Brewing with honey

[feedthebear]

I'm still trying to plan a good batch for a honey addition. Right now I'm thinking a Honey Weiss. I was wondering, just how long the honey needs to be boiled. I've read about adding it during the last 15 minutes so that it is sterilized but is short enough that not too much aroma is lost.

I was wondering if it could be pasturized like fruit and be added to the wort after the boil, but while the temperature is still over 160F. I suppose the main risk would be oxidizing the beer while stirring in the honey.

But could I bring it just to a boil in another pot and add it to the wort when they have both chilled to pitching temperature?

 

[david_42]

People use all three methods and they all work, but the bottom line is honey adds very little flavor/aroma to a brew. 2-4 oz. of honey malt will help.

In mead making, people generally pasteurize it and skim anything that floats to the top.

 

[feedthebear]

I want to use the honey for two reasons. First I want to experience what it does to the beer: flavor, aroma, mouthfeel, etc. Then compare it to using Belgian Candi.

The second reason is if it isn't a PITA to work with, then I might start doing some mini-meads when I'm not not using my 1 gallon jug for starters. I figure from a 1 gallon jug, I should be able to safely get four 750 ml bottles.

 

[Moonpile]

The second reason is if it isn't a PITA to work with, then I might start doing some mini-meads when I'm not not using my 1 gallon jug for starters. I figure from a 1 gallon jug, I should be able to safely get four 750 ml bottles.

When I was actively brewing in the past I did maybe 3 or 5 one gal mini-meads and cysers. They were GREAT! The cyser was in primary for 2 or 3 weeks and secondary for 2 or 3 months and lightly primed before bottling. I left it in bottles for about a year. It was maybe the single best thing I've ever brewed. Only problem: just one gallon!

Now that I've happened into a surfiet of 5 gal carboys, I'm raring to go as soon as my budget regenerates. A cyser is in my future I can assure you.

 

[JeanLucD]

You don't even really need to pasteurise the honey, some people who make meads don't bother heating the honey at all (except a little heating to help dissolve into water), due to the natural antibacterial properties of honey. It also means that you don't lose some of the more delicate aromas and flavours. I'd say David's right tho, probably wouldn't add much flavour or aroma... more than normal sugar though I'm sure?

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Why not use honey malt if you want honey flavor?

 

[feedthebear]

JeanLuckD I'm not so much worried about the honey itself. But I'm going to an apiary to buy the honey. I want to make sure I get all the wild bacteria of all the other stuff that comes with raw honey.

Toot, the point of the experiment is to try brewing with honey to see how it differs from other adjuncts.

Moonpile, I'm not a huge mead drinker. Eight years ago I bought 6 bottles from the Rocky Mountain Meadery in Grand Junction, CO. I still have one left. It will probably taste like crap because its been sitting in my wine rack instead of a nice dark and cool place.

I was actually thinking of brewing them for a friend. He's really into mead and I'm sure he'd appreciate receiving a few for christmas this year.

 

[fatboy570]

My last ale was made with 2 lb honey. I didnt boil it at all, just mixed it with hot water to help dissolve. I then let it cool while boiling the wort, and added to the cold water in my fermenter. This batch took nearly a month to ferment. It takes a little longer to ferment using honey, mead can sometimes take a year or more to complete. Using honey actually helped this batch, as I didnt add quite enough bittering hops. The dry finish from the honey offsets the sweetness just enough to make ut really a good beer. But then again I like the heavy, malty beers like dopplebocks and barleywines .

 

[abt]

I've used honey a few times in secondary to good effect. If you want honey aroma, make sure active fermentation is all but over, so it doesn't blow off the volatiles.
Also, consider priming with honey. Can't remember the conversion from corn sugar, but about 10oz in 5g will get you into the 2.7 vol range, IRRC.
And I never pasteurize. All my meads have been just honey poured into a carboy, then enough warm water to get the rest of the honey out of the jug/tub whatever, then roomtemp water to reach volume. Then swirl, shake, stir for all I'm worth before oxygenating. Honey has antibacterial qualities, among which is simply the high SG. Very hard for anything to grow in that stuff. Sure, there may be some wild yeast or a little something or other, but otherwise sanitary procedures and a healthy pitching volume seem to trump any possible difficulties, and the honey appreciates the lack of abuse.
If you're worried, pitch the honey in your primary just after peak fermentation, while there's still lots of activity, so the yeast can bully anything else out.

 

[Two Dog's Brewing]

Well I made a Porter Recipe as one of my first beers.

well I do not like Honey, I do not like honey butter, honey on oatmeal I just dont like it.

Well I was drinking my Morgan's Midnight Porter one night and I thought " I think it could use some Honey. Well I brewed a batch of the Porter and added 1 pound local unfileterd Honey from Stoltey's Bee Farm in Atascadero Ca.

I did nothing different to the recipe EXCEPT I added the honey in the last 5 mins of biol. Thats it. It at brought my ABV% up .7% (5.6%-6.3%)

Let me say it is FANTASTIC, I cant brew it fast enough. People that HATE dark beer LOVE this beer. You cant see through it up to a 100 watt bulb. The honey comes through in the flavor It is honestly a hit.

I just made a Honey Amber the same way......................we will see.....

 

[DeathBrewer]

have to give that a shot!

 

[feedthebear]

I've picked up the honey. Its local wildflower. I figured I'd go with something a little darker and with stronger flavor.

Now I just need to get through two bottling days this weekend so I can start brewing again.

I thought about the adding it to the secondary idea and then bottling it straight from the secondary. It appeals to me more because I don't really like the idea of putting honey in my plastic bucket.

 

[Two Dog's Brewing]

Well with organic local unfiltered I put it in the last 5 mins of the boil. It doesnt hurt the tast and I just feel a little better.

Let us know how it goes. My Honey Amber Ale is gonna get racked to the seconday Sunday. That will be 12 days ferment. Seems to add about 3 days to the ferment with the honey versus just the Amber Ale It looks AMAZING I cant wait to tryu it

 

[brehm21]

I'm sure it's been mentioned here before, but honey is a natural antimicrobial agent. I did a quick google search and got this........

http://bio.waikato.ac.nz/honey/honey_intro.shtml#Antimicrobial

All that being said......next time I brew with honey, I might split a batch and NOT boil the honey, just to see what happens. I imagine that when boiled, a lot of the compounds lending honey it's flavor can be lost.

Anyone else added honey without boiling yet?

 

[Moonpile]

Moonpile, I'm not a huge mead drinker. Eight years ago I bought 6 bottles from the Rocky Mountain Meadery in Grand Junction, CO. I still have one left. It will probably taste like crap because its been sitting in my wine rack instead of a nice dark and cool place.

I've never had anything from Rocky Mountain Meadery, but every commercially available mead I've ever had has been cloyingly sweet at best or riddled with obvious off flavors. My own meads came out great, largely because they were much dryer.

At a recent brewing demo (slash get-together) at The Thirsty Brewer north of Baltimore I tried someone's blueberry mead. It just blew me away, even compared to what I had done in the past. When I say blueberry I mean that the bees had been in blueberry patches not that there's any fruit.

It was light and dry and slightly sparkling and just amazing.

Anyway, I'm hoping to give it a shot myself. I'm trying to convince my brewing buddies to do one on May Day, but it's a Tuesday, so we'll see!