When adding honey...

[dmbnpj]

to the primary after a week or so, should the wort be stirred when the honey is added, or should the honey just be poured in and left alone?

 

[VTBrewer]

You'll get a lot of different answers. My 2cents are:

I add honey at flame out (and a ton of it) OR
I let it ferment out, boil honey in little water add to secondary and rack on top of it.
If I added right to primary (which i've not done), I'd not stir it. But I'd still boil it with some water and bring to room temp and dump in.

You'll see a nice little fermentation with the added sugar which will get it all mixed up like you want.

Lastly...that's not wort anymore. that's officially beer in your primary.

 

[dmbnpj]

OK, how about when should I add the honey? Its been a week since brew day. The way I do it, is leave it in a 5 gallon bucket for a few weeks, then bottle and leave that for a few weeks. Doing it that way, when do you recommend I add the honey?

 

[Arkador]

OK, how about when should I add the honey? Its been a week since brew day. The way I do it, is leave it in a 5 gallon bucket for a few weeks, then bottle and leave that for a few weeks. Doing it that way, when do you recommend I add the honey?

2 choices
1: at least 1 week before bottling to make sure it has time to ferment out
2: replace your priming sugar with honey and add it just before bottling. there is a chart somewhere that converts all the different fermentables you can prime your beer with.

 

[dmbnpj]

When brewing an all grain recipe, is it still necessary to use a priming sugar right before bottling?

 

[conpewter]

When brewing an all grain recipe, is it still necessary to use a priming sugar right before bottling?

Yes, you still need the priming sugar (or honey as mentioned in this thread) to create carbonation in the bottles.

 

[dmbnpj]

My recipes back when doing extract brewing always had me boil priming sugar with a little water right before bottling, dumping into the bucket, stirring a little and then racking to the bottles.

Is the stirring a good idea? The more I read, I keep seeing that after the yeast has been added, you should try to avoid introducing any oxygen to the beer?

 

[COLObrewer]

My recipes back when doing extract brewing always had me boil priming sugar with a little water right before bottling, dumping into the bucket, stirring a little and then racking to the bottles.

The process for priming is exactly the same for extract, PM or AG. If you keg you can use a little less sugar.

Is the stirring a good idea? The more I read, I keep seeing that after the yeast has been added, you should try to avoid introducing any oxygen to the beer?

Stirring is OK as long as you don't get crazy like making whip cream, shouldn't be necessary if you follow your first procedure above. I usually give the bucket one swirling round with a sanitary brew spoon.

 

[ImperialLover]

You really should boil the honey before you add it. Especially if it's the raw from the hive style honey from farmers. That stuff is known to have wax/insect particles etc in it and you don't want to introduce the bacteria. You'll also want it thin when you add it to the fermenter so it doesn't drop to the bottom and become useless sludge in your dormant yeast.

 

[dmbnpj]

What about if I boil the honey and add it now to the fermenter. Leave that for a couple weeks. Then, right before bottling, boiling a little more of the honey as the priming sugar? Work?

 

[VTBrewer]

Sure. if you search around you'll find the right amount for a 5 gallon batch.

 

[chumprock]

What is your intent for adding the honey?

If its for sweetness, you may be disappointed.

 

[VTBrewer]

Palmer says

Honey is difficult to prime with because there is no standard for concentration. The gravity of honey is different jar to jar. To use honey, you will need to dilute it and measure its gravity with a hydrometer. For all sugars in general, you want to add 2-3 gravity points per gallon of beer to prime.

How to Brew - By John Palmer - What Sugar Should I Prime With?

 

[dmbnpj]

My intent on using the honey is to follow the recipe. The recipe says to add honey but just like all AG recipes, it is very vague on how to do that.

 

[VTBrewer]

How much honey does it call for? Actually, can you post the entire recipe?

Priming with it won't give off that much of a honey flavor. Since you didn't add it during the boil, which is fine but is the way I do it, you should boil it in a little water and rack on top of it. You'll have a little secondary ferment. But posting the recipe might be helpful.

 

[dmbnpj]

TastyBrew.com | Recipes

 

[VTBrewer]

Hmm. Well it says to add it to primary after 4 days or when the bubbles are..(I can't even bring myself to type that, its just plain horrible advice..but I digress).

So yeah, boil in water, add to primary when fermentation is done. If you want to do it by putting it into the secondary and racking on top of it that's cool. If not, you're still ok. There is no need to stir. Was that the original question? Lol.

 

[dmbnpj]

Yeah, I think so. Thanks.

Here is my plan now. Tomorrow I will boil the honey with a little bit of water and then add it to my fermenter. I will give that 2 more weeks. Then, the day of bottling I will boil 3/4 cup of corn sugar with a little water, add to bottling bucket, rack on top of that, then bottle? Will that plan work?

