Adding Honey as a Sugar Primer

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BEZ

Adding Honey as a Sugar Primer

Post by BEZ » Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:13 pm

Hi
I have been brewing for 48 hours and this is my first extract kit, muntons amber Gold.
The question i will ask may be daft but here goes.
If when i transfer the wort into the pressuer barrel and i add the primer sugar of spray malt, could i add honey, and if so waht would be the effect on everthing,
BEZ

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floydmeddler
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Re: Adding Honey as a Sugar Primer

Post by floydmeddler » Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:20 pm

Different honeys have different fermentables so it's very hard to judge as each brand will differ. If you want to add a nice honey taste, add around 500g-600g into your fermenter now. This will up the alcohol percentage as well as giving a lovely flavour. I use honey regularly in my ales and love it... have never tried it in a lager though.

If you do go for this, be careful with sanitisation. I would boil it up first with a bit of the fermenting beer, cool it then add it straight in. Will ferment out in a day or two.

Use sugar to prime... tried and tested!

Mogwyth

Re: Adding Honey as a Sugar Primer

Post by Mogwyth » Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:29 pm

Boiling honey is probably unnecessary as it is a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent,

Usual make up of blended honey:
Ash 0.17%
Fructose 38.5%
Glucose 31.0%
Other sugars 9.0% (maltose, melezitose)
Sucrose 1.0%
Water 17.0%

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floydmeddler
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Re: Adding Honey as a Sugar Primer

Post by floydmeddler » Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:46 pm

Mogwyth wrote:Boiling honey is probably unnecessary as it is a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent,

Usual make up of blended honey:
Ash 0.17%
Fructose 38.5%
Glucose 31.0%
Other sugars 9.0% (maltose, melezitose)
Sucrose 1.0%
Water 17.0%
I've heard this before. However, I'm paranoid... :o

BEZ

Re: Adding Honey as a Sugar Primer

Post by BEZ » Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:13 pm

floydmeddler wrote: I use honey regularly in my ales and love it... have never tried it in a lager though.

!
Thanks for that info, the box says its a light pale ale with a distintive hoppy tasteDo you think adding the honey now to the wort will effect the malt fermenation.
I wonder if few Millilitres into the bottom of the bottle when bottling may have the affect of a sugar primer, anyone tried this.
BEZ

BEZ

Re: Adding Honey as a Sugar Primer

Post by BEZ » Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:34 pm

Hi all =D> =D> =D>
I have just read another post about the same thing.
One post suggests that honey makes the clearing process slow, does anyone have experience of this.
Several post have tried putting the honey in pale ale bottles during bottling to prime then beer, i think i willl try. Others have used mollasses.
This is a really interesting Blog
BEZ

pauljmuk

Re: Adding Honey as a Sugar Primer

Post by pauljmuk » Mon Jun 15, 2009 9:21 pm

Would agree on honey being ok without boiling (though I would qualify that by saying "from a fresh, unopened jar" - as opposed to the half a jar that's been in your cupboard for months, with toast crumbs in it!)

Honey is a wonder food - very good on burns and minor scrapes and grazes - try it!

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floydmeddler
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Re: Adding Honey as a Sugar Primer

Post by floydmeddler » Mon Jun 15, 2009 10:00 pm

Get it into the fermenter... priming with it will only give your bottles a bit of co2 and no noticeable taste. It won't upset your fermentation. All it will do is give the hungry yeast more food and give you a more flavoursome beer!

pauljmuk

Re: Adding Honey as a Sugar Primer

Post by pauljmuk » Mon Jun 15, 2009 11:44 pm

like the man floyd said

Gill

Re: Adding Honey as a Sugar Primer

Post by Gill » Tue Jun 16, 2009 9:49 am

Ooh, I love honeyed ales so might consider an addition to one of my future brews! :-)

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