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  • Honey in the beer

    Looking to make a brown ale and add some honey for flavor. Have a great local organic source. Every time I made a beer with honey I feel like I'm waisting money. Great for gravity but never seem get the aroma or sweetness. So post ferment is the key. My question is how much? This is pub beer not bottled so stability is a lesser issue. Thanks

  • #2
    I've had luck adding honey aroma, simply by using honey as my priming sugar. It does take longer to carbonate due to the heavier sugars though.
    __
    Kushal Hall
    Common Space Brewery
    Hawthorne, CA

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    • #3
      Honey aint no waste of Money

      I use honey in several beers. The trick is to add it post-boil, I use at a rate of 3-5 lbs per BBL but i have used more than double that in the past in a Honey Wheat that was nicknamed by our customers the "Panty Dropper" Honey Wheat aka DWI-Wheat.

      I like to put the buckets in the mash after runoff to warm it up so it pours and mixes better. I usually wait and add it just before the end of whirlpool and pour it slowly into the WP, this helps mix it. If it is cold and thick and you just dump it in it will sink to the bottom of the kettle and burn on.

      Do not boil it unless you just want the sugar, the flavor and aroma will boil off. If you use local unpasteurized honey (which i prefer) make sure you add it above 180F or you risk contamination, and the possibility of botulism.

      I know of some people who will add some post-fermentation for sweetness and aroma, again if it's unpasteurized mix it down in some water and make sure it stands over 180F for several minutes, cool and mix it into finished beer- either in the BBT and transfer on top or blend in via a corney.

      Lately i have been using Wildflower Honey, but hear really good things about Fireweed Honey which is apparently produced after wildfires when the bees pollinate all of the "weeds" that pop up when regrowth starts.
      Last edited by Jephro; 04-28-2010, 05:00 PM.
      Jeff Byrne

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      • #4
        Yum Honey!

        I have made dozens of different honey versions of our house beers with some success.

        I find that just after the peak of fermentation, I'm adding 5-8 lbs per bbl of mild honeys like sage or orange blossom and 3-5 lbs per bbl of stronger varieties like dark wildflower or buckwheat.
        When I add it to the boil or whirlpool, I find that I lose alot of aroma and flavor.
        I always mix with about 1 qt water for 2 or 3 lbs honey and bring to 180F for 10 mins. for sanitation and to ensure it mixes properly.

        I think it ultimately depends on the honey variety and the beer you're adding it to.

        Hope this helps!

        Porter

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        • #5
          "If you use local unpasteurized honey (which i prefer) make sure you add it above 180F or you risk contamination, and the possibility of botulism."

          Botulism from raw honey? Really? I eat it every day, straight from a jar!

          Shaun e.

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          • #6
            Honey can be a source of infant botulism as botulinum spores from honey can grow in a baby's gut. Raw honey is never going to be a botulism risk in beer, period.

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            • #7
              Gambrinus Honey Malt.
              Cheers & I'm out!
              David R. Pierce
              NABC & Bank Street Brewhouse
              POB 343
              New Albany, IN 47151

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              • #8
                Originally posted by grassrootsvt
                "Botulism from raw honey? Really? I eat it every day, straight from a jar!

                Shaun e.
                I suddenly have this image of Winnie the Pooh in my head

                That’s what the farmer that sold it to us said and I never had any reason to doubt him. I'm sure there are many variables, in this case the farmer kept bees primarily to pollinate his crops. The honey was a byproduct and he sold it to us raw, unfiltered, unpasteurized on the side for extra money. For someone whose focus is on producing honey, I would think extra precautions are taken to ensure that it is safe for consumption.

                Originally posted by kai
                Raw honey is never going to be a botulism risk in beer, period.
                Well ok then, at any rate if using unpasteurized honey i would still recommend getting it over 180F unless your doing a wild or sour beer and are ok with the possibility of introducing some "bugs".
                Last edited by Jephro; 04-29-2010, 01:01 PM.
                Jeff Byrne

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                • #9
                  I agree

                  I agree with the pasteurizing. I have had some funky stuff grow in honey beers that I just added the raw honey to. Takes a while, but stuff will grow.

                  Cheers

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                  • #10
                    I don't think the "bugs" are from the honey from the honey. Nothing can live in honey due to its' high sugar content. I have never heated honey. I just dump it in.

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                    • #11
                      Nothing can grow in honey as the available water is less than a saturated salt solution. However, many things can survive in unpasteurized honey; spores, clusters of bugs and things trapped in bee parts. Also, filtered honey is usually filtered just to where you can't see the teny tiny ground up bee parts, dust and whatever.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Jephro
                        Well ok then, at any rate if using unpasteurized honey i would still recommend getting it over 180F unless your doing a wild or sour beer and are ok with the possibility of introducing some "bugs".
                        Yeah, pasteurising it is still a good idea. We go a lot gentler than that though, 15 minutes over 60C. I'd think at 180F you're going to be losing most of the volatile flavour & aroma compounds.

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                        • #13
                          I have a 9% honey ale on now. 200lbs in the whirlpool and yielded about 7 Bbls. Also used a bag of Gambrinus Honey malt which is a nice combo. Warmup the honey as mentioned for easier pouring.
                          I have done a "Honey Bock" same type of procedure but also adding some at the end of fermentation and some post fermentation. I would say that the less honey you plan to use the later in the process you should add it. Obviously you dont want to add much post ferment in any case.
                          Big Willey
                          "You are what you is." FZ

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by twoodward15
                            I don't think the "bugs" are from the honey from the honey. Nothing can live in honey due to its' high sugar content.
                            There are a number of osmophilic yeasts which can survive but only grow very slowly in honey. When you dilute the honey, these yeasts can take off. Not necessarily dangerous from a flavour perspective, but reality nonetheless.

                            Pax.

                            Liam
                            Liam McKenna
                            www.yellowbellybrewery.com

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                            • #15
                              honey and honey malt

                              Someone already mentioned the Gambrinus Honey malt and I agree totally. Great in a wheat for flavor and aroma with no use of actual honey. I have some in my brown now. the flavor is a little less than I wanted so I am looking to dump honey post fermentation.

                              As far as the "bugs" I believe its just that babies do not have the ability to process the honey yet. It comes later. That being said, if you are adding honey post ferment I would pasturize at 180 for 10-15 minutes. I am looking at honey crystals. Its a sugar replacement for tea so I should be able to dump it through the top of the fermenter since the beer is completed its fermentation. If the yeast kicks in from any extra sugar it should only carbonate slightly.

                              So long story short, gambrinus and pasturize.

                              Just my 3 cents.
                              "Uncle" Frank
                              Frank Fermino
                              Brewer I, Redhook, Portsmouth, NH
                              Writer, Yankee Brew News, New England
                              Wise-ass, Everywhere, Always

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