Does Mixing Honey in a Mead Matter?

Today we're conducting a test to see whether mixing your honey in a mead actually makes a difference! We're seeing if the yeast will ferment on honey that hasn't been mixed and also seeing if there is any taste difference between the two. I'm excited to share this video with you because I was very shocked! I'm sharing the mead recipe below and some links to support the channel! I hope you will hit like and subscribe to support the channel. Thanks for watching.

This Meads Recipe:
1/3 Gallon of Spring Water
1.1 Pound of Honey
2 Grams of Lalvin QA23

Want to know what I use? Check it out on my Amazon store of my website!

Mead Making is an art that people have enjoyed doing for years. It's something that intermediate to expert people can do and I'm somewhere in between. I've really enjoyed trying to use lots of different flavors in my meads like: Apple, Peach, Mango, Pear, Traditional, Elderberry, Blueberry, Blackberry, Maple Syrup, Apple Pie, Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry, Chocolate, Bochets, Bochet, White Chocolate, Cilantro, Peaches, Melomels, Melomel, Acerglyn, Hydromel, Berries, Berry, Capsicumel, Peppers, Fenugreek. Some of my favorite meads have been the big blueberry mead, apple cinnamon mead, Bochet, OK Bochet, Raspberry Bochet, Mixed Berry Mead, Orange Cream mead, and Peppermint mead. I focus on how to make mead and how to make mead for beginners and hopefully anyone who wants to continue to grow in their mead making.

[gregorysmith]

I really like all of these "What would happen if I videos. 🙂 And I really like how you include the whole experiment in one video, instead of making us watch four separate videos over a month to see the end result.

[ManMadeMead]

I forgot to include it in this, but the final gravity for both was 1.000 .
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[stickfeed]

I did a no mix wine like this. I caramelized sugar into hard caramel, and it was just a solid blob at the bottom of the bucket.
One month later, it was rich and delicious, like i was drinking a snickers candy. I gotta revisit that recipe again.

[HarknessProductions]

Great experiment! While I wouldn't start a mead without doing any mixing, it's good to know that if you've got some undissolved honey it's not going to be a problem; the yeast will take care of it even if it slows the ferment a bit. It's always nice to know when there's something that will work out on its own so you can be a bit more chill in your mead making.

[virtueofsunlight]

The question that kept me awake a night has finally been answered.
Very good video.

[parkercloud]

Amazing video. I was considering re-stirring my mead as I saw alot of separation, and this has confirmed that that's not needed. I like the patience hands off method. Good presentation!

[emeryseyller]

i asked you about mango mead a while back, ended up using sliced mango for a week in secondary and it turned out really good, the mead has a really cool green tint to it and tastes a little tangy. looks great next to my apple cinnamon bottles, success!

[dreamcatcher]

Thanks so much Im new to brewing but all your helpful videos have inspired me. Really love these style videos I like science meets art of true brew crafting- subscribed and have started my first mead!

[kbvca]

Really great idea for an experiment. I was less surprised than you with the results. Where the water and the honey touch you are going to get the equivalent of a mixed solution and so the yeast which are exposed only to that surface area are able to transport the sugars through their cell walls, so I would have hypothesized that the fermentation would take place but would be considerably slower.. but here's one condition that you never kept constant. You mixed one jar, OK but in mixing you ALSO added air so I would have expected the yeast in the mixed jar to begin fermenting sooner than the yeast in the jar that had no added oxygen. So I wonder what might happen if you had aerated the water in the jar that wasn't mixed? That said, I thought it was very fascinating that both jars fermented without problems (I don't know that you gave us the final gravity) given the fact that you never provided any nutrients and current thinking is that we do need to provide nutrients when making mead AND your must was at 1.100 (or potentially, at 13% ABV) - so that is a lot of honey for the yeast to ferment without minerals and nitrogen...

[theastronomer]

Great experiment! I stopped re-hydrating my yeast and have not had any problems so far. For a mead with ~3lb honey per 1ga I would, but for lighter ones I don't bother and it always works. Good to try different things :)

[covenant]

I think Ken Schramm suggested that the first meads were made in "bags". That wild fermentations in tree trunks were unlikely to reach the dilution levels necessary to allow for fermentation (or maybe he was citing someone else). This video to me suggests that no dilution at all would be necessary. A hollow tree full of beehive suddenly filled with rainwater and bam!. Mead. Good vid!

[DostThouEvenDerp]

One thing I would like to point out is when you use scales, you should have a separate vessel for measuring and zero out the machine with the vessel on it then add the material.

[johndaily]

One of the best mead videos ever. Very valuable information. Thanks for sharing.

[therealpaddyp]

Truly the Bob Ross of mead, nice video man

[patricktompkins]

In the past I've made cyser by dumping 5 gallons of store bought cider into a bucket with a gallon of honey didn't really mix it up. The sugar in the cider gave the yeast a bit of a boost to get the energy to eat the honey that settled at the bottom. It was a bit slower to start fermenting and Took about a month to stop fermenting.

[Moostery]

In my experience, doing a no mix fermentation can have a slightly healthier fermentation in the beginning when using high sugar levels. Less strain on the yeast while it is getting established. Provided you pour the water on the honey with enough force to mix at least a little of it in to the water so it can get started.

[rossk]

Would have been interesting to have had a control jar with just hunny and water to see if it was just natural diffusion, or if the yeast sped it up. I'm sure the currents created by natural degassing also helped speed diffusion so we couldn't say if the yeast directly "ate" at the honey layer, or if they thrived somewhere higher in the must.

[Christpher]

It looks like you switched the two on accident. You wrote the O.G. on the mixed one and then when you came back to check the gravity you said the one that was not mixed was 1.090 but that jar had the O.G. written on it. Also the red top air lock was originally on the non mixed but at the end you said that one is the mixed one.

[EAwai-pkwf]

I made a coconut water maple syrup wine this way. Maple syrup dissolves a lot more easily than honey, and coconut water has a little sugar in it as well which I think "woke the yeast up" faster so even without any stirring the must was fully mixed within less than half a day.

[asabovesotabelow]

This is a time I would of suggested some nutrients for the yeast and possibly an energizer, do to the difficult task at hand for them. I might also suggest a brewing vessel with a greater diameter, to allow more yeast to be able to get at that honey.