Local wildflower honey in beer...

[AggieChemDoc]

All,

I'm going to use a local wildflower honey in my Big Brew witbier. I purchased two pounds of the honey, and it has the most lovely light, fruity flavors that I want to preserve.

I was thinking of adding my honey at flameout of my boil, but after poking around here I get the impression it might best be added to the secondary with no heating at all.

The problem... I got it from the local hippie co-op, and they gave it to me in a recycled organic yogurt tub. I'm not convinced of the cleanliness (smelled clean, looked clean) and don't want to infect my beer.

Suggestions? Fire away!

Thanks

 

[fatbloke]

All,

I'm going to use a local wildflower honey in my Big Brew witbier. I purchased two pounds of the honey, and it has the most lovely light, fruity flavors that I want to preserve.

I was thinking of adding my honey at flameout of my boil, but after poking around here I get the impression it might best be added to the secondary with no heating at all.

The problem... I got it from the local hippie co-op, and they gave it to me in a recycled organic yogurt tub. I'm not convinced of the cleanliness (smelled clean, looked clean) and don't want to infect my beer.

Suggestions? Fire away!

Thanks

Well I can't comment on beer making, as I know bog all about it.

So, I and many others, consider heating honey a cardinal sin. It drives off so many of the finer, more subtle flavours and aromas, you might as well use some mass blended, store bought dog****!

As for hippie co-ops etc, it's highly unlikely to be a problem. Honey is one of the most anti-fungal, anti-bacterial substances in nature (seem to recall that it has some slight anti-viral properties as well, but might be wrong).

Of course, there's no guarantee that they would have sterilised the yoghurt pot, but I'd have thought it wouldn't be a problem.

Maybe you could make a small batch to check/experiment/etc..... Don't know about the practicalities of doing that.......

regards

fatbloke

p.s. Oh and as for when to add it, I'd have thought once the wort has cooled down etc....

 

[virginiawolf]

Going from memory here but... Honey is antibacterial. When the bees make it they add trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide so it keeps indefinitely. When ever I added it to beer I did add at flame out but I'm thinking now as I am more familiar with the properties of honey than I used to be that it wouldn't likely infect the beer. Recipes I've read for braggots say to put the honey in the wort at no higher temp than a hundred. I would reccommend definitely fermenting the honey along with the primary. It will increase fermentation time and you'll want to siphon the wort off that initial yeast sediment. Then transfer it into a secondary. I used to make alot of honey beers but our household would be overly tanked alot I've scaled back my alcohol percentages as of lately. Age it in a secondary for about a month. The meads I've made came out so delicious. If you have patience try making a fresh fruit flavored mead. The ones we've made are mind blowing but require alot more aging than beer. Most important. Have Fun.
I do love Honey Virginia Wolf
This years bees

 

[avidhomebrewer]

From what I recall, honey has quite a bit of sugar in it and that is what also deters contamination. I've made meads in the past where I would add a pound or two of honey every couple of weeks without boiling it; just dump it in from the container. As for the hippie container, don't worry about it.

 

[biochemedic]

Add the honey after the fermentation starts to slow down....you know after that big burst of activity in the first 3-4 days... Take your honey, and dissolve it in a small quantity of warm water so it's easier to pour/mix.

Between the inherent antimicrobial qualities of honey, and the acidic/alcoholic environment you're adding into (ie, beer), you'll be fine. This method of later addition of sugars will also maximally preserve the aroma/flavor of the honey.

 

[winnph]

So no one thinks that the yogurt tub might harbor lactobacillis? No matter how magical honey is, I would be very surprised if it would be able to actually kill off some of the bacterial cultures that would have been used in that yogurt, as those are probably similar to the "bugs" used for lambics (see https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/anyone-have-any-experience-souring-beer-yogurt-culture-82104/).

 

[biochemedic]

Don't be surprised, it's not magic, it's hypertonic osmosis (primarily)...the honey literally sucks the bacteria dry. There's also some enzymatic stuff going on as well, and the pH of honey is also bateriocidal...

Whatever was in the container...they won't survive their cohabitation with the honey...

 

[winnph]

I think you're seriously underestimating the resilience of lacto, especially on soft plastic surfaces.

 

[virginiawolf]

Link about honey and its antimicrobial properties, anitibacterial activities etc.

http://bio.waikato.ac.nz/honey/honey_intro.shtml#Antimicrobial

 

[winnph]

I'm not denying the antimicrobial properties of honey, but bleach and starsan also have antimicrobial properties, and it's notoriously difficult to get lacto out of plastics, even using those chemicals that are made specifically for that purpose.

 

[biochemedic]

I think you're seriously underestimating the resilience of lacto, especially on soft plastic surfaces.

Perhaps...maybe you're underestimating honey Seriously though, I realize that bacteria can colonize small scratches and defects in plastic, but I will tell you with confidence if you pitch that honey into your beer, it will be OK. Now if you use your hippie yoghurt container to brew your next test batch in, that's at your own risk....

 

[AggieChemDoc]

I appreciate all the feedback. I have decided to go middle of the road and add the honey during my wort chilling cycle, probably around 100 F. I want it in there for the vigorous primary fermentation. I realize I will probably blow off some of the delicate volatiles, but this is beer adjunct, not a mead base... I DO NOT want rekrausening of my beer in secondary. If I can keep a hint of the sweetness and some of the floral/fruity character in my wit, I'll be happy. I'm not going to sweat the infection, as this beer will be kegged and drank young.