When to put honey in kolsch?

[cbrewcrew]

Hey I'm going to make a kilsch for the first time from an ingredient kit. I have had honey kolsch before and really liked it. When would I put in the honey? What kind and how much? Thanks.

 

[djevans3]

Honey, for the most part, is 100% fermentable and will not leave a great of honey flavor behind. That said you can still add it and I would do it at flameout. I just made a honey kolsch and used some honey malt in my mash to get the honey flavor. Typically you get the best bang out of this malt by mashing, but you can steep it as well, it just won't convert without other base grains.

 

[rodwha]

I usually add honey at flameout. You can also add it to the fermentor after initial fermentation dies down, after a week, but I prefer to get an accurate gravity reading.

It depends on how much flavor you want and how thin it'll be. For 5 gals I'd use 2 lbs for a strong presence, but I've had some nice ones with just one pound.

 

[cbrewcrew]

Ok. With that being said, I think my best option would be after fermentation dies down. So would i do 2 lbs of honey in secondary?

 

[cbrewcrew]

Also, where would you get honey by the pound? I thought honey was measured in fluid ounces. That could be a really dumb question, but I'm new to this.

 

[rodwha]

You certainly could add two pounds to the fermentor.

Honey usually is sold by volume. I'd guess that a pound is close to 12-16 oz. I use a scale to weigh it.

I prefer to add it at flameout as I can dunk the measuring cup into the hot wort to get it all.

 

[rodwha]

Never a dumb question.

 

[cbrewcrew]

Thanks for the help. I'm going to give it a shot.

 

[rodwha]

No problem!

I've also used a small portion of honey malt as well as use honey. It's nice.

 

[rodwha]

Oh, and don't use too much more than two pounds in five gallons as it will thin it out too much and give it a weird taste. I added 3 1/4 lbs to six gals once. It was strange.

If you warm the honey before adding it to the fermentor it'll be easier to deal with.

If you intend on washing the yeast you'll want to pasteurize it first to ensure there are no wild yeasts. Otherwise there shouldn't be enough to effect the beer this time.