Honey beer help!

[Kobrew]

Hey all! So my aunt that lives in SO CAL gifted me a half pound of raw honey that she harvested from her bees(she gets a couple lbs every couple months) and its really good. I really want to make some sort of honey ale but I don't really know where to start. Is a half pound enough for anything? Or do I need a lot more? Can I boil it into the wort or should I add to secondary or primary? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Cheers

 

[bierandbikes]

If you are making any more than 1 gallon, you need a lot more honey. I added 2 lbs of local honey recently to a 5 gallon batch (after flameout) and still lost 98% of the flavor/aroma. You may try using the honey for priming. I think the small amount may be okay for that, and you are more likely to retain some of the honey flavor/aroma.

If she is only getting a couple of lbs out of her hive, she needs to fix something. She should be getting a lot more than that.

 

[sector7slums]

I don't have much experience with honey but from what I've read, if you're looking for honey flavor you'd want to go with honey malt, as opposed to real honey. Could be wrong though. Sorry, not much help

 

[DocScott]

I don't have much experience with honey but from what I've read, if you're looking for honey flavor you'd want to go with honey malt, as opposed to real honey. Could be wrong though. Sorry, not much help

You're right! Honey is simple sugar so ferments out pretty completely. It is a great source of sugar for fermenting but not do great for adding flavor to your beer. If you're looking for flavor, I'd suggest adding honey malt at 3-5% of your grist. Don't go overboard with it (>10%) though as it can get very sweet.

I would certainly use that 0.5 lb though! It'll boost your abv and I love using stuff like that in a brew. You can add it at end if boil, add to primary or secondary or even prime your beer with it. I usually add it at flameout though.

 

[Kobrew]

If she is only getting a couple of lbs out of her hive, she needs to fix something. She should be getting a lot more than that.

Honestly, I don't know how much she is getting, but I know it's more than a couple lbs. she gets a few cases full that are all a couple lbs at least. I have no idea how much though.

 

[Kobrew]

You're right! Honey is simple sugar so ferments out pretty completely. It is a great source of sugar for fermenting but not do great for adding flavor to your beer. If you're looking for flavor, I'd suggest adding honey malt at 3-5% of your grist. Don't go overboard with it (>10%) though as it can get very sweet.

I would certainly use that 0.5 lb though! It'll boost your abv and I love using stuff like that in a brew. You can add it at end if boil, add to primary or secondary or even prime your beer with it. I usually add it at flameout though.

Oooo, I think it would be awesome to use as a primer! How hard is it to use the right amount? And is it much different then regular priming sugar, taste wise?

 

[DocScott]

Oooo, I think it would be awesome to use as a primer! How hard is it to use the right amount? And is it much different then regular priming sugar, taste wise?

Hard? Not really. Look up a priming calculator online or consult palmers book (also online at howtobrew.com) and it should tell you how much to use. Dissolve your honey in your boiling water to sterilize then add to bottling bucket and proceed as normal.

Taste-wise, I don't think you'll get much honey out of it, but try it out and see!

If you can't find how much honey to use, let us know and we can calculate it out for you. I'm at work and not near my software, otherwise I'd be happy to run a quick priming calc for you.