Fermenting honey –-advice for mead, please

[psafloyd]

Dear All,

I have had a bucket of honey I bought in last year start fermenting. I can only assume it was a dodgy seal as there is nothing wrong with the rest of the honey I have been selling alongside my own.

Anyway, I have about 30lbs and rather than kiss goodbye to a considerable investment (and I don't even know where I would dispose of such an amount), can anyone advise on mead making?

Not so much a recipe –-I have some and can find more –-but if there is anything different required if the stuff has already started to ferment. I don't know, like a certain type of yeast or using more honey per gallon as the sugar content may be reduced?

Any help much appreciated.

 

[masterBK]

When you buy in honey do you check water content of each bucket with refractometer? Natural yeasts which are already present fermenting the honey can produce a good mead but usualy they don't . There won't be much of a reduction in sugar content .Normally best to heat sterilise the honey and buying in a decent Yeast variety. I use a "Sauterne" yeast but it is personal choice. 30 lbs of honey can l produce 8 gallons or so of mead depending on whether you make dry or sweet meads. There is always a risk of "off tastes" from the original fermentation with those wild osmophyliic yeasts which you won't easily overcome. If you make up the mead must using hydrometer (or brewing refractometer) then this will help you determine the amount of water you need to add.

 

[psafloyd]

Thanks, MasterBK.

I have a good bit of experience of brewing (from my youth) and will use a hydrometer to determine the OG.

I had thought of a champagne or chablis yeast (or something like this though I have never used it before), as I'd prefer a dry finish and wouldn't the sauternes produce a sweeter one? I could do two batches, as I only have one fermenting bin at the moment.

Would you recommend feeding the yeast with a proprietary product, or does the old lemon rind/black tea/raisins/Marmite on dry toast still have any role?

Any tips about making the must and would you share your recipe?

When it comes to the honey itself, I always test my own before storage, and would test bought in, but stuff happened and testing didn't and as it was a new bucket with a seal, I left it. One of those expensive mistakes...

Thanks, again.

When you buy in honey do you check water content of each bucket with refractometer? Natural yeasts which are already present fermenting the honey can produce a good mead but usualy they don't . There won't be much of a reduction in sugar content .Normally best to heat sterilise the honey and buying in a decent Yeast variety. I use a "Sauterne" yeast but it is personal choice. 30 lbs of honey can l produce 8 gallons or so of mead depending on whether you make dry or sweet meads. There is always a risk of "off tastes" from the original fermentation with those wild osmophyliic yeasts which you won't easily overcome. If you make up the mead must using hydrometer (or brewing refractometer) then this will help you determine the amount of water you need to add.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

I'll start by saying that I have never made Mead nor made wine for about twenty five years so use that information to judge what I'm about to write.

I'd say you need to stop AS SOON AS POSSIBLE whatever fermentation is currently taking place. I seem to remember there was something that can be added to a 'must' to stop fermentation (citric acid??). I cannot remember whether you can later restart the fermentaion (using a cultured yeast).

It may be that what is going on in the bucket at the moment is sugar > alcohol > acetic acid > vinegar so unless the reaction is stopped soon, you may well have "off flavours" in any mead you later make.


CVB

 

[psafloyd]

Thanks, CVB, I concur with all you said, but only became aware of this at the weekend.

Will get cracking on it. After all, what have I got to lose? The honey is already no use.

I'll start by saying that I have never made Mead nor made wine for about twenty five years so use that information to judge what I'm about to write.

I'd say you need to stop AS SOON AS POSSIBLE whatever fermentation is currently taking place. I seem to remember there was something that can be added to a 'must' to stop fermentation (citric acid??). I cannot remember whether you can later restart the fermentaion (using a cultured yeast).

It may be that what is going on in the bucket at the moment is sugar > alcohol > acetic acid > vinegar so unless the reaction is stopped soon, you may well have "off flavours" in any mead you later make.


CVB

 

[dpearce4]

I had this issue last December and now have 60ltr of mead bubbling away in the kitchen from 1 30lb bucket.

Go to Morrison's to buy their 5ltr Yorkshire water to make the mead and then use the containers as demijohns (£1.07 per 5ltr) drill a hole in the lid to take the bung and airlock (available from Wilkinson's) and then to make sure its sealed rub Vaseline round the rubber bung. then before you add your yeast to stop the honey fermenting you can either bring it to the boil for 10 mins diluted down to mead strength or add sulphite tablets 1 per 5ltr unfermented of mead and leave for 48hrs. you want champagne yeast for dry or if you want sweet sauterne yeast add marmite, lemon juice, citric acid and wine nutrient to make sure it has the right amount of nutrients for the yeast to feed on while fermenting.

 

[For want of a better word]

Boil the mead mix to kill of existing yeasts.
A couple of table spoons of Marmite will help the new yeast.
Allow to cool to your chosen yeasts fermenting temperature before adding the yeast.

I know of a chap who had a large quantity of fermenting honey and after boiling added a 20% "turbo yeast"
Mead was very alcoholic but tasted quite foul... solution was distillation of the mash using a copper still!

Honey Moonshine!!

Yeghes da