Has anyone added honey instead of priming sugar to mead

[Jokester]

I am wondering if anyone added honey to the bottling step to carbonate it instead of priming sugar.
I am hoping to make a pure mead. So no sugar for me, but is that misguided, can we taste the difference between sugar and honey.

 

[videojunkie1208]

Works great in beer! use a calculator to figure out how much to add, and then mix well before bottling. (being careful to avoid oxidation.) I think I put my beer in a purged keg with the honey, and then shook the heck out of it to stir in the honey. The CO2 in the keg prevented oxidation.

 

[Jokester]

That brings up my 2nd point, the honey all sank to the bottom and ended up in the last bottle and in fact some of it ended up still stuck, and I put it in the next batch I was starting. Honey and mead are the same color, I cant see the difference, but of course they flow very differently.
My 2nd thought is, I have 14lb in the batch I am making now, I might bottle it when it hits 1.00 leaving maybe 1lb total to carbonate in the bottles, bypassing the secondary.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

That brings up my 2nd point, the honey all sank to the bottom and ended up in the last bottle and in fact some of it ended up still stuck, and I put it in the next batch I was starting. Honey and mead are the same color, I cant see the difference, but of course they flow very differently.
My 2nd thought is, I have 14lb in the batch I am making now, I might bottle it when it hits 1.00 leaving maybe 1lb total to carbonate in the bottles, bypassing the secondary.

Yes I would use honey… take some of the mead and without splashing stir warmed (not hot) honey into it. This will make it easier to disperse.

As far as the second part of your plan, no! As stated above, carbonation should be calculate. Additionally, you’ll need heavy glass, such as champagne bottles corks/plastic stoppers and cages to avoid breakage due to pressure if you want that much carbonation.

 

[videojunkie1208]

Carbonation without calculations is a recipe for bottle bombs.

 

[Jokester]

Well I calculated - that 1lb in 5 gal must wont be too bad.
Too bad it executed differently than I calculated because it settled, even though I stirred it.
If my bottom most bottle didn't bomb, none of the rest will. I suspect they wont carbonate though sadly.

 

[Jokester]

OMG, I am likely to get a well carbonated set of 42 bottles and 1 32 oz, while the other 32oz may turn out to be a bottle bomb. OK I'll put it in the fridge and open it in a day or 2.
I should have used 1/3-1/4th the honey - 4.4 oz, I used maybe 14-15oz. OK lesson learned, and 4oz honey would also have mixed well and not puddled at the bottom too. I would bet the 4.4oz has evenly distributed in the 12oz bottles and the 1 32 oz.

 

[Jokester]

Well something is off. The "bottle bomb" suspect bottle didn't even carbonate. I popped it, and the cap just stayed there. I had to lift to get it to open. Then I closed it back and shook it and turned upside down etc, seemed to release some sediment into the mead, and I have locked it back down.
I'll get 3 clear 12oz bottles ready and shake it up and put it in those and see what it does the next few days.

 

[bushpilot]

So, one day between priming and checking for carbonation, if I understand correctly? I think the expected time is normally measured in days or weeks.

I am new at bottle conditioning, but my current test took 10 days before I knew for sure it was really happening.

 

[Jokester]

Its more like 2+ days, but yea I get it, I'll wait a bit more before trying.
Or I'll put the bottle bomb candidate in the current secondary I have that has the space and use the next 32 oz which was the bottle filled before this 32 to use as my gauge.

 

[Jokester]

The 32oz bottom bottle has been added to this 5gal secondary.
And this has atleast 10lb honey, 150gm sugar and likely 1/4-1/2lb more honey - AKA under 11lb honey in 5 gal.
How is this not clearing even when its reading 1.000 FG ?
I tasted it, OMG is it exactly what I expected. Just a honey like aroma and taste with 90% of the sweetness gone, just delicious.
This was the mead I was hoping to make. Except, the previous batch cleared sharply in 1-2 days when it was done and after transfer to secondary it well cleared very very quickly too. I siphoned that batch clean and it turned out awesomely clear as I bottled it with the errors I made with honey sediment etc. Either way, I am going to have to wait out the previous batch getting bottle conditioned, and atleast drink 1/2 of it before getting this batch bottled, so going to be a while. But OMG is this awesome.

 

[Beermeister32]

The only bottle bombs I ever had were bottled with honey. I quit using it. I use corn sugar, back to basics.

 

[Jokester]

Yea its unpredictable even getting the right amount out of the jar. But the previous mead I made seems to be not even carbonating, but I will not know for sure for another week or 2.

 

[Jokester]

Sugar has the added advantage of being able to add in each bottle, you dont need to use a 3rd jar. Now I need a 3rd jar, what a PITA. Actually the previous secondary I used was one without a tap, and the siphon out with hose method worked so well leaving all the lees behind and getting nearly all the clear mead out, I have 1/2 a mind to go back to that. I think the tap is too high and its more of a hinderance at this point in primary or secondary. But the bottling jar, absolutely better if it has a tap. BTW If I just had the 4.4oz I should have put in at time of bottling, I'd not have anything on the bottom. I stirred it well enough to dissolve 4-5oz, just not the 14-15 I poured in.

 

[bwible]

I have 14lb in the batch I am making now, I might bottle it when it hits 1.00 leaving maybe 1lb total to carbonate in the bottles, bypassing the secondary.

14 lbs in 5 gallons should get you to about 1.096 and if that ferments all the way out to 1.000 that would give you about 12.6%. Depending on what yeast you are using, your yeast could have reached tolerance. Or may have run out of nutrients.

 

[Jokester]

That's the batch I just started. I am using Voss Kveik yeast and its over 2 weeks from even thinking about going in the secondary.
The first batch that fermented dry and settled clean and clear was 11lb in 5 gal with the same yeast but I screwed up with priming it. It also is tasting more dry than I'd like.
2nd batch is also near 11lb and got to 1.00 gravity but isn't clearing to my disappointment. I thought it was a stuck ferment but 1.00 seems to say otherwise.

 

[Jokester]

The stuck ferment batch seems to be ideal to freeze concentrate. Hopefully it clears when frozen.
Nothing too cray-cray. Its already 11% or so. I'll just double it. Shoot for a simple 20% and hope it clears when frozen. Anyway I have 2 weeks or more to decide which way to go on it in the meantime, I will collect up bottles to freeze and melt it to.