Well, I did this today.
It tastes... well, um, odd. I guess "funky" is the best I can come up with to describe it. Each pot tasted similar but different. The first one had high levels of said "funk" and wasn't actually very sweet (compared to normal honey). The second had the same taste but was sweeter and a bit milder. The other two were somewhere in between.
So, 4lb Zambian Tropical Honey, warmed in the sink to make it pourable.
2 tsp Yeast Nutrient/Energiser.
Topped up to just below 4.8 litres with Volvic water (will top up fully later, but there was a oddly large head...)
1 packet Lalvin D47, rehydrated.
OG @ 1.118 (if i'm reading this correctly... does that sound right?)
Why can't they label these things sencibly? its 2 notches above "120" at the bottom...
Placed in fridge set to 18c
The waiting begins...
Edit: Added pic, how crazily dark is that?!
3 things.....
How much did it cost ? Mail order or local shop ? and why D47 ?
The first two, as I'd also like to give it a go and thirdly, D47 has been shown by some to need to be fermented at the lower end of it's temp range i.e. less than about 68 F/20 C. Now average temps at this time of the year, make it likely that you'd need to keep it a little cooler than that, otherwise it's known to cause fusels......
If it was honey that's pretty easy to get, that's fine. But this does seem like a "premium" honey, well maybe not premium, but certainly unusual. Hence I'd have made sure of all my ingredients before committing it....
Mixed up all 4 lb ? with a gravity like that, I'd guess yes. Again, why not try something like mix 3/4's a.k.a. 3lb of it and then check the gravity. After all, a honey like this is a pretty unknown quantity, and as honey can vary considerably in the sugar content or sugar/water ratio, 3lb of X and 3lb of Y, mixed into the same amount of water won't give the same gravity reading.
Also, DJ's look great, but it might have been better in a bucket as you could have brought the gravity down a bit so you still have some must for topping up, to allow for racking loses and by back sweetening with honey i.e. the same honey as used for the main ferment, would make sure that you get the full characteristics of it........ A bucket also allows for honey that wants to erupt all over the place, particularly in the earlier stages of the ferment, hence it's good practice to have some "expansion room" in the fermenter. If you are aerating, or going to, it might be sensible to put a bowl in the sink and then aerate it in that. Some honey musts can seem to double in size while the CO2 comes out of them......
Nice dark colour though. I hope it goes well, as it does sound an interesting honey to try.
regards
fatbloke
p.s. Oh and if the gravity reading is correct, then that, allowing for a complete fermentation, still give you about 14% ABV, while the gravity is good for a little over 16% - Which is why I like to ferment dry and then back sweeten - you might really enjoy that amount of residual sugar, but you might hate it..... So back sweetening allows you to get a taste/sweetness level you enjoy etc etc....