8 replies to this topic

[Humperdink]

I'm making a honey blonde ale today. I want the honey's aroma to come through, I;ve heard to add it in the last two or so minutes. Anyone have any experience with this?

[EWW]

I'm making a honey blonde ale today. I want the honey's aroma to come through, I;ve heard to add it in the last two or so minutes. Anyone have any experience with this?

from my experience you will get more honey aroma/flavor if you add it at the end of primary or in the secondary. Heat tends to be bad for the subtle flavor of honey imo

[ncbeerbrewer]

I brewed a honey brown ale back in the spring. Not sure if you keg your beers but if you do this should work well for you. I added 6oz of honey to the keg and carbonated it after that. It added a nice honey flavor in the background and was well received. I mention the kegging as keeping it cold is important since the residual yeast will eat up the honey if you bottle it and could produce bombs. I posted the technique on the recipe swap for the brown ale awhile back as well.

[Iceman]

you can add it at flameout and still get a subtle character from the honey, but if you want a noticeable honey flavor, I'd follow the reccomendations above. It can thin out the beer a bit though.

[Humperdink]

you can add it at flameout and still get a subtle character from the honey, but if you want a noticeable honey flavor, I'd follow the reccomendations above. It can thin out the beer a bit though.

That's great, thanks for the replies all. I did wind up adding it just before flame out and getting the wort to 140 in less than 4 minutes, so hopefully that retained some aroma. i wasn't looking for a huge hhoney presence, more like a hint that you have to look for to find. It's good to know if I don't get any honey from it I can put some in the keg.Thanks again all!

[HatTrickBrew]

For what it's worth, I've made a honey blonde ale several times and have added honey (I believe 1 pound for a 5 gallon batch) with 5 minutes left in the boil. I still get the aroma and definitely the sweetness. I think it turns out great. The last time I added more than I preferred and it came out sweeter, but many of my friends really liked it. Guess it all depends on your taste.

[JReigle]

+1 on the add it later suggestions. In my experience, I've never detected honey character in a brew unless it was added after primary. YMMV

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

honey malt is supposed to have a honey taste so perhaps using some of this would accentuate the honey you'll be adding in.

[Humperdink]

FYI, honey makes for an explosive fermentation. I had blowoff at 63F. i pitched a yeast slurry at 57F. Impressive and a little scary at the same time