Honey Help!

All, my wife bought me a mead kit that she really wants me to brew for her this weekend. I've had it for awhile and when I went to check on the honey it's formed some crystal like formations on the bottom. It looks different from normal stiffening of the honey, where hot water or heat will return it to it's clear state. I've attached a picture so you can see and hopefully help me save the honey.

Any advice/knowledge is appreciated!

Am guessing it's fine....the label saws "raw," so it's likely just the bits that don't get filtered out through filtering/processing of large scale processed honey. Go for it

I'd agree with Fuelish. It looks like wax, pollen, etc. Rinse the jar out with some warm water when making you mead and shake the crap outta the jar to dissolve as much of the honey as possible. This will also add some O2, which is needed at the start. Don't worry if the waxy stuff gets in, it'll probably settle out by your first racking. RDWHAHB!

That's perfectly normal. Honey will crystallize but if you set in the sun or in some warm water it will turn back to a liquid state. Honey is the only food that will never go bad if properly taken care of.

You might want to heat some water in a pan and place the honey jar - with the lid slightly opened in the pan so that the heat will make the honey more viscous and so easier to pour. The heat will also perhaps help break up those crystals. Totally agree with jjrivera, honey can last for decades without going bad (read recently of some archaeologists who tasted some honey (apparently in the interests of science , not "looting" their dig) found in Egypt that dated back to the time of the pharaohs almost 3000 years ago. I don't know their verdict on the honey... just reporting what I read.

Wax floats to the top. You just got regular old crystalized honey on the bottom, just warm it up a bit, dont boil it. Does they at least you what kind of honey it is? WVMJ

Ames Farm honey makes the most fragrant mead I've ever smelled. You have nothing to worry about except keeping the yeast happy.


Better brewing through science!

Sitting the jar in warm water sill soften it. If you heat it and hold it at 60˚C, it will will prevent it from doing that again. It will no longer be able to be called "raw".

I see that all the time, that is how I know I have the good honey not the processed stuff. I have had most of the bottle go that way not just a little on the bottom. You can also just set it in your car with the windows up depending on where you live. And yes use part of your water to shake up in the container to get the last of it out, you will want to do this more than once to get it all.