Honey?

[robs1642]

whats the word on honey?

how does it flavor the beer? does it ferment? anybody know any good recipes?

 

[rod]

from what i have read, honey pretty much ferments right out leaving little flavour.
honey malt is supposed to be the thing to use for honey flavour.
the following is from paddockwood:
Gambrinus Honey Malt 1kg (25 SRM)
[MS106] CA$4.25


Malt sweetness and honey like flavour and aroma make it perfect for any specialty beer. The closest comparison is a light caramel, but Honey Malt has a flavour of its own: sweet and a little bit nutty. Made by restricting the oxygen flow during the sprouting process, Honey Malt is essentially self-stewed. When the oxygen is cut off, the grain bed heats up, developing sugars and rich malt flavours. The malt is lightly kilned for a color color profile of 25 SRM and is devoid of astringent roast flavors. Honey malt has a diastatic power of 50, and can convert itself but not additional adjuncts. It is best mashed with a base malt. Use up to 25% in specialty beers for a unique flavour.

 

[mot]

I used honey on my last batch a honey weizen kit...I put the honey in the last 15 or 20 minutes of the boil, you can deffinatley tatse it and smell it.
It said in the recipe 30 minutes left in the boild for strong honey flavor 10 for aroma I split it down the middle

 

[Mutilated1]

Well I'm basically a new brewer, haven't really been doing this very long so take this with a grain of salt...

This is just my take on it anyway.

Honey seems to take longer to ferment than sugar, dextrose, malt, or whatever other fermentables you add to your brew. Not only does it take longer to ferment, it will make a most foul smell during fermentation.

Small amounts of honey, say on the order of 8 oz or so are basically pointless if you're making your beer with extract. The honey flavor will be overwhelmed where you won't really be able to notice it.

A larger amount of honey say 2-3 pounds makes a very tasty beer, if you can just wait it out. As I was saying it takes a long time to ferment, and the smells it makes while its fermenting will have you thinking its spoiled.

I made this recipe about a month ago, it was my second honey attempt.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=35314

The recipe thats posted there is basically what I used, except instead of just the 2#s of wildflower honey, I also used a little less than a pound of regular table honey ( you know in a bear bottle ) that I had in the shelves.

I let it go for 15 days in the primary which in hindsight would probably have benefited from letting it go a little longer. Its cleared up pretty well in the secondary, and smells and tastes great now - though I was really worried from the stench that was coming from it while it fermented.

Judging by the gravity reading its ready to bottle now, but I'm considering letting it sit in the secondary another week till I can drink some other beer and have bottles to put it in.

I expect it will be the best beer that I've made yet, it tastes great - when its carbonated and cold I can tell its going to be killer.

 

[Grimsawyer]

I love honey. The trick is to dilute a few pounds into some water, then bring the temp up to 150 for about 10-15 min to pasturize it. I make a mean honey hefe. Dosn't matter what hefewiezen recepie you use just make a 4-5% Hef, add 2-3 lbs honey that HAS NOT been heated over 150 Degrees F and add that to the primary and you will have one seriously kick @$$ beer! I put 2-3 lemons and zest in my hefe's too. Just enough to sort of taste it but not really. I also like using a spicy yeast. A really clovey, bannanay even some bubble gumy yeast!mmmmmmmmm......... I'm going to go grab a beer now... Oh, completely forgot. Want more honey flavor? take 6oz(weight, not liquid) dissolve in just a tiny bit of water, heat to 150 and toss that in your bottling bucket instead of priming sugar! I've done that a few times.

 

[Coastie]

What about priming with honey instead of corn sugar? Are there any advantages to it?

 

[Bosh]

Make one pale ale with unpasterized and unfiltered honey, I think that gives more flavor than more standard commercial honey. Nice taste without being sweet and absolutely astoundingly wonderful floral aroma.

Packed a good punch too...

 

[NurseNan]

to maximize flavor and aroma, add the honey after the boil, when the wort is still hot, and stir to dissolve. Priming with honey reinforces the flavor, but it takes a little longer to condition.

 

[jb444]

My friend's father is a keen beekeeper, so I have a large supply of various types of wonderful, fresh honey.
The thicker honies in particular give a lovely aroma which goes after a couple of weeks, but I can rarely taste any difference from sucrose (since its 50% fructose[the sugar in honey] anyway), but then I rarely add more than 1lb in 5 gallons.
Eating local honey also prevents hayfever, and this makes an excellent excuse for a homebrew.

 

[Grimsawyer]

My friend's father is a keen beekeeper, so I have a large supply of various types of wonderful, fresh honey.
The thicker honies in particular give a lovely aroma which goes after a couple of weeks, but I can rarely taste any difference from sucrose (since its 50% fructose[the sugar in honey] anyway), but then I rarely add more than 1lb in 5 gallons.
Eating local honey also prevents hayfever, and this makes an excellent excuse for a homebrew.

Dude... make mead.... lots of it, and add ALOT more in your brews. No reason not to. I'm jealous. Honey is SO EXPENSIVE. I would suggest in your next brew make a 4-5% beer, any style, and add 3lbs of honey to it. Don't boil it. DON'T BOIL IT. Please, don't boil it. Honey's fragile sweet aroma and flavor evaporate out so fast. I suggest Hefewiezen's with honey. They are ready to drink faster than an ale. When you use honey you have to let the beer sit around for awhile usually. My experience is honey in hefe tastes great sooner. All this talk about honey in beer is making me jones for a good honey hefe.... mmmmmmmmmmm.......

 

[DeathBrewer]

Honey?

Yes, sweety?