I made a batch of mead with some honey that I bought from this guy that makes honey on his property. It turned out pretty good. I was just wondering if you can use regular store bought honey for making mead. Is there preservatives or something that get in the way of fermetnation? I'm just thinking, because the store bought honey is much easier to come by and a little cheaper too.

I'm not a regular mead maker, but my first ever batch turned out rather unsavory and I used store-bought honey, but then I also waited way too long to try it. It's very possible that it became contaminated.

From what I've read most hobby mead brewers use honey either from a homebrew/winemaking supplier or fresh from a honey farm. The recipe I followed called for 3 lbs of store bought honey, as long as it said "Pure Honey." There shouldn't be any other ingredients/preservatives listed on the bottle but honey.

I know from personal experience, as well as recommendations by homebrew beer experts, that using store-bought fruit jams or jellies can cause off flavors in beer because of added ingredients or preservatives. It's always recommended to use the real stuff, or a suitable flavoring.

The next time I try mead I will not be using store bought honey.

jonnytremain,
to answer your question as i understand it, yes you can use store bought honey, however you need to look for preservatives, such as sulphites, and if you look at the labels, you will see that it is a "blended" honey.

an example, i have "house honey" Burleson's brand pure grade a clover, looking at the label it tates in fine print, "product of USA, argentina, canada, Uruguay, mexico, and india." This "blending" is to ensure that the bottling companies can produce the "quantity" of product purchased by stores and still make profit.

Also this "blended" honey is filtered and pasturied by heating to Approx 170 - 180 degrees f. which will darken the color of the honey, as well as "cook off" some of the honeys qualities. (IE: aroma, flavor, antioxidants etc.) kind of like boiling your veggies before eating, all the good stuff gets left behind.

you will find a wider variety of colors, aroma's (or scents) and tastes in non-treated or FRESH honey. there will also be "some" nutrients in the honey that the yeast will use during fermentation. all this is lost in store bought.

talk to the guy you got the honey from, see if you can work a deal with him, you get honey from him, he gets to sample your finished product. depending on how much honey he can produce, and where you all are located, you could work a referall deal. all his leftover honey sold in bulk to fellow board members. i know of several boards that i belong to that are always looking for a group purchase, or local supplier.

Brewologist,
in your opinion, what time frame is waiting way to long? most meads need to age for a minimum of 6 months after ferment has stopped before the flavors develope. (not all tho i have a recipe that turned out surprisingly well at only 2 months old) i have used store bought honey in the past, had no problems with it.

Do you remember what was "unsavory" about it? was it too dry, too sweet, feel like a mouth full of high octane jet fuel?

sorry so long winded folks,
nessa