Priming With Honey

[nine_cases]

Hi all,

So I am bottling a batch of wheat beer over the weekend. I want to do half just as a plain wheat but I wanted to experiment with a honey wheat beer and thought I would get more residual flavour by priming with honey.

What are your experiences with using honey as a priming sugar, obviously not being fully fermentable could create some issues.

How much should I use per bottle - is it the same as bulk priming rates or a little bit more?


Cheers all. :icon_chickcheers:

 

[Dave70]

I'll tell you what I know.

A - the amount you need to prime a tallie means you wont even taste it.

B - it's a pain in the arse to measure out.

C - as soon as honey hits anything colder than itself, it thickens and sinks to the bottom - not so good for bulk priming..(maby OK for naturally carbing a keg though)

If you want to introduce honey flavors / aromas into your beer, there are much better methods.

Thats all I know.

 

[Steve@PMF82]

I plan to do some honey wheat next summer.

I have been doing a fair bit of reading.

Pretty sure honey is 100% fermentable.

I will prob be adding my honey a few days into primary ferment, dissolved in some hot water, at pasteurization temps.
Allowing for this extra volume in initial wort.

 

[pimpsqueak]

I plan to do some honey wheat next summer.

I have been doing a fair bit of reading.

Pretty sure honey is 100% fermentable.

I will prob be adding my honey a few days into primary ferment, dissolved in some hot water, at pasteurization temps.
Allowing for this extra volume in initial wort.

It certainly is 100% fermentable (or close enough to it). Problem is accurately calculating the amount of sugars in the honey. Each type/region/season/brand etc will vary.

Also, if you add honey into your primary, good luck even getting a hint of it in your final product.

I did a cider with a shitload of amazingly aromatic manuka honey in the primary and all it did was end up super-dry and boozy. Not a taste or whiff of honey in sight.

If I were to do it again, i'd add it to the secondary. Same as if I was using fruit.

 

[Jazzafish]

I had success adding a bit to the keg a while ago. Honey sank to the bottom and a bit was picked up from the dip tube every glass - worked well as I wanted the sweetness instead of a fermented honey flavour.

Maybe add some to the glass each pour? PITA

Here is some info on priming solutions: how to brew