Honey came in at 19.2% — making mead instead of gambling on fermenting jars
Coastal humidity got me this year. Late harvest off two hives in Istria refractometered at 19.2% — right on the edge. My drier June harvest was fine at 17.5% and that's all jarred, but I'm not selling jars that might ferment on a customer's shelf, and I don't have a dehumidifier room to dry 30 kg of honey.
So: mead. It wants to ferment anyway, I'm going to let it.
I've done exactly one batch before (drinkable, barely). For those who actually know what they're doing: what ratio for a medium-sweet traditional mead, what yeast, and does the high water content of wet honey change the math? I have proper carboys, airlocks, and patience. Also curious whether anyone deliberately holds back wet honey for mead every year rather than treating it as a failure — starting to think I should.
#mead#moisture-content#fermentation#refractometer
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4 replies
PasiekaOlek · Aug 20, 2026
You've accidentally joined the oldest club in beekeeping — in Poland miód pitny is not what you do with failed honey, it's half the reason my grandfather kept bees. For medium-sweet, work to roughly 1 part honey to 2 parts water by volume (our trójniak) and yes, count your honey's own water in that: at 19% moisture your 30 kg brings about 5.7 kg of water with it, just subtract from what you add. Expect it to want a year in the carboy minimum. Trójniak traditionally ages three. It is worth it.
TexasBeeSam · Aug 20, 2026
The homebrew-forum version of the same advice: about 3 lbs honey per gallon of must gets you ~12% ABV finishing semi-sweet with the right yeast. Lalvin 71B is my go-to, it softens the acid and is forgiving. Two things that separate drinkable from good: staggered yeast nutrient additions in the first week, and temperature control — keep it 18-20C, a hot fast ferment makes rocket fuel. Wet honey genuinely is ideal for this, zero downside.
MieleMarco · Aug 21, 2026
And for the last kilos that don't fit the carboy: 19% honey keeps fine in the freezer, or in the fridge where it's too cold to ferment — perfectly good for your own kitchen. Just never blend it into the dry harvest to 'average it out', I have seen that ruin a whole batch of jars. PasiekaOlek is right about the year of patience. The mead you bottle at three months is the reason people think homemade mead is bad.
IstriaBee · Aug 21, 2026
Trójniak it is — the math works out to adding about 55 litres of water to my 30 kg, which conveniently fills my two carboys almost exactly. 71B ordered. And Marco don't worry, the wet and dry harvests have never been in the same room. See you all back here at bottling, sometime in 2027 apparently.