Honey

BierMeister · Post by **BierMeister** » Tuesday Jun 13, 2006 2:24 pm

Any one out there who can give me advise about adding Honey to my Brew?

I would like to know how much to add?
What honey type is good?
Is it all that fermentable?
Can you add it as a carbonater or wouldn't it be fermentable enough?

I would like to make a honey wheat beer to start with so if anyone has any Ideas that would be great

DJ · Post by DJ » Tuesday Jun 13, 2006 2:28 pm

From reading this forum you wouldn't want more than 500g of honey..

I used about 325g in my last batch.. Havent tasted yet..

Wating... Wating...

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Tuesday Jun 13, 2006 2:43 pm

I think the general rule is the lighter your beer, the lighter you want your honey to be, as those tend to be the mildest ones. e.g. clover honey for a wheat beer, but leatherwood for a stout, etc.

And at all costs, avoid honey that comes from gum/eucalypt trees! I've heard that those honeys leave a lingering eucalypt flavour in your brew

corks · Post by **corks** » Tuesday Jun 13, 2006 8:47 pm

whats wrong with that?

seriously, could be very interesting in a stout or a really smoky dark...

BierMeister · Post by **BierMeister** » Wednesday Jun 14, 2006 3:30 pm

Thanks all for your advise. Especially Cat on the different types of Honey. I'll be trying Clover Honey with a wheat beer.

Wassa · Post by **Wassa** » Thursday Jun 15, 2006 10:18 am

I have used Yellow Box in several of my brews and love it. I wouldn't dream of making a porter without it. I rounds out the beer, gives it added complexity and assists in giving a lovely creamy head.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Thursday Jun 15, 2006 11:35 am

Citrus honey is by far the best that I have used.

benson · Post by **benson** » Friday Jun 16, 2006 12:31 am

i made a honey beer once (should do it again)
i used a coopers lager with 1kg of coopers brew sugar and about 500g of honey from a farm in darks forrest (near sydney)not sure what honey
turned out not too bad at all !
very fizzy though !

benson · Post by **benson** » Tuesday Jun 20, 2006 12:09 am

well my brother in law must have read my mind about making another honey beer because he had the same thought
he got a coopers canadian blonde and 1.5kg of honey
oh well will have to wait a little while to see how it goes?
maybe interesting SG was 1072
do you think it may take a bit longer to ferment?

brewbard · Post by **brewbard** » Tuesday Jun 20, 2006 9:55 pm

I used 1kg of honey in one of my brews with 1kg of malt and Choc. Porter and some Tettenager hops to balance that out. The honey flavour was quite strong, but if anything it was too hoppy. I've still got some sitting around as I wasn't too fond of it. Don't know if it was the Cascade Porter, too much hops or too much honey but maybe 500g would be better.

Naikii · Post by **Naikii** » Thursday Jun 22, 2006 6:13 pm

I have a kit amber ale in at the moment with 1kg of honey added. Been in 4 days and already has an alcohol content of about 6.7%... Smells great.. intial tasting awesome.. looking forward to it in a few months time..

I also did a honey wheat last year with 750gm honey.. wasnt so good in the first month but by month 3 was excellent kinda like a beez neez with attitude

WSC · Post by **WSC** » Thursday Jun 22, 2006 9:28 pm

From my limited experience with honey it's taste fades out over time.

You just have to time when you drink it.

I have drunk it early and got too much honey and on the other extreme after 4 months i couldn't hardly taste it. I used 600g and could barely taste it after 4 months.

Anyone else found this?

Naikii · Post by **Naikii** » Saturday Jun 24, 2006 2:33 pm

When you taste it by itself the honey flavour doesnt seem to be present.. but line it up next to another beer and you can smell it straight away... I found one in my cupboard from september last year and still had that honey ting

Cat · Post by **Cat** » Saturday Jun 24, 2006 8:40 pm

My current brew had 500g honey and 250g maple syrup.

You can really smell the sweetness, but the taste of the actual beer is quite dry. So I guess all the honey ferments out, but it leaves the aroma.

benson · Post by **benson** » Thursday Jul 13, 2006 11:45 pm

benson wrote:well my brother in law must have read my mind about making another honey beer because he had the same thought
he got a coopers canadian blonde and 1.5kg of honey
oh well will have to wait a little while to see how it goes?
maybe interesting SG was 1072
do you think it may take a bit longer to ferment?

it had a fg of aroud 1000
and im just drinking 1 now not bad at all had to keg it cause we ran out of bottles

scblack · Post by **scblack** » Friday Jul 14, 2006 7:54 am

WSC wrote:From my limited experience with honey it's taste fades out over time.

You just have to time when you drink it.

I have drunk it early and got too much honey and on the other extreme after 4 months i couldn't hardly taste it. I used 600g and could barely taste it after 4 months.

Anyone else found this?

I THINK thats right, due to the honey being a much more complex molecule, and takes longer to fully ferment. Thus, the longer it sits around, the more the flavour dissipates.

Could be wrong though, but I have heard that from several people, who do know what they are talking about.

da_damage_done · Post by **da_damage_done** » Friday Jul 14, 2006 9:51 am

WSC wrote:From my limited experience with honey it's taste fades out over time.

You just have to time when you drink it.

I have drunk it early and got too much honey and on the other extreme after 4 months i couldn't hardly taste it. I used 600g and could barely taste it after 4 months.

Anyone else found this?

Yep

Wassa · Post by **Wassa** » Friday Jul 14, 2006 11:28 am

With regards to the amount of honey to use I usually use 500gm of Yellowbox. I use yellowbox because I can readily obtain it from the supermarket.

Whatever you do, DO NOT use any Reg Gum honey or any from a Eucalypt. I made a honey porter using red gum and have had to toss it because all you can smell and taste is eucalyptus.

I believe that honey gives beer an added complexity and definately assists in a creamy head. With the porters I have made you can just discern the honey in the nose and it gives the beer a fuller finish.

Sathias · Post by **Sathias** » Friday Jul 14, 2006 2:34 pm

My mate was talking about making a Honey liqueur out of Orange Blossom Honey, I'm thinking I might get some to put into a Wheat Beer

ACTbrewer · Post by **ACTbrewer** » Friday Jul 14, 2006 6:45 pm

My HB guy told me I needed to boil honey as the enzymes needed to be converted. Can anyone confirm this?