Adding honey during fermentation

Forgot to add my honey during the boil, can I just add it to the fermentor a day later?

Yeah, there is a greater chance of infection because you aren't adding it to the hot wort in your boil but its not very likely. I've added honey to active fermentation plenty of times and never had any problems.

I actually posted about honey earlier today and have been reading up on it quite a bit lately.

From what I've read, you should pasteurize the honey if your adding it into the fermentor so that you don't get any bacteria or anything that can impart off flavors.

I used honey malt instead of using honey. It is much easier, gives a nice honey flavor and there is no risk of unwanted flavors

Just mu $.02 - I have added honey to my fermentor several times with absolutely no infections. Honey is naturally resistant to bacteria. Add after high krausen.

IIWolfpakII said:

I actually posted about honey earlier today and have been reading up on it quite a bit lately.

From what I've read, you should pasteurize the honey if your adding it into the fermentor so that you don't get any bacteria or anything that can impart off flavors.

I used honey malt instead of using honey. It is much easier, gives a nice honey flavor and there is no risk of unwanted flavors

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Actually zero need to pasteurize the honey before adding it. I just warm it slightly in a hot tap water bath just to get it to flow better. The paranoia about pasteurizing honey is completely misplaced.

Is there no need to pasteurize the honey just because commercial honey is already pasteurized or just because the anti-bacteria properties of honey? Are there any difficulties due to possible wild yeast present in honey?

I'm definitely not trying to disagree at all; I'm just trying to figure this out as well. I've used honey only a few times, but was reading up on it lately because I was thinking of using it in the recipe I brewed last night. Ended up using honey malt instead...

I have used honey in my favorite recipie twice now. Added to the boil. Got little to no honey flavor. I'm thinking next time priming with honey to see what it gets me.

I don't know the how & why honey is safe to add without pasteurization, but I do know that it is. Many (most) mead-makers mix up meads with no heat whatsoever, I've done it many a time, with no infections.

Honey is very fermentable which is why after fermentation little honey flavor is left.

Honey, by its very nature (<15% water) is very hostile to nasties. The best honey has nothing more than a slight filtering to get the bee parts removed. Its also not heated above about 100-110f during processing.

Honey as excellent antibiotic properties. In ancient times it was used to dress wounds to prevent infection. It alao has the ability to remove infections (I've used it to do this with excellent results).

I add honey right to the primary a few days after fermentation begins and have had great flavor results. Also just heated it in a little water to get it to flow better.

I think sanitation depends on the honey you're using. Pasteurized store bought vs. all-natural raw vs. orange blossom, etc. I believe Ray Daniels suggested holding a very aromatic, good quality honey at 160-ish for a very specific time before adding it to the primary. If sanitation with honey WAS a real issue then I think you could reap the same benefits by adding the honey mid-way during the whirlpool/cool down stage when the wort is approx 160-ish. This would do two things: dissolve the honey better than 62 F wort would, and effectively sanitize it without driving off the delicate aromas the same way that boiling would. The only thing you may want to do is use an ice-bath to ensure the honey is sanitized during the slower cooldown (instead of a rapid cooling wort chiller).

I just made a batch with 2lbs honey. I had added it preboil to avoid scorching. I did miss my OG by about 10 points though. I did some research and found that the sugar content usually does not vary very much, but the 10 point miss got thinking about it. Anyone have a similar thing happen? Good to know I can just add some more honey (raw) without it being pasteurized etc.

I recently put a pound of local raw orange blossom honey into a saison in the middle of fermentation. Bottled two weeks later and has been bottled at least 6 weeks, no infection. Awesome beer and the honey aromatics are present.

The thought that you should/need to heat ANY honey is seriously outdated methods. If you boil it you might as just dump in corn sugar and save your money.

Seriously, there is absolutely NO need to heat honey at all. IF you need some help in getting it to flow nicely, give it a warm water bath (tap water) to get it more fluid. I've added honey during the cool-down of a batch of beer (after getting below 110-100f) and had solid results and ZERO infections from it. I also make mead without heating above 100f (to get it to flow better) and have beyond excellent results. Plus no infections in the batch.

I would NOT buy ANY honey that has been pasteurized. Raw is the best way to go here (IMO/IME).

When you're paying good money for great honey why destroy it by heating it up and getting rid of so much of what makes it great?

Golddiggie said:

The thought that you should/need to heat ANY honey is seriously outdated methods. If you boil it you might as just dump in corn sugar and save your money.

Seriously, there is absolutely NO need to heat honey at all. IF you need some help in getting it to flow nicely, give it a warm water bath (tap water) to get it more fluid. I've added honey during the cool-down of a batch of beer (after getting below 110-100f) and had solid results and ZERO infections from it. I also make mead without heating above 100f (to get it to flow better) and have beyond excellent results. Plus no infections in the batch.

I would NOT buy ANY honey that has been pasteurized. Raw is the best way to go here (IMO/IME).

When you're paying good money for great honey why destroy it by heating it up and getting rid of so much of what makes it great?

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So, the little plastic bear with the red colored cap is not adding value?

bethebrew said:

So, the little plastic bear with the red colored cap is not adding value?

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Depends on when you add it, how you add it, and what you're expecting from it. If you just want to boost the ABV and add it during the boil, that's what you'll get. If you're hoping to get flavors from that addition, I think you'll be seriously disappointed in what you get. Unless the little bear is filled with a VERY strong flavored honey (usually not the case) that is.

