Thin Honey?

[Jim134]

One thing to think about ..No matter what you are making junk in junk out ...If l want the Best  Product. I would not use fermented honey ..

   2 things can make honey  thin .There may more ..High moisture and temperature of the honey ..
       

              BEE HAPPY Jim  134 

[KeyLargoBees]

Actually Ace Mead from pre fermented honey is a crapshoot and typically bad....there are 10000 wild yeast strains out there and we as humans use about 200 strains for brewing/wine/mead....because they make product that tastes good.....wild yeast will make an alcoholic beverage but its probably going to have a distinct "funk" and disappoint.

[BeeMaster2]

You can heat the honey to kill the yeast and then add your own.
It used to be winery's had good and bad years. It all depended on what yeast was on the grapes that year. Now they control which yeast is used and the get the flavor they want.
Jim

[Acebird]

You can heat the honey to kill the yeast and then add your own.

I don't know how you can make mead without heating the must which will kill the wild yeast.  However, the wild yeast has already caused fermentation so some flavor should already be in the honey.  Here is the thing, I have tasted this honey and it doesn't offend me so I can't see how it will when I ferment it again with a specific yeast of my choosing.  My wife can't drink the mead even though she is the reason I ever made a batch.  The hope was to avoid the sulfides that are in commercial wines but the pollen's in mead give her a major allergy fit so she can't drink that either.  I made a sacrifice and drank her share.  Ha, ha

[KeyLargoBees]

Yes Jim you can heat....i guess its a question of how far gone the honey is. I have tasted some that appeared to be only slightly fermented that already had a significant funk.....so I tend to shy away from it.

[GSF]

So my refractor meter arrived today. I calibrated it with extra virgin olive oil like the instructions said. I googled moisture content in honey, held my breath and took a sample. It was 18.2%. I read a couple of articles one said no more than 19.5%, the other said no more than 20%. What are some of yalls readings?

If I had to guess the different flavor I'd say it was from the left over scuppernongs last fall. I was harvesting some in the last week or two and the honey bees were all over them. There were a couple of hornets and several yellow jackets. That honey still taste good.

[BeeMaster2]

My honey was at 19% on the last batch. I did a slow drip from one bucket to another in my house until it was at 18%. Sometimes I will accept 18.5%. Nothing more.
Jim

[Acebird]

My honey was at 19% on the last batch. I did a slow drip from one bucket to another in my house until it was at 18%.
Jim

Do you have a drying room or chamber?

[reinbeau]

We don't accept anything at the Marshfield Fair that's 'wetter' than 18.6%.

[BeeMaster2]

My honey was at 19% on the last batch. I did a slow drip from one bucket to another in my house until it was at 18%.
Jim

Do you have a drying room or chamber?

No, I put the 5 gallon bucket of honey in my heater which is set for 100 degrees F and then bring it in the house and allow it to drip at the slowest rate that I can. It takes a day to empty the bucket and I have to open the valve a little more after 2/3 of it empty out.
Jim

[Acebird]

That is a novel idea.  Most likely when you get to the 2/3'ds point the honey is back to room temperature and it could lose or gain moisture depending on RH.  My suggestion would be to open the valve up a little from the start and spread out the drip so the timing to empty is equal to the 2/3'ds point you are achieving now.
Another option would be to take a heated uncapping knife and control the temperature of it to 100 degrees and drizzle the honey down the length of the blade.
What you are doing is not fool proof but if you have a way of measuring your results then it is fool proof.  Great job Jim.

[BeeMaster2]

Thanks Brian. The idea is to drop it at the smallest amount that it will drip at. That is why, as you said, when the temperature rises, you have to open the valve a little more.
Jim

[Acebird]

I understand but if it hits something else and spreads out making multiple drips you can empty the bucket faster before it loses all its heat.