Problems with Honey

Will White

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Is there a way to change efficiency of individual ingredients? Whenever I add honey to a recipe the FG goes up even when it's under the yeasts tolerance. Honey is 100% fermentable sugar so FG should stay the same with ABV going up.

Also is there a way to add honey or other fermentables in the fermenter without it affecting the IBU calculation? Late addition doesn't count it for ABV calculation.
 
Is there a way to change efficiency of individual ingredients? Whenever I add honey to a recipe the FG goes up even when it's under the yeasts tolerance. Honey is 100% fermentable sugar so FG should stay the same with ABV going up.

Also is there a way to add honey or other fermentables in the fermenter without it affecting the IBU calculation? Late addition doesn't count it for ABV calculation.

The FG shouldn't go up at all- can you give me a link to the recipe where this is happening?
When you click 'late addition' in the fermenter, the IBUs won't change but the ABV will go up.
 
@Yooper This is what I'm referring to in ticket #1758

@Will White I believe you're referring to attenuation/fermentability, not efficiency. The "efficiency" of a sugar addition in the kettle, or fermentor is going to be 100% (unless there's wort losses of volume left behind in the kettle). However the attenuation of a sugar, juice, or honey, is going to depend on the composition of sugar, and the yeast used.

Simple sugars like sucrose, glucose, fructose are generally 100% fermentable (100% REAL attenuation, ~ 120% apparent attenuation). Meaning a recipe that's 100% simple sugars, like a seltzer, will have an FG below 1.000, sometimes as low as 0.992-0.995 depending on the amount used.

But other sugars like apple juice, or honey, are not actually 100% fermentable. Honey is generally around 95% based on my research, however it will vary depending on the type of honey, and the source. So the same OG as above, instead of an FG around 0.992 with cane sugar may be around 0.997 or so with honey.


If you change the honey addition to a late addition in the fermentor or the kettle, and change the amount slightly (here I change it from 9 to 9.001, you could just as easily change it to 10 lbs, then back to 9 lbs). You'll get an FG of 1.005, in reality, you could get a slightly lower FG than that due to the true fermentability mentioned above, which a pending update should address in the future.

upload_2020-8-27_16-58-7.png
 
@Yooper This is what I'm referring to in ticket #1758

@Will White I believe you're referring to attenuation/fermentability, not efficiency. The "efficiency" of a sugar addition in the kettle, or fermentor is going to be 100% (unless there's wort losses of volume left behind in the kettle). However the attenuation of a sugar, juice, or honey, is going to depend on the composition of sugar, and the yeast used.

Simple sugars like sucrose, glucose, fructose are generally 100% fermentable (100% REAL attenuation, ~ 120% apparent attenuation). Meaning a recipe that's 100% simple sugars, like a seltzer, will have an FG below 1.000, sometimes as low as 0.992-0.995 depending on the amount used.

But other sugars like apple juice, or honey, are not actually 100% fermentable. Honey is generally around 95% based on my research, however it will vary depending on the type of honey, and the source. So the same OG as above, instead of an FG around 0.992 with cane sugar may be around 0.997 or so with honey.


If you change the honey addition to a late addition in the fermentor or the kettle, and change the amount slightly (here I change it from 9 to 9.001, you could just as easily change it to 10 lbs, then back to 9 lbs). You'll get an FG of 1.005, in reality, you could get a slightly lower FG than that due to the true fermentability mentioned above, which a pending update should address in the future.

View attachment 11614
Ok now the ABV is off it should be 14-15% and it's showing 6.43
 
@Will White

Sorry, wasn't thinking. That is also an open ticket that should be fixed soon.

In the meantime, use a kettle addition and it'll be 14.27%
 
I’m running into this too. I am trying to add honey into a recipe, and I seem to have a choice between two different problems. If I do not check Late Addition, then the IBU is too low. If I do check Late Addition, then OG and ABV go down regardless of whether I choose boil kettle or fermenter. Is there a way to add honey into the recipe and have all the numbers come out correct?
 
If it is a late addition, you don't want it to be calculated into your preboil gravity.
 
I’m running into this too. I am trying to add honey into a recipe, and I seem to have a choice between two different problems. If I do not check Late Addition, then the IBU is too low. If I do check Late Addition, then OG and ABV go down regardless of whether I choose boil kettle or fermenter. Is there a way to add honey into the recipe and have all the numbers come out correct?
You also don't want your wort's gravity to reflect that sugar. That said, you DO want the ABV to reflect the sugar. I haven't found a way in Brewer's Friend to do the late additions and get both to come out right.
 
Check late addition, record your expected IBUs and OG. Uncheck and record your FG and ABV. Best solution I've found.
 
There's an update to resolve this in the pipeline, I'll add this thread to the ticket to followup.
 

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