An option that many often go to is to add honey malt to the mash to get more of a honey flavor into the brew. If you want to add some more varietal honey during fermentation, or use it to prime for bottle carbonating, then chances are you'll have at last some of that honey flavor come through. BUT, be sure to pick a honey with strong flavor to it, or it will be lost (you'll struggle to find any flavor from it).

I have a honey ale recipe on deck that has about 10% honey malt in the grist. I expect serious honey flavors to come through from that. I might add some actual honey to the batch, after fermentation has slowed down, to get a hint of those flavors in the brew. Since I don't bottle carbonate, I don't need to worry about that sugar doing away with the honey I add. I might experiment with one of the kegs from that batch (probably the first one) and add a couple of ounces of warmed honey to the keg right before I put it into the brew fridge. Or maybe after it's chilled for 24-48 hours so that I'm sure the yeast will be sleeping.

Also, if you want some seriously great honey, chances are you won't find it on the shelves of your grocery store. Unless they sell local/regional honey that's NOT been heated and such at least. But, fortunately, there are enough apiaries out there that you CAN get some really great honey. Unfortunately, some of the best honey is not budget friendly. But, you sometimes luck out and get something really great at a decent rate (60# for $165 is good, since it's $2.75/#)...

Just remember, honey isn't like LME... You can have it hang around for a long time and not have it become less of a product. If anything it will become more concentrated on you. They've pulled jars of honey out of tombs and it's been usable/fit for consumption.

Use your judgment and your senses. Honey is like beer or wine. Each bottle has it's own life; it's own character. 9 out of 10 times, supermarket honey is going to smell/taste like the equivalent of Bud Light or Yellowtail.

Personally, I'd just leave it out, unless it's necessary to the recipe and your OG was too low.

Also, if it wasn't mixed into the wort, will it not make your beer inconsistant because it wont be mixed nicely?

Also, I agree with malevolent, it's not a big flavour changer - the beer will not taste bad because you didn't add it.

I've had good luck with a short boil and adding to fermenter later. Recommended procedure for MAXIMUM honey flavor per lb is to heat it to like 190°F (see How to Brew) for 2 some hours. I just boil for 10 minutes in water to keep gravity nearer to OG wort level. Works great as the primary is winding down.

-Mac

Mixing honey in, such as adding it once fermentation has started, is unnecessary. The yeast will find it and go to town on the sugars they can eat (about 80% of the weight is fermentable sugars). The yeast will also 'mix' it in with the rest of the brew, so no worries there. Plus, if you're bottle carbonating, when you transfer it to the bottling bucket, it will get well mixed.

As I've mentioned, depending on your goal, use it in the stage that makes most sense. I added some to my wee heavy recipe so that it would more boost the ABV level, but I was hoping to get at least a ever so slight hint of it. Of course, the honey is really mild in flavor, so chances are I won't detect it at all. Luckily, I had used honey malt in that batch, so I'll still have honey flavor in it.

BTW, if you really want to taste honey in a fermentation, make mead. Don't boil it at all, and then give it a good long time to get great (9-12 months is a good start)... IMO, making mead will teach a brewer patience like nothing else.

Interesting thread. Challenges some of my personal beliefs, but I'm willing to listen. I have used honey and been disappointed in the lack or residual flavor. Fixin to rebrew my honey wheat. FWIKT, for brown sugar, you get the most flavor from the darkest brown sugar. Is this also true for honey? Should I look for an un filtered dark honey? I'm thinkin 2 pounds at flameout followed by an appropriate amount for priming.

Has anyone read the article in the BYO march-april issue on honey? There was some good info to be found in it. There was also a recipe in it that called for blackberry blossom honey.The recipe is called blackberry honey wheat ale. I was curious if anyone has tried the recipe. I have it next in line to brew.

While trying to source the honey I stumbled upon this website: http://www.flyingbeeranch.net/index.htm?http://www.flyingbeeranch.net/BlackBerry.php
I ordered 4 pounds of honey and had it shipped to Ohio for 26$ I thought this was more than reasonable for quality honey. It arrived today and I sampled some. Fantastic!!

I am still trying to figure out the best way to add the honey, the recipe says to add it to the boil. I am leaning towards adding it to primary a few days after fermentation has begun.

When I entered the info into beersmith everything lined up with the recipe in the magazine except for the final gravity. BYO has it at 1.012. (1.052 down to 1.012) beersmith has it 1.052 with final gravity at 1.005. I have never brewed a beer with that low of f.g.

Any thoughts?! ANy one brewed this or something similar? Will the gravity be this low or lower? It says to mash at 152, I am kinda thinking about going 154-155.

What ya think?!

Cheers!!

Thanks to everyone for the info. I took the middle ground and warmed my honey in the microwave and added to the fermentor. Any beer I've added honey to, no matter how I did it, seems to have a different flavor characteristic that I enjoy. So for me that is reason enough to add it to my brews.
Thanks again of all the good information.

Newrebrewer said:

Thanks to everyone for the info. I took the middle ground and warmed my honey in the microwave and added to the fermentor. Any beer I've added honey to, no matter how I did it, seems to have a different flavor characteristic that I enjoy. So for me that is reason enough to add it to my brews.
Thanks again of all the good information.

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Does honey prolong the fermentation when adding to the fermenter? If so, how long? Does it need to age like mead?

I know OP has already added the honey. I'm in the no need to pasturze camp, as honey is anti bacterial, but I do take care to sanitize the outside of the cap and or threaded part of the bottle. Yes, honey or other fermentables may extend the fermentation time. Take your SG readings to know it's done.