How Much Honey To Add To My Beer Recipe?
- A typical homebrew beer recipe kit will use 1 cup or 1 gallon of honey per a 5-gallon batch.
When Do I Add Honey To My Boil?
- If you add honey to your boiling process, it will increase the final alcohol content to your beer. Honey is 95% fermentable. However, if you want to preserve the sweetness of the honey being added, add it later during the boiling process. If you are looking for a light subtle honey flavor in your brew, add the honey during the boil with about 35 minutes left. To achieve the strong honey flavor and preserve the aroma, do not add the honey until the last 5 minutes of the boil. The best practice is to remove the wort from its heat source before adding the honey. This will prevent the honey from burning to the bottom of the boiling pot. As you add the honey, stir vigorously to dissolve.
Can I Add Honey To My Fermenter?
- Honey can be added to the Primary Fermenter. You can get a stronger honey flavor by adding to this stage of the brewing process, but keep in mind your gravity will increase. Adding honey at this stage will also lighten the body of what you are brewing and raise your anticipated ABV.
Can I Add Honey to High Krausen?
- Krausen is the foamy head that develops during fermentation. High Krausen is the peak of fermentation when fermentation is at it's strongest. When the Krausen fails, your fermentation is typically complete. Honey added at this stage in the brewing process will add a strong honey flavor and help to mellow any bitter notes in the beer. Fermentation may also be extended as the honey will feed the yeast. Working with honey at this stage can be simplified by heating the container of honey in hot water for about 20 minutes. This will heat the honey, making it easy to pour into your fermenter.
How Much Honey Do You Use To Prime Beer?
- Honey can be difficult to prime with because there is no standard for concentration. The gravity of honey is different from 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.
- Carbonating your beer with honey can produce very unique homebrew, with a strong initial honey aroma and flavor. To carbonate a 5 gallon batch of beer with honey, you can typically replace 5 oz of priming sugar and use 1 cup of honey. Bring 16 oz of water to a boil. Add the 1 cup of honey to the boiling water and stir vigorously. Add this honey solution to the bottom of your bottling bucket, then rack your beer on top of it. Then bottle as usual.
Brewing with honey is fun, give it a try. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Austin Homebrew Supply at hops@austinhomebrew.com or 512 300 2739
