SC - Marigolds

[LrdRas]

> The yeast would not have had an easy time of it, since they could only
> have worked at the interface between the honey and the water, and high
> concentrations of sugar would have caused them to work real hard to
> maintain their internal chemistry. The result would have been a very
> bitter beer, it native wild yeasts in the honey (Yes they are there -
> more robust, and more fitted to surviving in it) did not take over the
> mead from your yeast, and destroy the character of the mead.
> You did the right thing stirring up the mixture.

I have friends who make mead with unpurified honey and without
stirring. So I don't think your speculation is correct. This friend's
theory is that by starting with honey in the bottom and a lot of
starter yeast, the wild yeast in the honey is always outnumbered and
loses out, while the honey itself slowly dissolves into the water due
to the action of the yeast.

He does take a year to make a batch, however. High alcohol content,
good stuff.

p.s. there's also a historical brewing mailing list; write majordomo at pbm.com
saying

subscribe hist-brewing

- -- gb

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