Adding honey to raise ABV

You seem to rely much on your personal observations, and as a brewer; that is a good thing. As I have stated in previous posts, I do not like the flavors imparted by honey in beers (Braggots or Meads). The fusel alcohols give me headaches, when they are present in the honey infused brews.

So, here is what John Palmer has to say on using honey as a adjunct... http://howtobrew.com/book/section-4/experiment/using-honey

I'm not going to argue whether honey is a good or bad addition to a brewing recipe. Experimentation is what brewers do. Without it, many of the styles we enjoy would not exist. I brew what I like, as apparently; so do you.

@WarEagleJeep was merely asking specifically about experimenting with small batches with various hop additions and whether honey would be a good choice for increasing the ABV. Given that he was experimenting with hop character and not intending to specifically experiment with brewing with honey, I offered my advise based on what I perceived as the request of the OP.

 

Wert the fusel alcohol you speak of, couldn't that simply be a result of high alcohol? I think honey is a very good adjunct to use in low alcohol stouts. Unfortunately good honey is expensive.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think what @WertMaker is trying to say is that if you ferment with a large amount of honey, you should be fermenting at a cooler temperature in order to reduce any fusels etc, and thus will take longer.

Although... Whilst honey can produce fusels, this is normally only the case when doing a straight mead, where there is very little in the way of yeast nutrients. This stresses the yeast out and hence why traditionally mead has required long aging times to become drinkable. When used in a beer (or with proper nutrient additions), honey shouldn't produce any more fusels than adding the equivalent SG of cane sugar / etc. That being said, if you are using a very large amount of sugar, you can get fusels too!

 

Yes I think that is what Wert is trying to say. Making a high octane beer out of honey, you might as well brew a meade and sit on it for many months or a year or two.

 

Simple sugar decreases the potential for excessive fusels. Fusels are produced from amino acids. Sugar doesn't have amino acids. However, honey does contain amino acids. So does wort. That might explain why honey beers tend to be more prone to develop fusels.

 

WZ's Yeast, Fig.4.18 on pg. 105 "Increase of various fermentation factors and how they impact ester and fusel production in beer." (Laere, et al., 2008) ...interesting

From WIKI, "For vigorous fermentation, a sufficient quantity of FAN must be present in the wort. An excessive concentration in the wort is not desirable however, as this may cause production of a significant quantity of fusel alcohols, or spoilage of the finished beer by other organisms."

 

New brewers: ferment temp is a huge factor for fusel production

 

Yes, I do. I also put a lot of weight on good science. I put very little weight on what some guy wrote in an article, book, or forum, unless it has data behind it. Finally, I put a whole lot of weight on observations by other people (not me) who have proven over and over again to be reliable observers. There are a few of them on this forum.

I find fusel alcohols objectionable in any brews, honey infused or otherwise. But the substitution or addition of a pound or two (or three) of honey doesn't define "braggot" IMO, nor does it in my experience cause fusels. BTW, I have made true meads without a hint of fusel heat.

"I have not mentioned honey until now because I don't use it often." Okey Doke. He goes on to not mention fusels at all, but even if he did, that first sentence would have been a red flag, unless he presents (someone else's) data to state his case. But again, he didn't say anything about fusels, so it's a moot point.

But your advice was based on no honey brewing experience and no outside data. Was it based on the fact that you have tasted one or more meads made by others that had fusels? If so, did you analyze the fermentation temps of those meads? Did you consider the differences in wort content, including nutrients, between a mead and a beer wort with 1-3 pounds of honey substituted?

 

Honey lacks many nutrients that are in wert. With SNA of yeast nutrient and DAP, and degassing/aerating the must, award winning meads are made in less time than you can make a lager. I don't think we'll made meads are full of fusels, you need to respect those as they are typically wine strength. We have a lot of Schramm's mead in the cellar, drink it now and then as a treat, no problems.

Edit - ferment at 62-63F. Not hot, not cold.

 

This is true. That's why it's important to distinguish between beer wort (with some honey in it) and mead must (prior to adding nutrients).

 

But if you make a "beer" out of mostly simple sugar, then you get massive fusels, even if brewed cool?
(Yes, I've tried it just to see what would happen)

Or am I getting terms mixed up?

 

yes, that is why I quoted 3 different sources (3 mo betta than 1 usually)

 

when i use honey to boost abv, i usually add it to the secondary, i use honey in brews over 7 abv, and have not experianced nasty fusel headachs, even when adding up to 3 lbs. My secondary is usually at 60 degrees or a bit less so the ferment does take longer. It is expensive but i like it on occasion.

 

According to this, a higher proportion of sugar in the wort decreases fusels.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2050-0416.1961.tb01828.x/pdf

 

Interesting, and... confusing...
Just like everything else beer-related once you start diving into it!