Honey vs Corn Sugar

[jbb3]

I have an AG IPA kit (1 gal) and the kit calls for honey as a priming sugar.

"Dissolve 3 tablespoons honey with 1/2 cup water."

Should I stick to the recipe or substitute corn sugar for priming/bottling??

And if I do use the honey, shouldn't I bring the honey & water solution to a boil to sanitize? They don't say anything about boiling??

 

[jonmohno]

Usually you need warm or hot water to dissolve honey. If you sub you need to know how much corn sugar which will be less, to use. Once its carbed your not really going to notice a difference between honey and corn sugar probably. You could get a slight honey character maybe at first temporarily, if its good honey and not pasturized but very minimal to not mattering.

 

[thegreatmaibockaddict]

Honey is not sanitary (nor is any priming sugar) and should be boiled. Its all in the Papazian.

I think honey works better than corn sugar, but Malt extract rules!

 

[jbb3]

Honey is not sanitary (nor is any priming sugar) and should be boiled. Its all in the Papazian.

I think honey works better than corn sugar, but Malt extract rules!

Even though it was only my second batch, I thought the AG brewing was pretty cool. It was only a 1 gal batch but still cool...
But if it makes you feel any better, my next batch is a Sweaterwater IPA clone with a malt extract with with steeping grains...

 

[jonmohno]

Honey is not sanitary (nor is any priming sugar) and should be boiled. Its all in the Papazian.

I think honey works better than corn sugar, but Malt extract rules!

Guess its not sanitary enough to treat wounds or anything. I know what you mean though, wild yeast and such. Honey would work alittle slower than corn sugar. I like Malt extract but most of the time I see no difference,it can also take a bit longer than corn sugar. I just use the unprocessed sugar we use for baking mostly.

 

[Phoenix7801]

Hey jbb3 those instructions sound familiar. Is that an Brooklyn Brewshop IPA? I only ask because I'm brewing that right now and someone recommended 2 tbls to 1/2 cup of water. They said 3tbls can overcarb your beer though I'm still waiting for mine to finish up so I can bottle.

 

[jbb3]

Hey jbb3 those instructions sound familiar. Is that an Brooklyn Brewshop IPA? I only ask because I'm brewing that right now and someone recommended 2 tbls to 1/2 cup of water. They said 3tbls can overcarb your beer though I'm still waiting for mine to finish up so I can bottle.

Hey Pheonix, You nailed it. My son gave me a Brooklyn Brewshop IPA kit for Christmas. It should be ready to bottle this weekend. So 3 tbls is too much? Man... now I'm really unsure what to do.

 

[Phoenix7801]

http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/ The experts on this forum gave me this link to help with priming. I inputted IPA and it came up with 1 oz or 2 tbls

 

[hachi-roku_fan]

Funny thing, I'm using the same kit to brew their Beyond Blonde and had the same question because I'm using half liter bottles and Coopers Carbonating drops. I sent them a message about asking for the specific carbonation levels because they don't post that anywhere.

Thanks for that calculator, I'll use that if I don't get a good response from them.

 

[helibrewer]

It would not hurt to heat the water/honey mixture to 160-170 and hold it there for several minutes. You don't need to cool it any further before adding it to your bottling bucket. A half cup of hot liquid will not effect the temperature of 1 gallon of beer.

 

[jbb3]

Thanks Pheonix & all. 2 tbls in a heated solution is what I'm going to do.

 

[FatsSchindee]

I second the northern brewer priming sugar calculator. Even if you aren't given the recommended volumes to carb to, and only an amount of honey, you can just keep adjusting the variables (primarily Vol CO2, since you should know the beer vol and temp) until if shows the amount of honey you are told to use, and then just look down through the other priming options to see an equivalent amount. It's also nice that they give it to you in both weight (oz or g) and cups (though weight is more accurate)...

 

[hachi-roku_fan]

Just an update, I'll also be going with the honey mixture for the first batch then change it as I need to. Here's the reply I got back from Brooklyn Brewery, I don't know if they understood my question

Thanks for writing!

Our recipes use natural carbonation, which means you add a priming sugar such as honey, maple syrup, or agave (depending on the recipe) to the wort while siphoning it from the fermenter. The yeast will wake back up and eat this sugar, and produce more alcohol and CO2. The CO2 will integrate into the beer because the bottles are pressurized.

You won't need to add any carbonation drops to the beer, and you probably shouldn't as will very likely over-carbonate the beer.

Instructions for brewing and bottling your beer can be found at: www.brooklynbrewshop.com/instructions

Happy Brewing!


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