What is the general rule of thumb when it comes to how much honey to add? I recently bought 3 pounds of South American Killer Bee honey to use in a Barley Wine style Ale. I don't want to over do or under do it. Thanks
Depends on your goal, I've brewed beers with as little as 5% honey, and beers (better classified as braggots) with as much as 50% honey.
In a lighter beer style, e.g. blonde, have you noticed a particular threshold for the percentage of fermentables added as honey where the honey flavors/aroma are easily noticed? (I know this would likely depend on the potency of honey and the varietal, and the underlying characteristics of the beer; but just looking for some gross rule of thumb)
It is a 5.5 gallon batch. I was thinking of doing a LBS at 30 minutes, a LBS at 15 minutes and a LBS at burnout.
Sorry about the abrupt ending. Didn't have time to add that the reason is that the flavor/aroma compounds in honey are quite volatile and tend to boil away quickly. Adding at flameout or even later will help retain them.
I'm going to use ~2% buckwheat honey in a dark spiced saison planned for a mixed fermentation on a year-old bacteria cake. I'll add it at flameout.
Do you think you get anything out of 5% honey? I don't have a lot of experience with it in beer, but I know if I only had about a pound it would go directly into the keg.
I've used a pound of Gunters Buckwheat honey in 5 gal batches during the end of boil and taste comes through to me. Actually I'd recommend less, buckwheat tends to be bold for me at least.
