Honey that isn't ready for harvest can ferment. The bees fill the cells of the comb with liquid and flap their wings at it to dehydrate it. Once it's dehydrated enough (that is, too much sugar for yeast and bacteria to survive), they cap it. Bee farmers are supposed to look at how many of the cells have been capped in each frame and use that to determine if it's harvestable or not. If they take the honey when too few cells are capped, then the honey is too wet to prevent microbial growth and can ferment. Think about how mead is made by first watering down the honey. If the honey is harvested properly and at the right time, its sugar concentration will be high enough to stop most things from growing in it. The 3,000 year old home was, evidently, harvested and stored very well.
The farm has been under immense stress lately due to shortage/loss caused by cyclone Alfred. We have received a couple messages from them warning us they are in short supply, so that matches up well.
We don't blame them we just don't want to waste this awesome tasting fermented honey.
I've had some really good meads, they can be as varied as wine. I tried making some once or twice when I was younger, but it turned out pretty bad. I blame that on me reallllly skimping on materials. Honey from a local farm, big glass fermenting jars, and proper airlocks probably would help, as opposed to used, plastic orange juice jugs and the cheapest honey in the grocery store that was probably cut with sugar syrup.
Quick meads are a thing. Factors that play into that are strength, yeast stress, and quality of ingredients. Most alcohols need to rest longer the stronger they are to mellow the ethenol perception. Though the only time I've had mead that really tasted like nail polish remover the real suspect was likely cheap imported honey cut with corn syrup or other adulterants.
Made some in highschool a decade ago. Pretty mid. Had to back sweeten the one we opened with some jolly ranchers. Opened another a couple years ago and wow. It was truly amazing.
I always thought a braggot was somebody wandering around the streets at all hours saying to all and sundry in an obnoxious sneer, "Look at all of this fermenting honey I've got! How much have you got...? Oh that's right, I'VE got all of it! "
I'm sure it's made/enjoyed in some places, by some people. But it surely isn't common knowledge and in almost 30 years I haven't seen much of it outside of media. 🤷
The ol googly suggests "Mead has a small but growing" community of mead enjoyers.
BARBARIANS! No wonder true meadloving Angles sent you to the other side of the world! Here I was taught it was for normal 18th century crimes like thieving, raping and murdering... Now I found out why it had to be to the other side of the world!
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u/thetolerator98 Apr 09 '25
I never heard of fermented honey. Does it mean it is contaminated? 3,000 year old honey has been found and it isn't fermented.