Honey in my cream ale?

[big_ajk]

I just did a 3/4 boil last night with a Brewers Best American Cream Ale Kit. What i did was use the original recipe and added one lb of pure honey. I was hoping for the honey to make it a little sweeter but now that ive actually thought it out i have no idea what affect the honey could have on my beer. Ill put an ingredients list for u guys to see and i hope someone might be able to tell me what i can expect out of this brew. Thanks all in advance!

3.3 lbs. Plain Light Malt Extract
2 lbs. Plain Light Dry Malt Extract
1 1/2 oz. Hallertau Hops (60 min)
1/2 oz. Hallertau Hops (5 min)
1 lb Pure Honey (30 min)
1 each Beer Yeast

 

[PseudoChef]

Honey is almost completely fermentable by yeast (95%), meaning that it will not add sweetness to the beer. It will basically raise your O.G. by a couple of points.

 

[Dinbin]

Beersmith shows "Can be used to lighten flavor and body when substituted for malt." Also says that honey ferments out 75%. I would expect a slight additional sweetness.

 

[big_ajk]

Thanks for the answers guys! Im just a noob yet and its nice to know u guys are out there to help.....thanks again!

 

[captainsock]

I did the same recipe a couple of months ago and it was one of the best brews i've done. if your feeling adventerous you could pick up a bottle of flavor extract like peach or raspberry and add it to the bottling bucket before bottling

 

[big_ajk]

I was thinking of doing that with a real light beer like a pilsner or something. My girlfriend would love a strawberry flavored brew. It might even be something i would like to sip on occasion. Thanks for the advice..it really is appreciated!

 

[Dinbin]

Pete's Wicked Ale makes a nice mellow Strawberry Blonde. I bought a six-pack to get a taste of strawberry beer before I made 5 gallons of it myself. Went over very well at our house. Gonna make a batch as soon as the holiday beers are out of the buckets.

 

[Bosh]

Don't boil the honey, it kills the flavor. Put it in right after you turn off the heat.

 

[JacktheKnife]

Bosh Dude,

I never put anything in my wort
which ain't been boiled or otherwise sanitized.
I read your preference to not boil honey
and called Homebrew Headquarters where I have been getting my 'stuff' for the last 14 years.
{Now I have never used honey but am about to as the Dundee Honey Brown is good in the morning right after coffee,
not over carbonated and light and if not sweet,
not too hoppy, ie. kinda sweet.

Old Bret down there said:
"Knife, Boil everything that goes into your wort
honey is full of wild yeasts and such".

I don't mean to be rude man,
and as I said, I have never actually used honey yet.
But I wanted to mention,
'Boil the honey to remove wild yeasts'
so other folks could choose 'to boil or not to boil'.


Lets git ignert and go Coon hunting!


Knife

 

[Bosh]

Well honey's pretty clean normally, naturally anti-septic (why it doesn't rot even if you keep it for years). It still has some stuff in it like wild yeast so maybe cook it for half an hour or so at about 170, which should be high enough to kill the wild yeast, but if you're going to boil it for half an hour you might as well just save yourself some money and use corn sugar instead.

 

[JacktheKnife]

Bosh,

They said just to boil it for 15 minutes,
and add it last, about flavor hop time.


Knife

 

[Whiskey]

Seeing that honey ferments out pretty clean, how do you get a honey flavor in a finished beer?

 

[HarvInSTL]

Seeing that honey ferments out pretty clean, how do you get a honey flavor in a finished beer?

I ended up using some honey in the secondary and used honey malt in the grist.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

If you want a good honey beer try this

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=10713&highlight=riesling

I haven't brewed it but I'd trust the maker!

 

[JacktheKnife]

Whisky,

Honey ferminting out even at 95%
leaves 5% unferminted honey and thats is enough to make it taste sweet.


Knife

 

[fatboy570]

Dont be afraid to use honey. It is a great fermentable. 1 lb adds 1% alcohol, but will leave a slightly drier finish than straight extract or even extract with sugar. Ive never boiled it, probably never will, but I guess it works well either way. Add a pound to your standard recipe for a little extra kick, or use in place of a pound of extract for a drier finish

 

[fatboy570]

I forgot, your recipe looks pretty good, in fact I wrote it down to try myself. Should be a nice, light ale with a good crisp finish due to the honey. Probably about 4.5-5.5% or so. What brand of yeast did you use?

 

[boothbrew]

I'll have to try that for my next cream ale. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Bandit112]

While were on the topic, I just added some to my second batch yesterday which was at the desired FG. I was shooting for higher alcohol ratio so I waited to add it at the end, and it did just what I was told it would do, gave a second wind to the fermentation within a few hours. My question is, if you've taken the gravity of the honey combined with water, is there a defined method to determine the progress of the fermentable % of honey? I surely don't want gushers, so I am going to be patient and let the yeast do its work for a month or two as I was advised, but I would like to monitor the progress if possible. Thanks

Here is some info that was useful, do what you will with it

http://www.honeyflowfarm.com/beerbrewing.htm

 

[mrk305]

Nothing special here, just check your hydrometer. I have only added honey after the boil and before cooling, but two weeks is all I have ever waited. I would guess that you would want to stir it pretty good before testing. If you were already at FG and you added honey to a just finished yeast cake I would guess in two weeks those hungry little yeasties would have converted a pound of honey for dessert in a couple weeks. How much did you add?

 

[big_ajk]

What brand of yeast did you use?

Sorry it took so long to respond to this..i was away from the home for a few days. I used a generic muntons dry ale yeast...no starter...just added to 70* wort in the fermenter. It took off real nice and it was done after 5 days. Thanks for all the responses and interests. Im glad i brought up an interesting topic. Thanks all!

 

[Bandit112]

Yeast I used was WL California Ale 001, and 2 pounds of a generic honey, I don't have the bottle handy at the moment. I didnt want to spend too much on honey since it was just an experiment this go around

 

[SuperiorBrew]

I was thinking of doing that with a real light beer like a pilsner or something. My girlfriend would love a strawberry flavored brew. It might even be something i would like to sip on occasion. Thanks for the advice..it really is appreciated!

I just did a light Pilsner (first lager) and added 12 oz of honey at 30 minutes, I fermented it for 2.5 weeks, did the Diactyl rest for 2 1/2 days and racked it. My gravity is almost where is should be and I tossed the hydrometer sample in the fridge for a few minutes and was very pleasantly surprised. Slight honey smell and taste, beer is crisp and clean. Put it pack in my lagering freezer and am dropping the temp a 2-3 degrees a day. Cant wait for the finished product.

 

[Bandit112]

Thanks for sharing that, i was thinking about trying it in the boil, now I will

 

[D*Bo]

I usually add it at flame out, no more than 15 min boil. You'll drive off the aroma and flavor quite easily.
Adding it to some ater and pasturizing for 20 min wold be better if you want more of the honey flavor and aroma. You could probably add it to the secondary or late in the primary. The yeast already has a good foothold and the alcohol is already there.
If you are getting it from a grocer it has already been filtered and pasturized, even from a farm stand it's probably been processed too.
Check out the Mead forum for more on honey. They need to add nutrients, but we already have what the yeast need.

Don't fear the honey.
The less you heat it the more it will show thru. I've even added it at the begining of the boil and it was slightly noticeable.... after people were told it was there. There was also 7lbs in a 10 gallon batch. That's a fun beer.