Wit report continued

Grains, malts, hops, yeast, water and other ingredients used to brew. Recipe reviews and suggestions.

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Freon12
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Wit report continued

Post by Freon12 »

As the fermentation slows in the beertools wit, I started thinking of priming with honey, possibly starthistle.
I have heard that this is done in Belgian wits. How about it?


Steve
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Prime Directive

Post by Gravity Thrills »

Is this a jump start in a secondary or priming at bottling? I'm not familiar with priming with star thistle(?), but then again I never heard of a drink called the "Sreaming Viking" before I saw Woody mix one up on Cheers ("Do you want your cucumber bruised with that, Mr. Claven?").

I think the right variety of honey might be nice, provided you have and idea as to how fermentable it is to get the dose right. I don't know what it is, but I personally have never been a big fan of honey in beers. But, I have a few beer-knowledgable friends who very much enjoy it, so I know it's just a matter of personal taste. Now, a nice dry mead on the other hand, I'm there....

Cheers,
Jim
Freon12
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Vagery

Post by Freon12 »

I'm sorry there Jim, Starthisle is a varity of honey.

Steve
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the bees knees

Post by Gravity Thrills »

What are there, like 1,000 different varieties of honey? I think I have probably just not found one yet that is subtle enough for my taste in beer. I tried clover and orange blossom honey several years ago, and neither of them really dod the trick. for priming, though, I bet it would be quite understated - give it a shot!

When you sample the taste of the beer at racking, be sure to tell me if the 0.5 lb of acidulated seems right or if it's a bit much. It's often hard to get a real good feel bor balance on green beer, but I'm looking forward to your first impressions.

Cheers,
Jim
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Honey nutt, get it? Honey nutt/nut.

Post by stumpwater »

Ok, sorry Steve, couldn't help the pun considering your "did anyone say frig" stuff you posted. I haven't primed with honey though I have brewed with it. Personally, I think it is a matter of taste. Honey has residuals that don't ferment out and it tends to have proteins that add to haze so you may be in for some experimenting. I think that honey does however contribute about the same gravity as malt so it should be relatively easy to figure out the quantities you need. I added 2.5 kilos of catalpu honey to my normal batch of beer (46 litres) just to see the result. Oh my, one pint of this stuff made me tipsy, two pints made me drunk. I will not relay here in a public forum what 3 pints did, I am still getting over the party wounds and the embarassment. The taste took some getting used to and the beer took a little longer than usual to clear. When it did, though, it was soooo good.

Na Zdahroveh

Stefan
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Honey

Post by Team Beer »

My experiences with honey have led me to believe that honey may not be the best for priming. However may I suggest maybe a mixture of Honey / DME. At least you'll know there are some fermentable sugars in there to create carbonation.
Freon12
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Tell me more.

Post by Freon12 »

I was under the impresion that honey was all sugar and was 90% fermentable depending on yeast strain.

So, I would need equal weight of honey plus Dme?
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A little more clarification

Post by Team Beer »

Yes you are correct regarding honey fermentable sugars. I apologize my last post was a little short. My experience when I had used honey was a seriously delayed fermentation. Though I did not use honey to prime but the thought of "kickstarting" the yeast after secondary with the dme ensuring that you have enough live yeast to fully ferment the honey and ensure carb. Just and idea though.
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