Honey Ounces = Volume or Weight?

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TopRowSeat

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I'm going to bottle a Christmas Ale with honey because I have never bottled with honey and I have some left over from the recipe.

Beersmith says I should use 4.34 oz of honey but I'm not sure if that is weight or volume?

I'm guessing volume so it would be a little over half a cup... but I'm really not sure.

Thoughts?
 
I would assume it's ounces by weight.

Otherwise it *should* say fluid ounces (fl. oz.)

Can you change units in beersmith? If so, change it to grams or mL and use those unambiguous units ;)
 
Honey is ALWAYS by weight, just as regular sugar is.

Also, do NOT guess, get a scale that can weigh things to the precision level you need. I now have three scales to do just that (all digital). I have my old kitchen scale that goes up to 11 pounds. It sucks for weighing hops and anything where you need exact precision, such as priming sugars. I have a newer 35# capacity scale to weigh my grains with for each batch (got tired of using the 11# capacity scale). I also have a scale that has a capacity up to 11 ounces. That is the one I use for hops and anything where I want/need more precision (under 11 ounces of course). All three of my scales can use either standard or metric units, so I can select whichever one I want. Rather useful when weighing out nutrient additions for mead (using the 11 ounce scale).

Something else to remember... Honey is typically about 80% fermentable sugars. BeerSmith puts it at about 90% relative to corn sugar. So depending on the actual honey you have (it's not static, since living creatures make it) you could either under, or over, carbonate the batch. So be careful of what your target CO2 volume level is for the batch.
 
(lots of useful stuff)

I'm targeting 2.3 vols of C02 so I've got a little room on either side if the actual fermentables are off in my honey. Hopefully I can avoid bottle bombs (been there) or woefully under-carbonated (also been there) beer.

I don't expect to use honey often but was looking for something different for this one.

I do use a kitchen scale for my precise measurements (hops, sugar) but my grain weights are typically less precise. Some day I'll get a nice scale with a larger capacity but for now my grain weights are close.. but not as exact as they could be.

Thanks for your help!
 
I found my original digital scale to be to inaccurate for priming sugar (and hops) weighing. If I let it sit for a couple of minutes, it would fluctuate on it's reading. Just enough to piss me off. When it comes to grain, being a fraction of an ounce off, most of the time, won't matter. Of course, there are always those darker grains that every little bit matters.

I prefer to be as precise as possible in my measurements since that means I have a much greater chance of repeating the recipe if/when I wish to.

Of course, I'm carbonating my batches with gas now (in keg) so I don't need to worry about weighing priming sugar anymore. I can still bottle, since I have the bucket and all the hardware still, I just prefer to keg now. I can also bottle from keg so I really don't need to worry.

I've primed with honey before, and liked what I got. Be sure to give the brew at least 3 weeks at ~70F before you chill one down to test (chill for 4-7 days). Depending on the honey, it could take more time to carbonate.

Any batch that I'm bottling directly (not after carbonating in a keg) goes into either Belgian or Grolsch bottles. I like the Belgians for things that could go a bit more wild, since they're made to withstand more CO2 volumes. I like the Grolsch since they won't break if the carbonation gets to be too much. At worst, it will open it's own top, and you'll hear it. I had that happen with one bottle while I was still bottling carbonating.
 
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