Carbonating with honey

[illini88]

I'm planning on using honey to carb a pilsner. Anyone have any experience with this? Does it do anything at all to the flavor? I'll be using clover honey BTW.

I don't have a secondary fermenter. What does this do to the beer?

 

[Driftwood]

Secondary fermentation is supposed to give a clearer beer and most people agree it gives better tasting beer. But a few argue that secondary fermentation is unnecessary.

I've wanted to try using honey too, but I don't think I would try it for bottling because its difficult to estimate how much fermentable sugar is in it. (apparently it can vary brand to brand, etc.)

So there is a real risk of exploding bottles. When I use honey in any future recipe, it'll probably be in the boil...

Good luck...

 

[wild]

I have a pale ale recipe that uses ⅓ cup of Dextrose, ⅓ cup of honey, & ⅓ cup of Brown sugar to bottle with.
A FunnyFarm ale that is bottled with ½ cup of honey.
A Dark Honey ale that uses 7/8 cup of Organic honey for priming.
An Orange Blossom Amber that uses 5/8 cup of Orange Blossom honey for priming.
And last is my Chocolate Cherry Porter that I prime with ¼ cup honey (boiled with ¼ cup water) before bottling.
Most Pilsners require a medium to high carbonation level ranging from the high 2's to the low 3's. Which I believe is around 3/4 - 1 cup of fully processed honey (grocery store honey).

Good luck,
Wild

 

[loopmd]

Carbonating with honey, now there's an interesting thought! I've made plenty of Hefe's and added 2 lbs of honey to the fermentor. Heck, I've added jars of honey to about every other batch I've made. Love what it does in the fermentor. Never thought about adding it to bottling bucket. What are you looking for by doing this?

 

[wild]

What are you looking for by doing this?

Now I agree that priming with honey usually will have little effect on the taste/aroma, but it will depend on the honey. Fresh buckwheat honey, for example from a local beekeeper that is raw or has been gently pasteurized (not boiled!!!) should add some flavor/aroma to a lighter beer or possibly to illini88's pilsner. Using the non-descript honey from the local supermarket is bound to have no affect, though. Besides, I think it's a great alternative to Corn Sugar or DME.

Wild

 

[Rookie]

You need to be carefull using honey, most honey will ferment completely. Mead can end up really dry, below 1.00 and if used in equal amounts to dme or corn sugar could give you an unpleasent surprize.

 

[El Pistolero]

I have a pale ale recipe that uses ⅓ cup of Dextrose, ⅓ cup of honey, & ⅓ cup of Brown sugar to bottle with.
A FunnyFarm ale that is bottled with ½ cup of honey.
A Dark Honey ale that uses 7/8 cup of Organic honey for priming.
An Orange Blossom Amber that uses 5/8 cup of Orange Blossom honey for priming.
And last is my Chocolate Cherry Porter that I prime with ¼ cup honey (boiled with ¼ cup water) before bottling.
Most Pilsners require a medium to high carbonation level ranging from the high 2's to the low 3's. Which I believe is around 3/4 - 1 cup of fully processed honey (grocery store honey).

Good luck,
Wild

Just curious...how much of the honey aroma or flavor comes through in these recipes?

 

[loopmd]

El P...to answer your question, not much. As Rookie said, it almost ferments completely...giving you a higher alcohol content.

loop

 

[wild]

Just curious...how much of the honey aroma or flavor comes through in these recipes?

I believe the Dark Honey Ale is the most noticeable and my Chocolate Cherry Porter has the least mainly due the high ABV. Maybe I'll search for a Cherry Blossom honey to bottle it with next time.

Wild

 

[Darkblade]

Gday lads,
If I was making a Pale Ale & wished to put honey in the fermenter, would I add honey as well as the normal malt/sugar mix or should I reduce the normal malt/sugar mix because of the sugar in the honey?
We have a lovely white ale here in Oz called White Rabbit White Ale & honey is used in the process somewhere. You can definitley smell the hint of it in the glass. It's just there in the drinking too - quite subtle. Very nice drop.
Cheers lads.

 

[SteveM]

Back to your question about secondary fermenters - I had one that I used for special purpose brewing only (like fruit beers). I don't use it for making my regular house beer (APA - with recipe variations each batch) and have brewed award winning beers.