[orerockon]

Hello, I just started 20 gallons of mead, I've been making mead for 8 years or so and I haven't seen anything like this. I do it in 5 gallon batches, and did 4 last night. Today 3 are yucky looking, brown like tea and a gray/brown scum cap, something is going on but it isn't fizzy like I expected. 1 is exactly what I expected, yellow and fizzy. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, except I switch to EC-1111 because my Lavlin 71B batches have been very slow to get fermenting. So it's obvious from the photos what's going on, is the brown/gray one toast? I have 2 other buckets that look the same. It's about 20 hours since I added the yeast. I don't see a way to add photos.

[joe_meadmaker]

It is strange that all the batches don't look the same.  But I wouldn't consider the 3 that look off to be a lost cause yet though.

The ones that look bad, what do they smell like (coming out of the airlock)?  And how does that compare to the 1 batch that looks normal?


Photos need to be hosted somewhere and linked to your post using the Insert Image option.  Alternatively you you can upload your photos to a hosting site (I normally use Google Drive, but whatever you want), make sure to share them to the public, and share a link to them here.

[orerockon]

I think I figured it out, the first one was Coscto and Amazon brand wildflower. The other 3 were Walmart (yeah I know but I had one day to get them started and forgot to order honey). So I asked around and apparently Walmart honey just does that and should be avoided. They have cleared up but are still darker than the first one. People are saying that the flavor will be different but not unpleasant. We shall see...

[joe_meadmaker]

Ah!  I was going to ask about honey but figured you used the same thing in all the batches.

I hope they turn out good for you.  Cheers man!