Brewing with honey

[bloombrews]

Has anyone used Campdon tablets to stop the Honey from totally fermenting out? I added 3 pounds into 10.4 gallons of a Wheat beer today, that is done fermenting. It took off like wild in a few hours again, once the beer Kolsch yeast, seen the sugers!
I just do not want the honey taste to "disappear" if I let it ferment, every last sugar out. I do see (read) that the honey taste stays behind, and only the sugar ferments out.... So, not sure if I should add Campdon tabs before it is terminal gravity again.....
Your Thoughts???

 

[bloombrews]

I have an imperial honey lager on tap right now. The honey flavor is fairly prominent and it's based off a local beer of the same type. ~14lbs of grain as the backbone with 3 lbs of honey added at 10 minutes before the boil. It's a really tasty beer, so much so that I try to limit to only one a day so I don't blow through it.

You need more fermentors and brite tanks... LMAO

 

[wrbeach]

I've read through the thread here and there seems to be a lot of good advice. I'm planning for a honey wheat currently and thinking I've settled for a little bit of honey malt as a steeping grain and then adding honey to the fermenter after primary fermentation has settled down. My questions, though, are how much will the honey affect the abv on the final product when added after primary fermentation. Also, is there any tips on choosing the right kind of honey? I know I've seen some thoughts about different concentrations or quality.

 

[RM-MN]

how much will the honey affect the abv on the final product when added after primary fermentation.

Exactly the same as if it were added before fermentation starts. The yeast love simple sugars. The difference may be in flavors as the initial fermentation pushes a lot of CO2 out the airlock and can take aromatic compounds with it. Honey flavor is sugars and aroma.

 

[bloombrews]

I just did a blueberry flower honey, wheat beer. I used WLP-029 Kölsch yeast. At near terminal gravity (no more gravity points moving down), I added 3 lbs of the honey to the 10 gallons of beer, fermentation kicked up again fast, then after 3 days, I cold crashed it and added campdon tablets.
The beer is fantastic now, with tons of honey flavors. Only short term "problem" is getting the sulfur out from the campdon tabs. I will only use 1/2 tablet/gallon next time instead of 1/gallon. It just took me too long to knock the sulfur taste out, by slowly purging the beer with CO2 through the "oxygen" stone, and bleeding off excess pressure through a small bleeder valve on top.
O.G. 1.049 for 6 days, now 1.014. Add Honey, then referment for 3 more days (now 9 days). Gravity went from 1.014 to 1.026 when I added the honey.
I then cold crashed when the beer again, reached 1.014 after 9 days. I used BeerSmith software to calculate what the effect that adding 3# honey to the "Primary", and it came back 1.5% more a.b.v. I did NOT add the honey in the primary, for some reason, Beer Smith does not give me any abv addition if I say that I am adding the honey to the secondary or tertiary... Not sure why, as the secondary addition sure as heck, adds more alcohol when it referments.

EDIT (5-17-2023) I was able to get most of the sulfur out by "burping" CO2 into the oxygen stone, and venting out the top of my brite tank. It only took about 5 minutes of burping to get most out. I will try to finish up scrubbing out the rest, today (next day after initial burping)
So I guess 1tablet/ gallon is "OK", as long as you plan on doing some purging, to get the stink out
The honey taste is still fantastic and blends well with the Base grain - 50% Bestmalz Red-X and 50% flaked Wheat (Red-X is awesome!)

 

[cmac62]

Of course you can always use the honey to carbonate the beer, then chill it to slow fermentation at the desired carb/sweetness levels you like.

Edit: Or if Kegging, Kmeta and sorbate to stall the yeast then carb as usual. I keg, so if I wanted to use honey, I think I would back sweeten with it, then you get all the flavor.

 

[Rish]

how much will the honey affect the abv on the final product when added after primary fermentation

Depending on the honey, it'll add 35-40 points per pound per gallon. Last mead I did came in at 38 ppg.

 

[bloombrews]

Depending on the honey, it'll add 35-40 points per pound per gallon. Last mead I did came in at 38 ppg.

I believe you mean 35-40/how many gallons your adding honey into (35-40 divided by gallons of beer)
As you can read in my post above (#35), my 3# added .012 to the SG (4 for each pound of honey)
This was in a 10 gallon batch

 

[bloombrews]

Of course you can always use the honey to carbonate the beer, then chill it to slow fermentation at the desired carb/sweetness levels you like.

Edit: Or if Kegging, Kmeta and sorbate to stall the yeast then carb as usual. I keg, so if I wanted to use honey, I think I would back sweeten with it, then you get all the flavor.

I never did this, but I think that not letting some of the sugar ferment out of the honey, you will have a cloying sweat beer, even if your base beer is a big ABV bomb. Especially if you add what I did - 3 lbs in 10 gallons. I tasted it before it refermented and the sweetness was way too much. Maybe if you just added a lot less?
Has anyone done this without letting some of the sugar ferment out and dry up the sweetness?

 

[cmac62]

@bloombrews Yeah, if you back sweeten it could get really sweet fast. Would have to be very judicial with the honey. Of course OP's beer could be super brut, like 1.00 or lower and then use a little honey to back sweeten it. I think that would work, but still need to be careful.

 

[bloombrews]

@bloombrews Yeah, if you back sweeten it could get really sweet fast. Would have to be very judicial with the honey. Of course OP's beer could be super brut, like 1.00 or lower and then use a little honey to back sweeten it. I think that would work, but still need to be careful.

What, or Who, "OP's" beer ?
My "biggest problem", is getting the sulfur from the campdon tablets out of the finished beer. After about 4 times, with several purges (burping), through a carbonation stone in the side of my Ss 10 gallon brite tank, and venting out the top, the beer still has some sulfur taste in it. I am actually liking the little bit of sulfur taste, to balance the sweat honey - not kidding! A little bit of sulfur in a Lager beer, can be a plus to some pallets, although this honey beer was fermented with Kölsch yeast, 50% Red-X malt, 50% flaked Wheat. I love the Red-X so much (especially 100% with Saflager 34/70 yeast), I had to brew a Red-Wheat-Honey. The color is not red at 50%, but some sort of gold-copper color. 100% it is brite red!

 

[VikeMan]

1. Sanitization: It's important to maintain proper sanitation practices to avoid any potential contamination. If you decide to add honey during the fermentation stage, ensure that your equipment, including the fermenter, is properly sanitized to minimize the risk of introducing unwanted organisms

Sanititation is important for any beer. But why would it be especially important for the fermenter to have been well sanitized if honey will be added (vs., say, the same beer without honey)?