Adding honey.

[jtstitzel]

Ok I just started home brewing and am very uninformed about most everything about it so if this is a dumb question I apologize. I am making a fat tire clone and was thinking about what it would taste like if I added honey. So my question is could I add the honey once I transfer the beer to the secondary fermenting bucket? I want to get a good honey flavor so I figured it would get less diluted this way. Also would it raise the alcohol content? Thanks for and tips and advice!

 

[Hammy71]

I would add it at the end of the boil. (After you turn the heat off so it doesn't burn to the bottom.) Yes, honey is a fermentable and will add alcohol. Don't get crazy. A lot of honey isn't necessarily a good thing once fermented out. Adding it to the fermenter after fermentation is complete will just start up another fermentation and sorta negate what your trying to do with a secondary (if you choose to use one at all).

 

[jtstitzel]

Ahhhh thank you. I was thinking 2 pounds to five gallons? Just enough to add a hint but not turn it into mead.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Keep in mind that the honey pretty much just ferments away. It does leave a subtle flavor but it's not really a honey flavor. If you want actual honey flavor, add about 8 oz of honey malt to the grain bill.

 

[rodwha]

You certainly can add honey to the secondary. Trying to get a nice honey flavor, I was told by a brewer that he added his to the primary a week after fermentation began.

I like to add mine at flameout mostly so I can get an accurate OG reading.

Honey ferments out nicely, and I usually end up a few points lower on the FG reading than what the Brewtoad calculator figures.

2 lbs for 5 gals is close to max that you'd want to use. Too much more than that and it will begin to really thin out and become weird.

I like to use 8 oz of honey malts followed by 2-2.5 lbs of honey for 5-6 gal batches.