Hey all... I've been battling this issue back and forth in my head for a while now and am having trouble coming to a conclusion.
I've got a beer in primary now, and once primary winds down, I'll be adding a few pounds of honey, and some fresh squeezed lime juice. Just because bacteria and yeast do not GROW in honey, does not mean they are not present. In fact, there are wild bacteria and yeast in honey, they just cannot multiply. Because of this, I'm worried about adding the honey directly, as once it is dilluted, the wild yeast will have more room for growth. Granted, it will be going into a ~8% ABV beer, so that will help slow any unwanted infection.
I've been weighing options for sanitizing both the honey and lime juice together before adding to secondary.
Option 1) Pasteurize. I'm thinking 10min @ 150F to preserve as much of the flavor as posssible rather than boiling or pasteurizing at a higher temp.
Option 2) Use the appropriate amount of crushed Camden, let sit 24 hours, add to beer.
Option 3) RDWHAHB - add directly with no sanitation, and hope my yeast beat out any foreign yeast/bacteria.
Thoughts?
I've got a beer in primary now, and once primary winds down, I'll be adding a few pounds of honey, and some fresh squeezed lime juice. Just because bacteria and yeast do not GROW in honey, does not mean they are not present. In fact, there are wild bacteria and yeast in honey, they just cannot multiply. Because of this, I'm worried about adding the honey directly, as once it is dilluted, the wild yeast will have more room for growth. Granted, it will be going into a ~8% ABV beer, so that will help slow any unwanted infection.
I've been weighing options for sanitizing both the honey and lime juice together before adding to secondary.
Option 1) Pasteurize. I'm thinking 10min @ 150F to preserve as much of the flavor as posssible rather than boiling or pasteurizing at a higher temp.
Option 2) Use the appropriate amount of crushed Camden, let sit 24 hours, add to beer.
Option 3) RDWHAHB - add directly with no sanitation, and hope my yeast beat out any foreign yeast/bacteria.
Thoughts?
