Store bought Honey

I just finished making a Honey Nut Brown ale. I used raw clover honey as the recipe indicates. However, if/when I brew this again I am thinking about mixing some raw and store bought honey. My reason being that from my understanding, store bought honey won't ferment and will leave far more sweetness after fermentation. Thoughts or suggestions?

No, my experience with honey is RAW honey will give you more of a honey flavor
then processed store bought honey due to preservatives thet are added.

I've used both and got good honey flavor from raw but no flavor from store bought.

drhookmec said:

No, my experience with honey is RAW honey will give you more of a honey flavor
then processed store bought honey due to preservatives thet are added.

I've used both and got good honey flavor from raw but no flavor from store bought.

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Thanks! I hope you are right. After I brewed it I've read a little too many comments that said that they got almost no honey flavor and the honey just made the beer dry. I hope I have a similar experience as you! We shall find out

Mixing the 2 would be interesting though might allow you to fine tune in the sweetness.

Tim

There are no preservatives in honey. Not even in the cheapest selection. The only reason you would get more of a honey taste from the raw version because of unfermentables.

BradleyBrew said:

There are no preservatives in honey. Not even in the cheapest selection. The only reason you would get more of a honey taste from the raw version because of unfermentables.

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Funny you mention this cause i wouldn't think so either but do remember reading somewhere thet some preservatives are added to increase shelf life.

I suppose one method is to get a keg and filter, filter out the yeast and then add the honey. In that case I would imagine that I would have to substantially reduce the amount of honey.

iv_hokie12 said:

I suppose one method is to get a keg and filter, filter out the yeast and then add the honey. In that case I would imagine that I would have to substantially reduce the amount of honey.

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When are you adding the honey?

During boil, at flame out, or priming with it.

As a quick note, unless a honey is from a legitimate local source, chances are most of the stuff you get in the store has been highly filtered and or cut with something besides honey. There has been a lot of problems with imports of super cheap "honey" from unverifiable origins. In these cases preservatives could very well be added.

As far as flavor, it can vary greatly with nectar sources. Hives heavily fed with sugar or from light sources such as clover and tupelo will have a very subdued honey flavor. Darker honeys and fruit based honeys will add more of a flavor into a braggot etc.

kellanv said:

As a quick note, unless a honey is from a legitimate local source, chances are most of the stuff you get in the store has been highly filtered and or cut with something besides honey. There has been a lot of problems with imports of super cheap "honey" from unverifiable origins. In these cases preservatives could very well be added.

As far as flavor, it can vary greatly with nectar sources. Hives heavily fed with sugar or from light sources such as clover and tupelo will have a very subdued honey flavor. Darker honeys and fruit based honeys will add more of a flavor into a braggot etc.

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+1

It's not the sugars in the honey that flavors the beer its the extra stuff the bee's brought back with them that does that. The sugars are going to ferment out.....

two_one_seven said:

+1

It's not the sugars in the honey that flavors the beer its the extra stuff the bee's brought back with them that does that. The sugars are going to ferment out.....

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What he said

There are no preservatives in pure honey lol

BradleyBrew said:

There are no preservatives in pure honey lol

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How do you know it's pure....lol. Oh wait it says it on the label right???

two_one_seven said:

How do you know it's pure....lol. Oh wait it says it on the label right???

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that is correct. Pure honey. Ingredients = honey or miel

Very interesting. Based on the advice here, the best solution is probably just get a different honey next time. The one I used was clover. I used a darker one for my mead and it was great.

BTW I used to think I hated honey, until I got raw honey from the local food store. Most amazing stuff ever.

BradleyBrew said:

that is correct. Pure honey. Ingredients = honey or miel

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You're an easy sell. I have a bridge to sell ya.........but it's a time share, but you can have any time you want but you have to pay by the week......

Just because it says pure doesn't mean it is........

drhookmec said:

When are you adding the honey?

During boil, at flame out, or priming with it.

