Honey in the bottom of carboy

[Pakawa]

Hello, I just started my first batch of mead a few days ago. It is bubbling but the honey and water are pretty separated so there is a thick layer of honey at the bottom of the carboy. On the top of the water there is a good layer of krausen and it looks like there is something similar down on the honey. Here are some pictures

What do you guys think? Is this normal or should I do something to try to fix it?

 

[Golddiggie]

When you aerate it (until the 1/3 break) you should get the rest of the honey into solution. If you're not planning to aerate it after the initial, then you'll just need to let it ride.

If you do aerate it, do it in the tub, since you have low enough head space there to cause a volcano effect. I've done that before when fermenting a 5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon carboy... You learn the value of blow-off tubes, and how to get them back in fast, really quickly that way.

In my first hard lemonade recipe, there was a good amount of honey at the bottom of the carboy. It was gone in maybe 10 days from when fermentation went active.

Remember: RDWHAHB

 

[Pakawa]

Alright, cool I was thinking I messed it up for a while there! Today I was looking at it and it has almost no more krausen floating on top, you can still see the little bubbles coming up from the bottom though. Does that mean there is a problem? Also, is it okay to stir it up even though the yeast cake is on top of the honey?

 

[Golddiggie]

If you follow the aeration method of mead making, until the 1/3 break, then that's all I would do. Some people just aerate once. Basically, you take the OG, your expected FG, figure the range then when the first 1/3 of that range has been hit (fermented to that SG) you stop aeration of the must.

The only time I've had honey NOT mix in before the yeast was pitched was for the hard lemonade batch. That was simply because I mixed everything cold, and put the honey in before the rest of the water. I wasn't able to mix it up fully. Still, the honey DID go into solution before too long without me doing all that much.

Check with the mazers on Got Mead? to see what they suggest... There are LOTS of very experienced mazers there.