I picked up 15 lbs of unfiltered(but strained) Wildflower honey from someone that sells local honey,she said that it's not pasteurized (she doesn't think) Should I add campden tablets to the primary? Also who has a good recipe for blueberry mead?.. TY
Unfiltered honey
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I would think that as long as the solution was boiled it wouldn't matter. It may not matter anyways. I'm not 100% on that. I've seen wild yeast infect honey before, but its pretty rare. I imagine any wild yeast that is tough enough to manage infecting pure honey may also be a decent yeast for brewing.
paraordnance
Well-Known Member
Last year I used 55 lbs of unfiltered, unprocessed, unpasteurized, unheated honey from local apiary to make various batches of mead. He just turned the valve and filled my 5 gal pail full of liquid honey from huge vessel. You can add campden if you want 24 hr prior to sanitize the must but you don't have to. I done both ways and never had problems.
Never boil honey. Filtered or Pasturized honey is not ideal.
You get better flavor and better aroma with out it. Basically, Honey in it's pure honey form is antiboitic. When you thin it down with water it is not so much but at this point it doesn't matter, the yeast will out compete the spoilage critters and when it has alcohol in it it kills the spoilage critters.
Did you know that in the American Civil war they used honey on gauze to cover wounds and keep them clean?
So it is not neccessary. No campden, no boiling. Just add water, yeast, yeast nutrient.
They have even found 5000 year old honey crystalized in a tomb and found it still good for consumption.
Matrix
You get better flavor and better aroma with out it. Basically, Honey in it's pure honey form is antiboitic. When you thin it down with water it is not so much but at this point it doesn't matter, the yeast will out compete the spoilage critters and when it has alcohol in it it kills the spoilage critters.
Did you know that in the American Civil war they used honey on gauze to cover wounds and keep them clean?
So it is not neccessary. No campden, no boiling. Just add water, yeast, yeast nutrient.
They have even found 5000 year old honey crystalized in a tomb and found it still good for consumption.
Matrix
Short answer, yes.
Long answer: I always put my fruit in the secondary. At the point of the secondary your mead will be about 10% alcohol. That's enough to kill the little beasties normally. Putting the fruit in the primary is basically the same as not where spoilage besties are conserned. The yeast usually out competes them and by the time you drink it you will be fine. If you do put the fruit in the primary then just simply wash it and maybe put in some pectin enzyme in to break down cell walls and render the juice out better.
I normally don't worry too much about this. Mostly, sanitation of your gear is what you want. ALLWAYS sanitize your equipment prior to use. Follow this simple rule without fail and you shouldn't really have many problems. The primary problems people have with mold or the like is when they only wash their equipment prior to use. That's the #1 cause of mold or other bad spoilage critters. Also, If you use fruit make sure it is not moldy or dirty. Just a simple rinsing off the dirt and gunk and using healthy looking fruit. Now some fruits, like bannanas you do use when blackened. But over all you should be good. If you see mold in your batch then you might save it by racking under the mold and racking into a freshly sanitized carboy/brew bucket. I haven't had a batch go bad yet due to spoilage or mold.
Matrix
Long answer: I always put my fruit in the secondary. At the point of the secondary your mead will be about 10% alcohol. That's enough to kill the little beasties normally. Putting the fruit in the primary is basically the same as not where spoilage besties are conserned. The yeast usually out competes them and by the time you drink it you will be fine. If you do put the fruit in the primary then just simply wash it and maybe put in some pectin enzyme in to break down cell walls and render the juice out better.
I normally don't worry too much about this. Mostly, sanitation of your gear is what you want. ALLWAYS sanitize your equipment prior to use. Follow this simple rule without fail and you shouldn't really have many problems. The primary problems people have with mold or the like is when they only wash their equipment prior to use. That's the #1 cause of mold or other bad spoilage critters. Also, If you use fruit make sure it is not moldy or dirty. Just a simple rinsing off the dirt and gunk and using healthy looking fruit. Now some fruits, like bannanas you do use when blackened. But over all you should be good. If you see mold in your batch then you might save it by racking under the mold and racking into a freshly sanitized carboy/brew bucket. I haven't had a batch go bad yet due to spoilage or mold.
Matrix
MarshmallowBlue
Well-Known Member
I don't think honey is "antibiotic" in nature, its just that the gravity is so high that any nasties die from osmotic stress from the sugar. No further treatment of the honey should be needed. Just sanitize all your equipment.
huesmann
Well-Known Member
Unless you're making a bochet!
fatbloke
Well-Known Member
No, honey does indeed, have anti-fungal and anti-bacterial/biotic properties. Its been found particularly efficacious where skin and underlying flesh are in a particularly delicate condition i.e. burns etc....
MarshmallowBlue
Well-Known Member
Oh the things I learn. 
fatbloke
Well-Known Member
It's not unsimilar to that other old "cure". The medical world have also found that using maggots (not ones scrapped off a manky dog turd, but bred in sterile environments) when placed on a wound, they'll eat the dirty and/or damaged tissue with no ill effect to the sufferer and leave the clean undamaged flesh alone.......Oh the things I learn.
Sounds rather barbaric if you ask me but apparently tests have shown that to be correct.......
Unless you're making a bochet!
No, that's not boiling, that's carmelizing honey. Boiling honey would be putting it in with the water, thining it out and bringing that to a boil.
Carmelizing is heating the honey itself to the point that it boils and stiring it so that it doesn't burn unevenly and turning the sugars into carmelized sugars and then when it is at the level of carmelization you wish (or the level of burnt) then mixing it with water (preferably boiling so as not to steam it all off) and then making a mead with it.
The general rule still applies: Never Boil Honey. It is ok to carmelize it for a Bochett though.
Matrix
MarshmallowBlue
Well-Known Member
I'm off to swim in leeches and maggots, bye guys.
