14 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

When I was a newbie it seemed like there were a lot of brewers using honey... honey wheat, amber, porter, etc. and there were some commercial examples too. I remember trying it a few times either on my own or as a part of a kit and I would end up making a very hot, jet fuel-like beer. Some suggested letting the beer age. Nope. I never got what I wanted out of it. I eventually realized that honey was so fermentable that you're unlikely to get delicate honey character from the beer because it would be 100% metabolized. So if I made a 5% beer where maybe one pound of honey was added... would I get "jet fuel"? Why was I getting that character in the first place? It wasn't like I was taking a 9% beer and trying to make it 10% by adding honey or something. I mention all of this because I'm heading over to Sam's Club today and usually see large containers of honey there.

[Hines]

I hate to be that guy, but....   Buying Sam's Club honey vs buying some from a local beekeeper is a huge difference in flavor.

 

I've always wanted to brew with honey, but have been afraid to because of the reasons you mentioned.  One day i'll make a mead though (i've only said this for 12 years)

Edited by Hines, 15 January 2017 - 10:13 AM.

[djinkc]

n=1 with clover honey.  I ended up dumping about the last 1/4.

[Big Nake]

n=1 with clover honey.  I ended up dumping about the last 1/4.

So as I look in the rearview mirror on things that used to confound me when I was a new brewer, many of those mysteries are understood now... but not this one. I may have tried some other varieties of clover with the same results. I don't understand why I would get that hot character out of it and I'm not interested in making another batch with honey until I understand it.

How recently have you brewed with honey?

[djinkc]

So as I look in the rearview mirror on things that used to confound me when I was a new brewer, many of those mysteries are understood now... but not this one. I may have tried some other varieties of clover with the same results. I don't understand why I would get that hot character out of it and I'm not interested in making another batch with honey until I understand it.

How recently have you brewed with honey?

Maybe a year and a half.  I'd have to look it up.  Just didn't care for the taste.  The honey itself tasted fine to me.  Better honey may have made a difference.

[Big Nake]

Maybe a year and a half.  I'd have to look it up.  Just didn't care for the taste.  The honey itself tasted fine to me.  Better honey may have made a difference.

Oh yeah, the honey itself tastes just fine. I may have used wildflower honey, clover honey, some sort of orange flower, etc. and I think I only used 1 pound in 5 gallons. The results were always the same. One of them was an extract kit (like Honey Blonde Ale or Honey Bee Ale, etc) and I did not stray from the directions. You would think that I would have [eventually] gotten a good batch of beer out of that but no sir, not good.

[TAPPER]

I use orange blossom honey in my tripel, saison, and IIPA, and "cheapo ditchweed honey" in blonde ale. Even put some orange blossom in a hefe once.  A friend of mine put it in a pils once too (interesting beer).  No hot jet fuel issues using about a pound in a 5 gallon batch.  I chill to 180 and then add the honey, let things sit 10 minutes or so, then finish chilling.  No big secrets to using honey.  Not different than candi sugar really.  I don't know why you had "jet fuel" issues.  I do adjust my recipes to hit the gravity I want, so that means less malt to allow that honey to replace it.

[positiveContact]

i recently had another homebrewer's honey ale and i'm not sure I could have really picked out that it had honey in it.  it was some kind of blonde type ale.  maybe it didn't have much honey?  I'd have to check on that.

[Genesee Ted]

One suggestion I might add is to add honey once fermentation is like 3/4 or so done because the aggressive fermentation can scrub nuance IME. Same with maple syrup.

[Big Nake]

One suggestion I might add is to add honey once fermentation is like 3/4 or so done because the aggressive fermentation can scrub nuance IME. Same with maple syrup.

That sounds like a good idea. I've heard that boiling the honey can wipe out the delicate character you're trying to preserve and I've also heard that about the primary fermentation. But do you think that once the primary starts working on that honey (regardless of when you add it) that the scrubbing effects of primary will still wipe out the honey character or no? Also, can you shed any light on why I would get hot, jet fuel-like flavors when brewing with honey? I'm talking 10-15% of the total fermentables. Cheers & thanks.

[TAPPER]

You started this topic with "When I was a newbie....".  Is it possible those early batches you brewed with honey that the "hot jet fuel" issues you were having were because of temperature, poor yeast pitch water, etc.?  Things about your ferment process you are better at today but maybe were not back then?  Might not be a honey issue at all.  Shouldn't be directly the fault of honey.

[Big Nake]

You started this topic with "When I was a newbie....".  Is it possible those early batches you brewed with honey that the "hot jet fuel" issues you were having were because of temperature, poor yeast pitch water, etc.?  Things about your ferment process you are better at today but maybe were not back then?  Might not be a honey issue at all.  Shouldn't be directly the fault of honey.

I guess it's possible. I learned about good fermentation temps early on so that seems unlikely. I did come a long way on water as time went by but if I had water issues back then, why this issue only on the honey batches? I suppose I could try it again and see. I always thought the idea of a honey wheat, honey amber, raspberry honey ale, etc. sounded good.

[positiveContact]

I guess it's possible. I learned about good fermentation temps early on so that seems unlikely. I did come a long way on water as time went by but if I had water issues back then, why this issue only on the honey batches? I suppose I could try it again and see. I always thought the idea of a honey wheat, honey amber, raspberry honey ale, etc. sounded good.

 

does honey do anything funny to pH that maybe the yeast don't like?  just throwing ideas out.

[Genesee Ted]

Meads generally need certain nutritional additions to ferment cleanly and properly. I'm not sure, maybe the malt doesn't provide enough?
It could have easily been under pitched as well

[positiveContact]

From a nutritional stand point I would expect honey and sugar to be similar to your average yeast cell.