Belgian Tripel with Honey

[JCB]

I cant see any reason why this should not work, but just wanted to check before making an expensive mistake. I am thinking about making a tripel, except instead of adding up to 20% of cane sugar i was thinking about 20% honey. Does anyone see any possible setbacks? I plan on adding in during primary fermentation to save honey character and hopefully attenuate better. Thanks for input.

 

[Teacher]

I'm actually about to do something similar. I've used a fair amount of honey in a couple of other lighter beers, and the example recipe in Brew Like a Monk uses honey (though much less), so I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm also using sugar because I used pale malt extract to take away from some of the pale's maltiness.

 

[slothorentropy]

Would love to hear how this turned out (or if it turned out). I'm about to do a repeat of a very successful Stone Cali-Belgie clone, and considering a pound or two of honey for kicks.

 

[bknifefight]

It would work just as well as adding sugar. I am not sure the exact gravity points you should expect vs sugar, but it's probably not a big deal. Adding to your primary will help with attenuation as well as give you a honey flavor that is easily boiled off if added during the boil.

 

[bourgeoisbee]

I did this to a golden barley wine a couple days ago - the beer was brewed Sunday. I added it about 72 hours after pitching the yeast.

 

[Dr_Gordon_Freeman]

There's a belgian ale called "Barbar" that sounds similar, you might look up reviews of it.

 

[JCB]

I ended up using 10% honey and 10% cane sugar. turned out awesome, added the honey in the primary

 

[slothorentropy]

Nice! When you added the honey into the primary, did you wait a few days, or do it just after pitching?

Here's how my honey tripel is shaping up at present:

Any thoughts?

 

[bourgeoisbee]

I usually wait until fermentation is 60-80 percent finished, so 2-3 days depending on your OG. Let the yeast start out consuming the complex sugars and then introduce the simple sugars after they've built up and gotten a first wave completed.

 

[syd138]

I would put it in at the end of the boil and you should be ok.

Let us know how this turns out. Sounds interesting

 

[slothorentropy]

I usually wait until fermentation is 60-80 percent finished, so 2-3 days depending on your OG. Let the yeast start out consuming the complex sugars and then introduce the simple sugars after they've built up and gotten a first wave completed.

After reading about a dozen different opinions re: when to add the honey, I think this is the direction I'm going in. Definitely want some actual honey flavor, with a boost in alcohol but hopefully no cloying sweetness--would rather the dryness that honey is supposed to impart when added to primary.

Designing Great Beers admonishes you to never add unpasteurized honey directly to your fermenter, but I've read about many people doing just without disaster.

 

[slothorentropy]

Couple other things: I'm considering adding a pound of Belgian Biscuit for body. This would take my OG to 1.080 (with honey) and ABV to 9.5%. I made a one L starter with two smackpacks last night; hopefully all will be well with the yeast by tomorrow afternoon.

Does anyone have any tips for adding the honey to the fermenter? Should I stir it gently?
Also: should my "final" OG reading be taken just after adding the honey?

 

[GuldTuborg]

There's no reason to heat the honey. Doing so is likely to remove some of the flavor and aroma, though just how much is a point of contention amongst meadmakers and the like. Honey is one of the few organic products that will never go bad (provided it doesn't separate), so there's no real risk of infection from the honey itself. The lid of the jar you're keeping it in and such is another matter entirely, but the risk is still low (as your fermented beer is already very inhospitable to most bugs).

If you do add it to the secondary, make sure to mix it in well. If you just pour the honey in, it's going to sink to the bottom with the trub and sit there. You might consider adding some water to the honey initially, mixing that well, and then adding to the fermentor; it will be much easier to mix in that way. With a beer this light, you might get some honey flavor out of a 20% recipe amount. Just find a good quality honey with a big flavor and aroma. Don't expect preheated el cheapo grocery honey out of a bear shaped squeeze bottle to taste/smell terribly good. It won't.

 

[slothorentropy]

Thanks, man! After much research and consideration, I've decided to add the honey right to the primary at high krausen. I'll dilute it with warm water first, about 6oz per pound of honey. Hopefully this will be enough to give me just a smack of honey flavor/aroma in what is sure to be a dry & spicy Tripel.

 

[Duffman53]

I was just at my local liquor store and bought a tripel since I'm brewing a batch soon. I saw that New Holland Brewing Co. has a tripel with honey it called Beerhive Tripel. You may want to use that as a way of gauging your expectations.


It didn't seem to get many favorable reviews on beeradvocate.com, though.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/335/60837

I'm going to add a pound of honey (boiled and skimmed) to my batch at flameout. The honey should ensure a healthy fermentation, too.

Good luck!
D