Adding to carboy after primary fermentation...

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.

Hetuck

Active Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
40
Reaction score
0
Location
Oldsmar, FL
I have an oatmeal/honey stout fermenting as I type. The krausen has come and gone. This leads me to believe primary fermentation is over. I want to add the honey but I'm not sure how to pasteurize and add it. Throw me a bone here, fellas:)

I want to prime that same beer with honey as well. I've always used dextrose in the past so I could use a bit of guidance on that too.
 
I'm still a newb but if the honey has been pasteurized and in a sealed container I wouldn't worry too much. I may dunk the whole bottle in to some sanstar before hand to sanitize it before dumping it in.

If you don't want to risk it you could heat your honey to 160 and hold it there for 10-15 minutes and should kill everything in the honey. Some would say that you'll kill some of the flavor of the honey also.
 
Roger that. Fermentation seems to be over with. It has been fermenting for 2 days now. How long should I wait before adding the honey? And just to clarify, if I buy a new, unopened bottle of honey I don't need to worry about sterilizing it, right? I can just add it right to the fermenter? I'm a rookie here....don't claim to be a master brewer......yet;)
 
You can worry about raw honey if you want but I don't. If you can see thru it, its probley already pasteurized. Yes the flavors of honey are delicate and you loose a lot when you boil it, but if its pasteurized the subtle aromas are already gone. I've heard of compromises of holding raw honey at 150-160 for 15mins, so you don't loose too much flavor and sleep a little better.

You may want to thin it out with some water before throwing into the beer, you could toss it in when you transfer to the secondary.

1/2 cup for carbonation, again thin it out a little.
 
Back
Top