priming with honey

[wilsojos]

I bottled/kegged an NB phat tyre last night. Bottled 13 and kegged the rest. For my priming solution I heated one cup of water in a jar and mixed in about 3.5 Tbsp of honey. Any predictions how the bottles might turn out? I thought since I was bottling so few it was a good time to try something different. Any other comments on priming with honey are welcomed. I read some mixed reviews on HBT but I think its going to be fine.

Cheers!!
JW

 

[Golddiggie]

Since you used liquid measure instead of weight, no way to know (at all). Next time use this site and WEIGH the priming sugar. That goes for ANY sugar you'll use.

As for predictions... You could be looking at longer priming times, or bottle bombs very soon. Zero way to know.

 

[wilsojos]

Yeah I know weight is much more accurate, but I don't have a good scale. I found a few posts that gave liquid recommendations so I went with it. We'll see how it turns out. Thanks.

 

[Calichusetts]

Thats prettys spot on. I only use honey to carb by beers and tablespoons are fine. To get the standard 2.5 vols carb you want to use 3 tablespoons of honey PER GALLON. This is 1.5 ounces or about 63 grams. I use 4 and have never had a bomb and no gushers either.

They will take slightly longer to carb...I use 16oz bottles and found 4 weeks to be about right.

 

[wilsojos]

Thanks for the reassurance. I figured it might take a little longer. I used 12 oz bottles, but will probably go 4 weeks. How does it impact flavor?

 

[Calichusetts]

Thanks for the reassurance. I figured it might take a little longer. I used 12 oz bottles, but will probably go 4 weeks. How does it impact flavor?

It will depend on the type and quality of the honey. If you just want to use it to carb, I've found that clover honey adds almost no taste to it. Orange blossom is amazing and will give you a nice hint of a honey flavor. Wildflower is a little more "meady" IMO. Buckwheat is stronger and more barnyard-like. You will have to experiement to see what you like. Even buying several variations of one type can get you different results.

It will slightly dry it out...I mash 1 degree higher to account for this.

Finally, if you are really a go-getter. Handcarb a gallon with various types to do a nice experiment. You can easily do the math to see what to you, a little less than a teaspoon per 12 oz beer is a great start. Go buy a meat injector or a baby medicine syringe and drop the honey in before you add the beer. I've done this a few times. I even heated the honey up over 30 minutes (grab a 12 piece cupcake baking pan and premeasure before you heat) and got some nice toasty/toffee/caramel flavors from it. Really a fun way to experiement with your house beer to see how honey can affect it.

 

[kegtoe]

From a flavor perspective i bet it turns out fine. Dogfish head primes one of their beers with molasses. I would just be cautious of the level of carbonation. You may want to try a bottle every few days, when you get to a time when you are happy with the carbonation level you should pu tall the rest in the fridge. Otherwise you could wind up with bottle bombs. the bad part of flavorings like honey is sometimes they take very long to mature in flavor.