Where did I go wrong with my home made beer?

[Sean Kelly]

Any home brewers out there?  I need some help...

I've been making wine and meads for a couple years now and decided to try my hand at beer.  Everything seemed to go perfectly right through bottling day.  I'm not set up for forced carbonation, so bottle conditioning was my only choice.  I went with "Muttons Carb Tabs" instead of priming sugar since it seemed pretty fool proof.  I guess I was wrong.

The package says carbonation takes 1 week.  After one week opened a bottle and nothing.  Two weeks, nothing.  Three weeks, nothing.  I have flat beer.  Tastes good.  There are also waxy chunks suspended in the beer that seem sorta weird.  No off flavors, smells, or color.  All looks perfect and actually tastes really good.  I just wish I knew what happened to the yeast and why it didn't like my carb tabs.

Anyone ever try priming beer or sparkling wine with honey?  I've heard it can be done but never tried it.  Does it leave any honey flavors behind or will it all get consumed by the yeast?

Sean Kelly

[HomeBru]

I've never used carb tabs. I always prime with corn sugar and it usually works fine. You should be able to re-bottle with corn sugar and get it carbonated.

I would think that honey would work well and the results would be dependent on the amount of honey. It would take some experimentation to get the ratio right, but add more honey than the yeast can digest before carbonation and you'll have more honey flavor. Add too much and you'll end up blowing bottles. Add too little and no carbonation...

Good Luck!!!

J-

[Sean Kelly]

Well yesterday was week three after bottling and I should have waited to make my post yesterday.  I opened two bottles and they were fully carbonated!  Nice thick head and beautiful.

Now there's a slight aftertaste of plastic.  Not sure what that is.  And there are these white floating chunks that taste like wax.  I'm assuming those are unconsumed carb tabs.

I think I'm gunna go with regular priming sugar next time and throw out the carb tabs.  Still interested in priming with honey though.

Sean Kelly

[HomeBru]

Glad to hear it, Sean! Time is really a good remedy. One of my first batches was downright awful, but I felt that I "had" to drink it since I had made it so I slowly choked through two cases over the next few months. About six months later, I found a few bottles hiding in the back of the fridge and decided to take a sip before pouring them down the drain and they were absolutely WONDERFUL! Wished I had waited for all of the bottles...

J-

[1frozenhillbilly]

i have used honey with good results,  dont have my cheat card here where im at but if i remember correctly the recomendation is 3/4 cup, boiled in a quart of water for a 5 gallon batch,  and i didnt get a heavy honey flavor with it for carebonating sugar,  have added a quart to a couple of batches as part of the ferment and that was real tasty