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Author Topic: when is the best time to add honey?  (Read 4519 times)

Offline deepsouth

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when is the best time to add honey?
« on: May 27, 2010, 10:31:04 am »
i'm rushing to brew two beers in a short amount of time (the first one i did yesterday).  i've switched to all grain, but i'm doing these extracts so i can have shorter brew days due to the fact that my wife could go into labor any day.....

i'm wanting to do an ipa brewed with honey.  i have 48oz. of fresh local honey and i'll be brewing this weekend.  is there a best time to add it in order to get some of the honey taste in the flavor profile a'la hopslam?  i'll be using safale-05 as my yeast since i don't have enough time to make a starter with liquid yeast.

i'm going to be using about 10-12 lbs of extract in the beer.

thanks in advance.


(i'll be doing a full boil if that matters.)
« Last Edit: May 27, 2010, 10:32:58 am by deepsouth »
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Offline Hokerer

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Re: when is the best time to add honey?
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2010, 10:33:33 am »
Common wisdom I've always heard is to add it after the vigorous part of fermentation is complete.  Idea being that the crazy part of fermentation will blow off a lot of your honey character.  That said, someone on here, I forget who, says they have good luck adding just after flameout.
Joe

Offline deepsouth

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Re: when is the best time to add honey?
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2010, 03:08:27 pm »
is any sterilization of the honey necessary adding it in post fermentation? 
Hoppy Homebrewers of South Mississippi (est. 2009)

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bottled:     white house honey ale

Offline kgs

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Re: when is the best time to add honey?
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2010, 08:25:05 pm »
Common wisdom I've always heard is to add it after the vigorous part of fermentation is complete.  Idea being that the crazy part of fermentation will blow off a lot of your honey character.  That said, someone on here, I forget who, says they have good luck adding just after flameout.

It was uthristy:

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=2176.msg26484#msg26484
K.G. Schneider
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Offline brewmonkeys

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Re: when is the best time to add honey?
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2010, 09:19:40 pm »
I have had the best luck adding during high krausen but I have also added during whirlpool with good effect.  In an IPA not sure it would matter much as the flavor will be only be a hint in the background.  So i would just add in the whirlpool for ease. An aside, don't know the gravity of your IPA but wouldn't make honey more than 20% of grist as you start to get mead-like alcohol flavor above this IMO.

Offline alikocho

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Re: when is the best time to add honey?
« Reply #5 on: May 28, 2010, 12:13:40 am »
I'd add it when you rack to secondary.

The problem adding honey to cooled wort is getting it to dissolve. Stirring during fermentation isn't a great idea because of oxidation issues.

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