Calculating ABV after a honey addition

[Lambeau]

Okay, so I just brewed a ~10 gallon batch of IPA yesterday, and it's sitting in the conical with an OG of ~1.060. I'd like to add about 4-5 lbs of raw honey after 7-10 days of fermentation and possibly finish it off with some champagne yeast (haven't decided for sure yet). I'm at a loss as to how to calculate my ABV. Should I take another gravity reading after I add the honey, then a third after that fermentation? I just don't exactly know how to go about this, any help is appreciated.

Cheers!

 

[Double_D]

Wouldn't it throw off the beginning specific gravity reading if you add honey halfway through the fermentation? I haven't seen this process before. What are you making specifically? Usually honey is added at the end of the boil so you can get a cumulative total of sugars and from there you can easily figure out ABV. You could get yourself a rough estimate of how much fermentable sugar you are adding by finding the estimated available fermentable sugar per pound for the honey but it wouldn't be exact because all honey is different.

 

[noggins]

there's probably a million ways to do this, I would
1)take gravity right before adding honey
2)take gravity right after adding honey
3)calculate the difference and add that to original gravity

 

[Double_D]

that's what I was just about to add^^

 

[Lambeau]

Specifically, I don't really know what I'm making. More of an experimental IPA. I want to add the honey after fermentation has well and started so as to avoid contamination issues, as I will not be pasteurizing the honey. I'm not adding the honey solely for the sugar, I'm also trying to get a slight braggot feel to the beer.

 

[Lambeau]

Turtle- that sounds like the way I may go for this. Makes sense: simple, effective.

Thanks!

 

[noggins]

meh...I never really know what I'm making until after I drink the last bottle of it. and by then I've forgotten how I made it. I've always had good results with honey in beer.

 

[StoneFan]

I brewed a beer adding cherries
I took a reading before I added the cherries
A reading right after adding cherries
Then a FG.
I added % from OG to before cherries to my % gained after the cherries
I came out with just under 8%

I had an analysis done by Stone and it came out to 7.77% That is pretty damn close IMO

 

[biochemedic]

there's probably a million ways to do this, I would
1)take gravity right before adding honey
2)take gravity right after adding honey
3)calculate the difference and add that to original gravity

This is what I do for late sugar additions too...sometimes I knock a point or two off to account for the increased volume...it's all an estimate anyway...

 

[dcp27]

I'd just calculate the honey addition like it was added during the boil with everything else. when you add it doesnt effect how it changes your abv. honey does vary a bit tho, so i guess you could do turtles way if you want to know the exact ppg, should be around 35 tho.

 

[malkore]

Honey basically adds about 1.034 gravity, per pound of honey, per gallon of water.

So if you added 5lbs of honey, figure your OG was 1.094.

Also it won't qualify as a braggot unless 50% of your fermentables come from honey...you're short on that right now (so its still a honey-fortified IPA by definition and not a IPB)

 

[dcp27]

So if you added 5lbs of honey, figure your OG was 1.094.

10gal batch, so closer to 1.077

 

[philipCT]

Okay, resurrecting this just to add a little wisdom derived from research on this topic... I'm just about to brew a honey pale ale, and I'm planning to add honey in primary, right after high krausen. This seems to be the reigning council for when to add honey post-boil.

Some other best practices that have emerged in my readings:

• Use raw honey if you can get it for greater flavor contribution
• It is essential to pasteurize the honey before adding to wort. This kills the naturally occurring yeast and bacteria in the honey.
• Do NOT boil the honey as this removes any characteristic flavor
• To figure the sugar content/SG of your honey:
  • prepare a test dilution of 2 ounces (by weight) of honey
  • dissolve in enough water to make 2 cups of solution
  • Measure SG
  • The number to the right of the decimal point is your PPG. (ex. a measured 1.035 indicates that your honey has 35 points per pound, per gallon )
• Use your ppg to calculate how your honey addition will affect OG:
  • Ex: If you are adding a pound of honey to 5 gallons of wort at 1.060, first calculate the effect of the honey addition:
  • Multiply your PPG (let's assume 34) times lbs. of honey and divide by #galls of wort:
  • 35 * 1 / 5 = 7 (or in SG terms, 1.007)
  • Now add this to the existing OG to get you new post-addition OG:
  • 60 + 7 = 67 (or in SG terms, 1.067)
• Pasteurize your raw honey (from the BYO article Brewing with Honey)
  • Preheat oven to 176° F.
  • Place the honey in a sanitized, oven-proof saucepan.
  • Heat the honey on the stovetop to 176° F.
  • The honey should be stirred occasionally to avoid burning it.
  • When the honey reaches 176° F, cover the pan and place it in the oven.
  • Use a thermometer, and hold the honey in the oven at 176° F for 2.5 hours.
  • Then bring the honey to room temperature by placing it in an ice bath.
  • If you can’t hold the honey mixture at precisely 176° F, any temperature from 176–185° F will be fine.
• You have two options for preparing the honey addition: dilute the desired weight of honey to the same SG as your wort (sometimes recommended because it mixes better with the wort) or dilute to a lesser extent, to achieve a more "mixable" SG, but as little as possible so you don't don't dilute your beer with too much water. I am undecided which is better. The former may promote better fermentation because matching the SG of the addition will serve to protect the yeast from the shock of suddenly encountering a much higher gravity substance to ferment. OTOH, I really don't want to dilute the wort with two gallons of water just to match the SG. Conundrum.
• Add at high krausen

I hope this is helpful. This is the sum total of my knowledge gathered in advance of brewing a honey pale ale with raw honey this weekend. I'll report back on results.