Honey

[Adam's Apples]

I have long loved honey, and after recently tasting 'Bumblebeer', I have decided to make a beer with honey. I'm going quite simple, with some light malt extract (5-6 lbs) and was thinking 3-4 lbs honey, together with maybe a couple of ounces of hops (whatever I have left over at the moment.)

Thing is, I want to impart the honey in both the aroma and taste of the beer, so was thinking how best to add it. I don't want to add too many hops as was thinking a nice sweet honey, malt flavour would be nice, but was reading on here that honey almost ferments completely, so I don't know if it would add to any sweetness itself. I was thinking of adding half the honey at the start of the boil with the malt extract and half at maybe 10 mins from flameout - in the hope this will add to the aroma and taste.

Have any of you chaps got experience of brewing with honey? Could I add some boiled and cooled honey at secondary stage, kinda like dry hopping, to increase any honey aroma + flavour? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

[NurseNan]

To maximize honey flavor and aroma, do not boil the honey. Add it after the boil. You can also add some at bottling instead of dextrose, but it will take a little longer to carb.

 

[2 4 tripping]

I have always added mine to the boil so I can get rid of the albumin.

Thats going to be a large brew isn't it? Something like 8 or 9 percent?

Trip

 

[Adam's Apples]

Albumin? Not sure what that is. I was thinking it should be boiled at least for a little while to ensure all ingredients were sterile...but I've never used honey before, so wasn't sure of techniques. Do you find a honey taste and smell remain when you boil?

Yes, I haven't done all the figures yet, but I was thinking an OG of 1.080 ish might be interesting...I haven't done any really strong beers yet, but I may fiddle with the amounts, after all this is just trial number 1 really in an effort to make a proper honey flavoured brew.

Cheers

 

[2 4 tripping]

Albumin is protein, same stuff that you get from egg whites. I believe that it can lead to chill haze if you don't get rid off it. Don't take that as gospel, I can't prove it.

Definatly boil it if it is unpasteurised.

I only use about 500 g for 23 L or about 1 lb for 5 gallons. It does do a lot for the beer, but be forewarned, it will drop your final gravity giving a dryer beer.

Trip

 

[Adam's Apples]

Cheers for the info, would you recommend adding some lactose maybe to offset the dryness? I was hoping for a sweeter beer...?

Cheers

 

[CBBaron]

Check with some of the mead guys on adding honey. gotmead.com has alot of good suggestions.
What you are talking about is a beer heavy braggot (mead made with malt and honey). Alot of mead makers are not boiling their honey. Many don't heat it in any way in order to maximize the flavors. That would be my suggestion. Also bottling with honey will help to improve the flavor though it may take much longer to carbonate.
Keep the hops light and only for bittering. I think you may want to add some crystal for sweetness. I'm not sure I would go for lactose, it just doesn't sound right to sweeten a honey beer with milk sugar.
The honey will probably make the beer dryer but I think it may be perceived as sweeter from the honey flavors.
I have a braggot planned for the near future and a couple other meads in various stages of aging.

Craig

 

[Iordz]

If you love honey, you've gotta try mead. Great stuff!

 

[crxyem]

Check out my thread on Honey Brown

 

[Corey_James]

I just brewed a honey Hefe and boiled ~2 lbs of honey with 7 lbs of Wheat LME. Prior to that I steeped .5 lbs of wheat malt and crystal malt 20 with 1 lb of honey malt. The honey malt is available at my local LHBS and smells great when it is ground up. The primary is smelling great. My OG was 1.084 and my projected FG is about 1.015.

 

[budbo]

I always found Boiling the honey reduces the flavor, I add it at flame out.

 

[Adam's Apples]

Thanks for the info all of you.

I recently tried mead and enjoyed it. The stuff I bought was quite cheap, and basically seemed similar to sherry, but honey flavour, if that makes any sense!

I have almost been convinced to add the honey at flameout now, since it is my intention to impart as much honey flavour into the beer as possible. Almost everybody on here stresses the need for cleanliness and hygiene etc, so I had been convinced I would have to boil the honey, but if it's not necessary to stop any contamination etc, I wont.

I want to keep the beer really simple, just light malt extract, about 2 oz hops and honey, since I want to be sure the result I produce is mainly down to the honey. I have only done about 4 beer batches, so am very much a beginner, although I most definately have the bug! Batch after this maybe I will try adding crystal, changing hops etc, but would love to get a good beer with basic ingredients and get to the stage where I'm more familiar with which ingredients have what effect.

Cheers

 

[budbo]

have almost been convinced to add the honey at flameout now, since it is my intention to impart as much honey flavour into the beer as possible. Almost everybody on here stresses the need for cleanliness and hygiene etc, so I had been convinced I would have to boil the honey, but if it's not necessary to stop any contamination etc, I wont.

I used to worry about that until my old supplier (a bee keeper) informed me the reason you don't need to pasteurize honey is because the enzymes in the bee saliva keep it infection free he makes mead and adds it directly from the combs..

 

[Old_Brewer]

I am a former beekeeper. I usually add 1qt (3#) per 5 gal batch. I do extract brewing, and no longer do full 5 gal boils. I make sure my wort after I boil and add the honey gets to about 180ºF.
I will not argue the success of your beekeeper's mead. I'm not going to take that risk.
I don’t get too extreme with sanitation, but why take the risk?
This link might be too extreme:

http://www.meadmadecomplicated.org/mead_making/procedure/honey_sanitation.html

180º F should be good enough to sanitize honey, without ruining or affecting the flavor too much.

I’d like to hear some other beekeeper’s opinions, as well as others that use honey in their brewing & mead making.

Here is some additional info:

http://www.solorb.com/mead/

To Boil or not to Boil? That is the question...
My brewing partner and I boiled the must (unfermented honey and water) for our first 20 or so batches of mead with no serious problems. Conventional wisdom in the mead making circles suggests that boiling honey may cause some of the volatile organic compounds to escape, removing some of the interesting honey aromas. We have changed our practices so that we raise the must to a temperature just below boiling and keep it there for about 30 minutes, this pasteurizes the mixture and prevents wild yeast from taking over.
On a similar note, mead folklore suggests that you skim the scum that riseth to the top of the must during the pasteurization stage. We have also adopted that traditional technique.

 

[Fish]

I just started a braggot and what I have may be what you are looking for:


4# light DME
5# Honey (flame out)
1/2 # light grains
1 oz Fuggle (bittering)
handful rosemary
1/2 oz Chinook (aroma)
california ale yeast

I added the chinook at flameout and that may not be what you want but right now it tastes so amazing. Sweet and piney. I really like it.

 

[Baldy_Beer_Brewery]

I did this a while back and it was pretty good. There was a fair amount of honey aroma, but taste was primarily from the cascade hops.

5.00 lb Muntons Extra Light
1.00 lb Crystal Malt
2.00 oz Cascade (60 min)
1.00 oz Cascade (10 min)
1.00 oz Cascade (0 min)
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
3.00 lb Honey
1 Pkgs Muntons gold

I steeped the crystal malt for 30 mins, added the LME, brought to a boil and then followed the hop schedule. I added the honey at flameout and primed with 4 oz of honey and let naturally carb in the keg.

The next time I brew with honey, I hope to use honey malt, go all grain and use a liquid yeast. I haven't been to the lhbs for a wile but from what I gather, I will have to choose a different hop as well.

 

[budbo]

I make sure my wort after I boil and add the honey gets to about 180ºF.

If you add the honey at flame out the wort should be well above 180 unless you live on a mountain top even in Denver water boils at over 200 degrees