Author: Matt Del Fiacco

Most brewers are familiar with process of bottle conditioning where a sugary solution is used to carbonate beer, typically either corn sugar (dextrose) or table sugar (sucrose). Once added to the beer, the remnant yeast re-ferment this relatively small addition of priming sugar, creating CO2 that gets absorbed into the beer due to it being contained in a sealed vessel.

While sucrose and dextrose are considered standard, curious brewers have been known to rely on various other sugar sources for natural carbonation with the hope it has some impact on flavor. One such sugar is honey, which is an amalgam of glucose, fructose, and a small bit of sucrose, as well as water, wax, and minerals. Most yeasts have little trouble fermenting honey, making it a viable option for natural carbonation that’s particularly interesting for anyone looking to add a hint of honey flavor to their beer.

The idea of adjusting finished beer character by using different priming sugars is one I find quite appealing, as it adds yet another tool to my brewing belt. Though I keg my beer and have essentially abandoned using natural carbonation methods, a recent discussion with a friend revived the idea that carbonating beer with less traditional priming sugars such as honey could potentially impart desirable characteristics. Having never tried it myself, I was excited to put this one to the test.

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between a beers that are naturally carbonated with either sucrose (table sugar) or honey.

| METHODS |

I figured a straightforward Blonde Ale would allow any differences to show through and designed a simple recipe for this xBmt.

You Are My Candy

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5 gal 60 min 22.7 IBUs 3.0 SRM 1.040 1.009 4.0 % Actuals 1.04 1.011 3.8 % Fermentables Name Amount % Pale Malt, 2 row (Gambrinus) 7.5 lbs 100 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Centennial 13 g 45 min Boil Pellet 10 Cascade 16 g 15 min Boil Pellet 5.5 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Tartan (A31) Imperial Yeast 73% 65°F - 70°F Notes Water Profile: Ca 68 | Mg 0 | Na 10 | SO4 70 | Cl 65 Download Download this recipe's BeerXML file

A couple days before brewing, I made a couple starters of Imperial Yeast A31 Tartan.

When brew day came around, I collected two identical volumes of water then turned on the elements to heat it up.

Next, I weighed out and milled the grain for each batch.

With the water adequately heated, I incorporated the grains then checked to make sure each batch was at the same mash temperature.

During the mash rest, I weighed out the kettle hop additions.

When each 60 minute mash was complete, I removed the grains and brought the worts to a boil.

When the 60 minute boils were finished, they were quickly chilled then blended together to ensure homogeneity before being racked to identical fermentation vessels.

A refractometer reading confirmed target OG was hit.

After placing the fermenters in chambers controlled to 66°F/19°C, I pitched the yeast.

With signs of activity absent after a week of fermentation, I took hydrometer measurements showing both beers were at the same FG.

At this point, I prepared both priming solutions by first using BeerSmith software to determine I would need to use 108.2 grams of sucrose and 131.4 grams of honey to achieve 2.4 volumes of CO2. Then, I boiled each briefly in the same amount of water to dissolve.

Each priming solution was added to a separate sanitized keg before the beers were racked in.

The filled kegs were placed next to each other in a spot that maintains a fairly steady 68°F/70°C and left to condition.

After 3 weeks, I moved the filled kegs to my keezer and left them to condition for another couple weeks before being served to tasters.

| RESULTS |

A total of 21 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 1 sample of the beer naturally carbonated with sucrose and 2 samples of the beer naturally carbonated with honey in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. At this sample size, 12 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, though only 9 (p=0.24) did, indicating participants in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a Blonde Ale naturally carbonated with table sugar from one carbonated with honey.

My Impressions: Out of 5 triangle test attetmpts, I happened to guess correctly 3 times. I couldn’t detect any differences between these beers, despite knowing what the variable was. I perceived both as having a light grain character with a bit of residual sweetness and pleasant piney hop character.



| DISCUSSION |

Naturally carbonating beer is believed by many to produce a noticeably different sensory experience than force carbonation, with some claiming it leads to finer bubbles that positively impact the ultimate character of the beer. Additionally, it purportedly opens up a vector of flavor adjustment unavailable when using external CO2, as various types of sugars can be used for priming, presumably carrying over some characteristics. Interestingly, tasters in this xBmt were unable to distinguish Blonde Ales naturally carbonated with either sucrose or honey, suggesting any flavor impact was too small to be noticed.

Honey can come from many different pollen sources that lead to various flavors and pungency levels. It’s possible the more subtle characteristics of the wildflower honey I used for this xBmt simply didn’t come through when used to naturally carbonate, and that perhaps a stronger flavored honey would have had a bigger impact. Regardless, these results indicate honey is certainly a viable way to naturally carbonate beer, though given the cost, may not be the most economical.

Seeing as I rely primarily on spunding or force carbonation in my own brewing, the results of this xBmt didn’t inspire me to do more natural carbonation and reinforced my inclination to stick with what I know works. However, I remain curious to try this again with notably stronger flavored honeys as well as other sugar sources like molasses and maple syrup to see how it influences beer flavor.

If you have any thoughts about this xBmt, please do not hesitate to share in the comments section below!

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