey when you're using it. Volume measurements are nigh on useless. With good, digital, scales being so damned cheap these days, there's no excuse (IMO) for not having one to use.

BTW, adding honey to primary typically has all the flavors hidden by what's in the wort. You need to add a LOT of honey there in order to get much of a gain. More than a few pounds in my experience (for a ~5 gallon batch). Mead tastes like it does due to being (for traditional recipes) 100% honey for flavor, aroma, fermenting sugars, etc.
 
I have to ask, since you didn't post it, what batch SIZE are you bottling there? Can't be 5 gallons since the numbers (honey amount to CO2 volumes goal) don't add up.

As mentioned, if you let it go too long, the honey flavor will mellow/smooth out to something you really can't detect. Which means you don't add flavors that way (with some brews).

IF you really want to add honey flavor, use honey malt.

DON'T heat the honey above 100-110F. When you do, the more delicate flavors and aromas evaporate. The higher you heat, the more you lose (less delicate are lost at higher temperatures). You'll quickly reach a point where you're blowing off all you would have gained.

ALWAYS weigh honey when you're using it. Volume measurements are nigh on useless. With good, digital, scales being so damned cheap these days, there's no excuse (IMO) for not having one to use.

BTW, adding honey to primary typically has all the flavors hidden by what's in the wort. You need to add a LOT of honey there in order to get much of a gain. More than a few pounds in my experience (for a ~5 gallon batch). Mead tastes like it does due to being (for traditional recipes) 100% honey for flavor, aroma, fermenting sugars, etc.

Oops...thanks...that is PER GALLON!

and yes, I just warm it up in some water, swirl then add to the bottling bucket.

Thanks
 
Back
Top