Hawaiian Christmas berry, Guava, Lehua honey?

shanes66charger · 03-08-2010, 05:26 PM

Hey guys, I was in hawaii a couple weeks ago and brought back a few lbs of pure raw hawaiin honey. Hawaiian christmas berry and Guava along with other native hawaiian wild flowers.

Both honeys tasted awesome, very strong and sweet. But not like any honey I have tasted before.

I made a one gallon batch, ending up at about 1.o76 O.G.

really looking forward to this one.

I also got 4 lbs of another kind. Mainly from Lehua according to the label. It is very light colored but very strong. It has a very floral aroma and the flavor is completely unique.

Anyone ever used any hawaiian honey for mead?

machinelf · 03-08-2010, 06:23 PM

I'm new to mead, but I have to say that those sound incredible. Our next mead is going to be a light one racked onto pawpaw fruit, which has a tropical flavor to it. We're researching some honey types that might fit well with it.

Let us know how these progress!

shanes66charger · 03-08-2010, 06:38 PM

will do! I just realized I pitched the WHOLE packet of lalvin EC1118 into only a gallon or 1.o76 mead

...........Hopefully this won't be a problem??

wayneb · 03-08-2010, 08:09 PM

Relax, that won't be a problem! The yeast will simply divide through fewer generations in order to reach a stable colony size. It is possible to pitch too much yeast, in which case lots of the cells actually die off early (suffering from a kind of early nutrient starvation) and then can autolyse in your must, contributing some yeasty off flavors. But that takes pitching a LOT of extra yeast, as in 20 to 25 times the usual recommended amount. You were over-generous, but not that bad!