When to Add Honey?

[spage]

Currently brewing a honey wheat - I have heard that boiling the honey can crystalize it... when have you all added honey? 5 min? Flameout? What are the advantages/disadvantages of boiling it?

Thanks in advance,

 

[PintOfBitter]

boiling risks losing some of the honey flavor. my advice is add it at flameout, stir it up well, then chill. the honey really shouldn't introduce infection, even if it was added after cooling, but a brief heating will have little effect.

 

[mroberts1204]

I am curious about this too as I am brewing an Orange Blossom Saison with 2.5# of honey. What about adding some directly to the fermenter?

 

[PintOfBitter]

i've made mead without a boil, with no ill effects. you'll hear a lot about the antibacterial properties of honey, though i've never seen a good explanation as to why. I'd say adding honey to the fermenter would be fine if you can come up with a way to mix it - either at the beginning of primary, or gently stir into a partially fermented beer.

 

[SourHopHead]

I have always added it during whirlpool, but my buddy added it to his secondary and got a real nice Honey aroma and flavor. YMMV

 

[pericles]

I've never heard of crystalizing honey by boiling it. . . usually honey crystalizes when a dust mote gets into the jar, which acts as a crystilization seed. You can DE-crystalize the honey by boiling it.

As to its anti-microbial properties. . . Honey has a particularly low water activity - vapor pressure of water in substance as compared to pure water at the same temperature - and for that reason micro-organisms generally don't survive in it. In spite of this, botulism toxins can survive in a dormant state in honey, so it's a good idea to boil it at least a little for the sake of sanitation.

I made a honey wheat that I particularly liked with a honey addition at 5 minutes from flame-out. That's a decent amount of sterilization given the risk, and (I thought) preserved all the honey flavor I wanted.

 

[Hegh]

... In spite of this, botulism toxins can survive in a dormant state in honey, so it's a good idea to boil it at least a little for the sake of sanitation. ...

Toxins? Or the bacteria that produce the botulism toxins? If just the toxins, no worry since you're diluting them. If the bacteria, would they wake up in beer and cause problems? There aren't many bacteria that will survive fermentation or fermented beer... Plus, honey has been fermented for ages.

Perhaps you should ask this in the mead forum, they probably know a bit more about it...

 

[spage]

Rock on guys, thanks for the input. I ended up adding it right at flame-out to still sanitize it, and it is bubbling away in the fermenter right now. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[pericles]

Hegh: Ooops! "Botulism toxin" just rolls off my tongue (and apparently fingers) after so many baby food/peanut butter/taco bell news reports! Yes, I believe it is the clostridium botulinum bacterium that can go dormant in honey.

Spage: Adding honey at flame-out might kill some of the dormant bacteria, but probably won't sterilize the honey completely. Given that, I strongly urge you not to give your beer to the population most adversely affected by botulism. . . babies.

 

[user 30639]

I have a honey blonde I'm going to try making next. I know this is a pretty general question, but approximately how much honey should I use? I'm making a 5 gallon batch.

 

[steveharwell]

I just started a honey blonde ale from AHS. It was one lb. of honey

 

[Killer_Robot]

Botulism spores survive in honey. I don't think the bacteria themselves can grow in beer though, so that's not a risk: infection risk from honey, I think, is wild yeast and other sorts of spores. As said before, active microbes can't survive in honey due to there being too little water in the sugar. But some spores and other inactive cells can, and those will wake up when the honey is diluted into water, wort, or what have you.

 

[EvilTOJ]

There's still nothing to worry about if you ingest botulism spores. Anyone over the age of 2 has an immune system that can deal with them without a problem. However, babies immune systems cannot handle them as well, which is why there's warning labels on honey saying not to give it to infants.

Even if the spores wake up after the honey has been diluted they are killed when alcohol and lower pH is present in the must. You will never die of botulism from ingesting fermented beverages.

 

[hopvine]

Past threads have concluded that the best time to add your honey is around 72 hours after fermentation has peaked. Heat can rapidly destroy the honey character, and rigorous fermentation can have the same effect.

 

[Blindguardian]

I look at it this way, how many people in this world eat honey (including me) with out cooking it. I can not tell you how many times I have taken a spoon full of honey straight from the jar and eaten it or even a peanut butter and honey sandwich. So I for one would never worry about putting honey in my brews at flame out or at any time.

just my 2 c worth