When to add Honey during a boil

BrewSwag 728
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.
J

Jeff48

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2007
Messages
68
Reaction score
0
Location
Pomona Illinois
I am developing a Heather Ale from a number of different recipes and I would like some input on the best time to add honey to the boil. I would assume if it is unpasturized (natural) honey, it should be boiled for at least 15 minutes. But what do you suggest?
 
Add it as late into the boil as possible. The delicate honey flavoring gets lost in a boil. I've heard people add it at 5 and 10 minutes for that reason.
 
I've tried 15, 10 , 5, and 0 minutes left in the boil and I honestly think that it doesn't matter. Honey ferments out so completely that I've never gotten any honey flavor in my beers. I'm pretty sure the CO2 released from primary fermentation strips the flavors and aroma as well.
Perhaps an experienced mead maker can chime in on how to preserve the honey flavor.
 
a good way to get honey flavor in your beer is to add 2.5 lbs at flame out and then prime your beer with 7/8 cup of honey. also dont use cheap grocery store honey, use good raw honey
you can also add diluted honey to your secondary fermenter and it probably wont ferment all the way out before you bottle or keg.
 
I had a hardcore mead/beer maker convince me to start adding honey approximately 72 hours after fermentation has begun. So far, three batches, no problems.

Advantages: Lots of honey aroma/flavor, steady stream of fermentables for the yeast, some alcohol will be present to kill off some nasties by that point.

Disadvantages: Maybe it could infect your beer. Of course, this guy who starts at least 1 batch of mead per week has never had a problem using unpasteurized honey in either beer or mead, and he says he's never heard of anyone having a problem either. Of course, meads were made for millennia before we ever learned about pasteurization and the benefits of boiling. But, with that said, I suppose it could be a problem in your batch. Personally though, the more I think about it, I'm just not -that- worried.

I say add it to your primary.
 
My experience agrees with RichBrewer. The best way to get a honey flavoring in the finished beer is to add 1/2 lb of Honey Malt to the recipe. Regular honey is indeed so fermentable that there won't be much honey flavor after primary fermentation.

I got a Honey Brown recipe from AHS and they had both 1.5lbs of honey and .5 lbs of Honey Malt.
 
Thanks Guys
This time around I will add 1 lb of honey at flameout. Depending on the result, I will try the 72 hour rule next time..... Honey malt is a great idea but I do not ha e any available today and tommorow is brew day.

I will be adding 1 lb of locally obtained fresh unpasturized wildflower honey..... I hope it works.

Jeff
 
Sir Humpsalot said:
I had a hardcore mead/beer maker convince me to start adding honey approximately 72 hours after fermentation has begun. So far, three batches, no problems.

Advantages: Lots of honey aroma/flavor, steady stream of fermentables for the yeast, some alcohol will be present to kill off some nasties by that point.

Disadvantages: Maybe it could infect your beer. Of course, this guy who starts at least 1 batch of mead per week has never had a problem using unpasteurized honey in either beer or mead, and he says he's never heard of anyone having a problem either. Of course, meads were made for millennia before we ever learned about pasteurization and the benefits of boiling. But, with that said, I suppose it could be a problem in your batch. Personally though, the more I think about it, I'm just not -that- worried.

I say add it to your primary.
Click to expand...

Just wondering what the best way is to add honey to your primary? Just pour it in? Dilute it first?
 
Nothing to add, just want to see the consensus. I use honey in a Scotch ale and have been so far a bit disappointed in the lack of honey flavors. I am adding my honey about 15-30 minutes before flame out.
 
When I made my last Braggot, I added 6 lbs of honey to the 1.030 beer at the start of fermentation and stirred it in with my mix-stir and a drill. Then 2 days later 12lbs of honey the same way. If your adding a lot of honey, your beer is going to want more O2 to finish the ferment, along with some yeast nutrient. As long as there is still a good active fermentation you wont have any oxidation as it all be used up by the yeast. I've always used raw honey and never heated it. I've never had a problem with a mead or Braggot.
 
don't boil the honey at all, add the honey after the boil during your cool down process once the temp is down to 150-160 range

don't boil it or it won't have any honey taste at all
 

Similar threads

G
Kolsch recipe - need help
Replies
31
Views
2K
superiorsat
S
R
I found this in the recipe section and it looks cool
Replies
26
Views
1K
AmarikinBrew
AmarikinBrew
superpig0
Mead Recipe Concern
Replies
2
Views
460
Dan O
Dan O
G
How fast?
Replies
6
Views
333
MightyMosin
MightyMosin
S
Mango habanero - revision 2
Replies
0
Views
257
Srimmey
S
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top