Festive honeyed brew.

[Peter Beswick]

Hey there fellow brewers.

I am wanting to add some nice local honey to a kit beer (and maybe some hops as well), for a festive brew to gift (some of) at Christmas time :)

I have a few questions to ask first though, and with the wealth of knowledge in this forum, where else would I turn.

Firstly, I have come to learn that I should not boil the wort with honey in it (to avoid losing aromas), but is it o.k to just add to the barrel for the initial fermentation (so gravity readings can be taken for an accurate alc%)?

Secondly, should I use shop bought honey (pasteurized) for less micro activity?

Also, I was thinking of a larger or pale ale style with some extra hops for a bit more character and a better flavor profile...... Any thoughts?

Thanks heaps

Pete.

[bart]

On the couple of brews where I've added honey, I have added it at the end of the boil after the heat is turned off. It would still be up around 80-90 degrees C. This is enough to pasteurise the honey and dissolve it (I was using natural raw honey). I don't think theres a huge loss of honey flavour or aroma if you do it this way, kind of like hops, just don't boil the crap out of it. You definitely need to add it in for the initial fermentation. I usually add at least 500g if not 1kg of honey to the 20L brew, depending on what else I've got in it.

[Peter Beswick]

Thanks for that Bart.
Did you add the honey on top of the dextrose?
This would make a strong brew, but that is what I'm sort of after...

[bart]

I brew all grain so no I didn't use any dextrose. But yes I did add the honey in addition to the normal amounts of grain. So the brews come out around 6.5%. Quite nice. Probably easier to get away with it in a light ale style rather than a lager. I'd imagine honey + lager yeast would be fermenting for quite a while.

http://www.forum.realbeer.co.nz/forum/topics/spiced-beers

[bart]

oh and also, avoid adding dextrose to a kit brew at all costs... thats just shabby! add malt extract instead... kit beers are bad enough as it is even without them being 50% white sugar haha..