A beer brewed with honey, either as a fermentable sugar adjunct (typically 5–20% of the fermentable sugar bill) or as a post-fermentation flavoring addition. Typically 4–10% ABV. The honey character should be identifiable in the finished beer and may contribute floral, slightly sweet, or honeyed aromatic notes; honey is highly fermentable, so the beer’s gravity often ends drier than a beer of similar starting gravity without honey. Varietal honeys (orange blossom, wildflower, buckwheat, tupelo) impart distinct character.
In the glass
Origin
Honey is one of the oldest fermentable sugars known to brewing, and people have combined it with grain since prehistory. Chemical analysis of pottery from the Neolithic village of Jiahu in China’s Yellow River valley, dated to roughly 7000 BCE, identified a fermented “grog” made from rice, grapes or hawthorn fruit, and honey — among the earliest direct evidence of honey-and-grain fermentation anywhere. The honey-and-malt drink later took recognizable shape in medieval Europe as braggot, a hybrid that blends honey with a brewed grain base. Modern American craft brewers have revived honey-adjunct brewing as a specialty category, often featuring regional varietal honeys such as orange blossom, wildflower, buckwheat, and tupelo.
Notes
Mead, fermented from honey alone, is categorized separately from beer. Braggot is the historical bridge between the two: it uses roughly equal proportions of honey and malt and sits squarely between beer and mead. In a honey beer proper, the honey is a minority of the fermentable bill, and because honey is highly fermentable, most of its sugar converts to alcohol — so the finished beer often tastes drier than its starting gravity would suggest, with the honey character showing as aroma more than sweetness unless it is added late.
Defining examples
Dogfish Head Midas Touch (adjacent, honey + grape + saffron)·Rogue Honey Kolsch·Blue Moon Honey Wheat·Shmaltz He’Brew Genesis Ale (adjacent)·Lagunitas Brown Shugga (adjacent, sugar not honey)