 

[VTBrewer]

looks like a good plan. i typically don't bottle until my SG has become FG. But that's a fine schedule to take the reading on and proceed if its good.

 

[HawaiianHippie]

Crossover wisdom from mead forums:

Boiling honey is not only unnecessary, it's bad. Boiling removes most of the flavor and character of honey, leaving only a tasteless (but fermentable) additive. The sugar content in honey is so high and the moisture content so low that bacteria can't grow in it.

The first time I made mead, I took a recipe from the Joy of Homebrewing, which had me boil. Later, the fermentation got stuck, and when I posted for help on mead forums, I was whacked upside the head repeatedly with the "Why'd you boil it? You should never boil it!" stick.

 

[VTBrewer]

Hmmm. I make a nice honey wheat that has a ton of honey flavor. I add 3 pounds of raw honey to my boil with about 5 mins to go, but I guess that's good wisdom to impart.

 

[dmbnpj]

Well now I'm wondering if I should boil the honey or not?

 

[HawaiianHippie]

I don't know. Like I said, those who make mead are adamant that boiling is a sin.

However, you're not making mead, you're adding honey to beer. So maybe latent bacteria that wouldn't stand a chance in an all-honey must (what a mead-maker calls wort) could take off and bloom in your beer.

However however, I do know that boiling it does take a lot of the flavor away. I've had firsthand experience making mead by boiling and by not boiling, and there's no comparison.

However however however, I've made a few batches of a honey porter, following the directions on the recipe from my LHBS, and that does have me add honey to the boil, about 10 minutes before the end. And that is some mighty tasty beer!

 

[z987k]

Do not boil your honey. People will hunt you down. It's is plain stupid and there is no logical reason to do it. In fact if you're going to heat it, why not just use dextrose? It's cheaper and you'll get roughly the same result.
You can heat it a little bit if necessary to get it to flow or mix well with water.

As to the OP, add the honey whenever you want at this point. Give it some time to ferment and then some more to age(as with all beer right?).

 

[conpewter]

Ok, so I've been looking into this "Do boil/don't boil" debate. So far what I've found is a lot of propaganda about how wonderful honey is... and conflicting data on whether bacteria can live in honey. I'm not talking about botulism spores, I do know those can live in honey, but any amount of alcohol will kill botulism - so no issues there.

This may all stem back to the debate between raw, unheated honey and supermarket honey. Since supermarket honey has already been pasteurized there is no reason to boil it, but it also has most of it's enzymes deactivated which might allow bacteria to reside in it once it is opened (not sure, still very high sugar content, acidic). Raw honey is apparently antiseptic, so no reason to boil as far as I can tell.

For those saying to boil honey... can you point me to some research papers or something to show why to do this?

 

[z987k]

For those saying to boil honey... can you point me to some research papers or something to show why to do this?

I think we need that to. With so many random recipes floating around saying to boil it, I think we need a real reason to do so, since all evidence that I've ever seen written or experienced is to the contrary.

 

[ImperialLover]

Dave Miller's "Guide to Home brewing," says that RAW honey should be added during or before the boil because there is a good possibility that there are small pieces of insect still in the raw product. Rotting pieces of insect are obviously bad. He says it's "good practice" to boil store bought honey that has been pasteurized. His research or how he came to this conclusion I don't know.

 

[tdavisii]

I was raised by bee keepers (literally). My dad and my grandpa both kept bees. HONEY DOESNT GO BAD. EVER. Infact they have found honey in ancient tombs and such that is still good thousands of years old. As far as pasturizing.......My grandpa and a lot of his bee keeper friends sold honey and never ever pasturized it. The only reason i would say to boil is to dilute it so it can mix in the wort and not sink to the bottom. Just my opinion.

 

[VTBrewer]

Do not boil your honey. People will hunt you down. It's is plain stupid and there is no logical reason to do it. In fact if you're going to heat it, why not just use dextrose? It's cheaper and you'll get roughly the same result.

I know that the 3 pounds of raw honey I add at roughly 5 minutes before flame out adds a very very noticeable honey flavor that sucrose certainly could not. Next time I make it I'll add at flame out, or even two pounds to secondary and see if it's noticeably different.

I have not basis for adding the honey to the boil other than that's what the recipe I have calls for so I've always done it.

 

[LuizArgh]

I know that the 3 pounds of raw honey I add at roughly 5 minutes before flame out adds a very very noticeable honey flavor that sucrose certainly could not.

3 pounds of honey for how many pounds of malt? and whats the final yield? 5 gallons?