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I added mine at flame out

kellanv said:

As a quick note, unless a honey is from a legitimate local source, chances are most of the stuff you get in the store has been highly filtered and or cut with something besides honey. There has been a lot of problems with imports of super cheap "honey" from unverifiable origins. In these cases preservatives could very well be added.

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This is true. A recent study found that a large fraction of grocery store honey has been "ultra-filtered". The experts believe the only reason for this is to mask its origin, suggesting it's probably illegally imported.

According to their study, you don't need to go as far as local sources: apparently most or all Trader Joe's and natural food shops are "clean." About 75-100% of grocery stores, drugstores, big box stores, and fast food sources had all pollen filtered out.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/

two_one_seven said:

You're an easy sell. I have a bridge to sell ya.........but it's a time share, but you can have any time you want but you have to pay by the week......

Just because it says pure doesn't mean it is........

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Anyone know the rules on that one? I know ice cream in particular is fairly strict which is why Kroger ice cream is labeled frozen dairy dessert.

iv_hokie12 said:

Anyone know the rules on that one? I know ice cream in particular is fairly strict which is why Kroger ice cream is labeled frozen dairy dessert.

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It depends on the product. Honey does not have strict standards. It can say pure when it really is adulterated honey, meaning other things have been added to the honey such as glucose, dextrose, molasses, corn syrup, sugar syrup, invert sugar, flour, starch, or any other similar product.

So pure isn't necessarily as pure does if you know what I'm putting down.....

There is no reason for honey to contain preservatives mainly because honey is recognized as the ONLY food that never go's bad. EVER!!!! They have found honey in Egyptian tombs that is still edible.

GO HISTORY CHANNEL!!!!!!

BrewScout said:

There is no reason for honey to contain preservatives mainly because honey is recognized as the ONLY food that never go's bad. EVER!!!! They have found honey in Egyptian tombs that is still edible.

GO HISTORY CHANNEL!!!!!!

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Honey is a natural preservative. When diluted with water (or beer) it will lose its preservative properties.

iv_hokie12 said:

Very interesting. Based on the advice here, the best solution is probably just get a different honey next time. The one I used was clover. I used a darker one for my mead and it was great.

BTW I used to think I hated honey, until I got raw honey from the local food store. Most amazing stuff ever.

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You can always use Gambrinus Honey Malt. It's surefire way of getting the "honey" taste in whatever you are brewing.

There are two characteristics of honey that protect it from microbes (including the wild yeast that is invariably suspended in raw honey). First, the concentration of sugar is such that is literally sucks the moisture out of microbes by osmosis. Second, it contains small amounts of hydrogen peroxide. The former is the protection that is lost by adding water. When diluted it will ferment on its own with its own wild yeasts (assuming it hasn't been filtered or pasteurized).

I bought clover honey from Sams. Whatever brand they had. Made mead. It worked. Did it work better than having bees puke directly into my bucket? I dunno. I aint a beesmaster.

I didn't read all the posts, but as a beekeeper, I'll say that many keepers feed their bees sucrose... and there winds up being a lot of sucrose in the honey. Of course, that gets fermented out.

iv_hokie12 said:

Anyone know the rules on that one? I know ice cream in particular is fairly strict which is why Kroger ice cream is labeled frozen dairy dessert.

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The problem comes when a packer buys "pure honey" from an outside source without actually verifying contents. As far as the packer knows, its pure, and will keep labeling it as such. The FDA apparently checks about 2% of the total honey imports to verify source or contents. Not really very effective. This also happens when a bottle is labeled "local honey". I believe the rule states that 10% has to come from local sources. That leaves the other 90% which frequently comes from tropical locales like Asia/Africa where honey flow seasons are longer.

If it says organic honey, it should be pure. If you can verify a packers/brands source go with that. I keep bees myself but if I don't have my own honey to use I'll end up buying from a local beek.

And yes, many honey production facilities feed the bees a lot of simple syrup/sucrose which tends to yield honey that is very light and not a lot of depth flavor/aroma wise.