Honey in beer – a sweet combination

Craft Brewers are always looking for ways to improve – or differentiate – their beer. An easy way to achieve this is to add ingredients. One of the more popular ingredients is honey.

Honey beer – not to be confused with mead, which is fermented honey – is exactly what you expect it to be; beer with honey. The component is mostly combined with blond beers, but just about any style goes.

Why would you add honey to your brew? That is simple, because it is the same reason that you would add any sugar: to raise the level of alcohol. Honey contains up to 90% fermentable sugars, mostly glucose and fructose.

You might think that it will get really sweet, but that is not the case. A lot of its unique taste gets lost in the process. Only if you add it in the final stage of brewing, you will get a real glimpse of honey. One of the strengths of honey is that it provides a light-colored beer. It might also smooth out the bitterness of hops.

So why not try it? There is a lot to explore.