Honey Additions
Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 10:34 am
by scotchpine
Is there any concern to adding unpasturized honey to the fermenter as opposed to adding it near the end of boil. I don't know of anything harmful that could be living in raw honey but not really sure. I've always it added near EOB before but want the complete frementation benefits of adding to the ferm near the end of HK this time.
Re: Honey Additions
Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 11:15 am
by Adam
If the alcohol content is high enough, nothing will live.
Personally, if it were me, I would pasteurize it in hot water (put uncapped jar in water) for 10 minutes, cool the honey, then add to fermenter. I'd rather be on the safe side than infect my beer.
Re: Honey Additions
Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 11:22 am
by Stinkfist
Def not a problem I have made several meads without boiling at all and this is common practice. Nothing can survive in raw honey. If you pitch the yeast quickly it will be no problem
Re: Honey Additions
Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 9:52 am
by scotchpine
Thanks for the replies. I poured it into the carboy last night by candlelight, as my power was out for 6hrs. As fun as this was, I forgot to flame the rim of the honey jar. Hopefully that won't be a problem and obviously the kegerator still pours cold homebrew even when the power is out!
Re: Honey Additions
Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 11:32 am
by leaky_porch
My only concern would be getting it into solution, which will depend on how much you're adding. A few weeks ago, I tried adding twelve pounds of honey to ten gallons of wee heavy in a conical and I don't think it dissolved/fermented much of it. When I tried to drop the yeast, only honey came out
Re: Honey Additions
Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 12:40 pm
by spiderwrangler
leaky_porch wrote:My only concern would be getting it into solution, which will depend on how much you're adding. A few weeks ago, I tried adding twelve pounds of honey to ten gallons of wee heavy in a conical and I don't think it dissolved/fermented much of it. When I tried to drop the yeast, only honey came out
Yeah, I'd suggested to someone in another thread to dissolve the honey in some water first.
Re: Honey Additions
Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 1:01 pm
by Stinkfist
Yep it's the same as a sugar addition
Re: Honey Additions
Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 3:37 pm
by spiderwrangler
spiderwrangler wrote:leaky_porch wrote:My only concern would be getting it into solution, which will depend on how much you're adding. A few weeks ago, I tried adding twelve pounds of honey to ten gallons of wee heavy in a conical and I don't think it dissolved/fermented much of it. When I tried to drop the yeast, only honey came out
Yeah, I'd suggested to someone in another thread to dissolve the honey in some water first.
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=28099