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Raw Honey Question

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mattblock05

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 10, 2017
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Wilmington, NC
I'm going to apologize now if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find anything in relation to this question. My wife was able to get a 2 liter bottle full of raw local honey from a friend, but apparently a little bit of water got into the bottle and it smells a little like the honey is starting to ferment on its own. As this is my first time attempting to make mead, I have already purchased a 1 gallon carboy and airlock, along with a packet of champagne yeast because I wanted to start small.

My question is twofold now. Should I try for a larger batch with this amount of honey, and what needs to be done/should I do with the honey to keep it from fermenting on its own due to the water that got in the bottle?

Thanks in advance for any assistance, and I'm sorry for sounding like the newbie that I am.
 
Last edited:
It sounds like the honey wasn't fully ripe when bottled. If you can't make a batch of mead right now (and I recommend not, since this is your first time -- take time to research first), try putting it into the freezer. That should stop fermentation.

This will probably also crystallize your honey; you may need to reliquify it when you need to use it, or cut it out of the 2l bottle (assuming a plastic bottle -- when I read 2L bottle, I think of a soda bottle). I expect the ferment could change the flavor of your mead -- that's not necessarily bad, just not replicable.

If you know that you inadvertently introduced water to the honey, you could also try removing the top layer of moist honey. Personally, I'd go for the freezer method -- but I'm a beekeeper and have plenty of honey on hand for teas.
 
Shelley said:
...try putting it into the freezer...

...This will probably also crystallize your honey; you may need to reliquify it when you need to use it...
Click to expand...

Putting liquid honey in the freezer will prevent crystallization.
I keep some honey in the freezer for a few of my clients who do not understand that crystallization is a natural process and refuse to de-crystallize it in worm water. For them crystallized honey is spoiled and there is no way to "educate" them.
 
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