Adding honey to a fresh wort kit

[Hillsey]

Hi everyone,
I have been using fresh wort kits and having success with them. Some friends of ours have their own bee hives and have given us honey to use in some brewing. I was thinking about doing a honey porter using a porter fresh wort kit. Does anyone have any suggestions how or what to do? Or how much honey to use for a 20l batch

 

[slcmorro]

Providing the bees haven't harvested from eucalypts otherwise your beer will taste terrible.

 

[trustyrusty]

I understand you have to pasturise first, 80 degree for 5 minutes? You can add to initial brew or add after 3 days (brew temp.), this will enhance the honey flavour a bit more or add to bottle conditioning...I have not had too much success with adding to wort, but I used 250 ml, I think you might have to add a bit more..cheers

 

[Grott]

The honey flavour in your beer will in a big part be determined by the strength of the honey in its taste. For example I've found 250ml of Bush Mallee Honey right on for a pleasant honey after taste in the beer but a leatherwood honey at 250ml is just so overpowering.
Hope that helps to some degree.
Cheers

 

[TimT]

Don't pasteurise. You have seriously little risk of infection as honey itself will effectively keep forever without fermenting - thanks to some magic the bees perform on it.

I've also heard different stories about eucalyptus honey - some brewers say you should avoid it; others say some eucalyptus honeys can be fine for brewing with.

In beer the main effect of adding honey is usually to dry the beer out - honey is about 95% fermentable sugar (depending on what variety it is) and the yeast will chew right through it. If you add towards the end of the fermentation you'll get more of a honey taste and smell; if you add right at the start of fermentation or even during a boil you won't get much at all.

 

[slcmorro]

I did a Honey Red Ale, in which I added 250gm at FO. Very nice and noticeable honey taste, fermented US05 at 20c.