Honey costs

[WVMJ]

Maybe we need yet another category for meads made with sugar based ingredients like marmalaid, jelly and jam, pop icicles and lollypops, fire balls and cinnamon candy - Sucromels? Maizeomels? WVMJ

 

[podz]

I used to think honey was $$$ til I looked up maple syrup and saw that it was $$$$$, Mind you at one point I had the really good stuff from a year my father did maple syruping, but that has long since been eaten. Most syrup (like 75%+) is produced in Quebec btw.

Maple syrup didn't used to cost like that. As with many other food items (Tuna, Crab, etc), the Japanese can be blamed for driving the costs sky high. They are willing to pay crazy high prices for things they like, and as such a disproportionately large percentage of the world's best food gets diverted directly to Tokyo. I live relatively close to the largest king crab fishery on the planet. There is a far greater possibility of seeing a shooting star in the summer (where our sunlight lasts 23-24 hours) than seeing crab at my local supermarket or restaurant.

Not only that, but the Canadians deliberately control the maple syrup price by warehousing very large amounts of the stuff in order to create artificial global shortages.

I love globalisation. Not.

 

[gayleygoo]

gg, have you tried a Bochet yet? WVMJ

Is that burnt honey mead? I tried a burnt honey cyser a while back, it got drunk within a few months so none left to try some properly aged stuff, but I would like to try that again

I'll add them both to the to-do list!

Didn't Canada get a whole load of warehoused maple syrup stolen a few months ago...? That'll teach them for hoarding it

 

[ACbrewer]

Maple syrup didn't used to cost like that.

Not only that, but the Canadians deliberately control the maple syrup price by warehousing very large amounts of the stuff in order to create artificial global shortages.

The Maple syrup might also be facing suburbanization. Basically you have certian trees that grow in a certian climate that produce syrup. and you really can't do it in other areas. The sap runs best on frozen nights with thaw days (so like Feb and March).

Much like the alaskan crab, you can only get it from that area.

As for the warehousing, that was to help the farmers, which it does some, by keeping prices stable, the farmers can avoid price shock and not have to store it themselves. This does help keep them in business, a good thing if we want to enjoy sap/syrup.

 

[huesmann]

If you can, don't think of it in terms of 5-gallon batches. That's way too expensive a thought for me, unless someone hands me a huge bucket of honey! Single gallons are easier on the pocket, and less to worry about if the mead doesn't work out. You can also afford to experiment.

Actually, buying 5 gallons at a time is easier on the wallet in the long run than buying in smaller quantities...

I used to think honey was $$$ til I looked up maple syrup and saw that it was $$$$$, Mind you at one point I had the really good stuff from a year my father did maple syruping, but that has long since been eaten. Most syrup (like 75%+) is produced in Quebec btw.

You don't need (or even want) to use the really expensive Grade A maple syrup. Grade B actually has more "mapley" flavor, which is really what you're looking for when you want to make an acerglyn. Although Grade B is still considerably more expensive than honey, IIRC.

 

[ACbrewer]

You don't need (or even want) to use the really expensive Grade A maple syrup. Grade B actually has more "mapley" flavor, which is really what you're looking for when you want to make an acerglyn. Although Grade B is still considerably more expensive than honey, IIRC.

Yes, yes it is. I've looked. Half gallon - is $40 (amazon, grade b, I don't know anything more than that didn't bother with the reviews). 1/2 gallon of honey could go for as little as $25, although probably closer to $30, depending. Grade A maple I think I've seen at $55 for 1/2 gallon.

 

[svenalope]

Where are you at? A sink with hot water running in it wouldnt melt it overnight? If I have any cryastalization in a bottle of honey I dump out the liquid part and then dissolve the crystals in hot tap water and stir it up with a drill stirrer. After all the crystals are mostly sugar, that other good stuff has been squeezed out of the crystalized part when it went solid and is in the liquid part. We could come over to your place with axes and adzes and help out, have a mead party while chopping on honey, would be a great YouTube. WVMJ

That would be a blast. I'm in Wyoming. I had two five gallon buckets of it, which didn't heat up very fast. I gave them a couple hours in a bathtub of hot water before i decided to get elbow deep and start kneading it into the water. That is something everyone should experience.

 

[huesmann]

Yes, yes it is. I've looked. Half gallon - is $40 (amazon, grade b, I don't know anything more than that didn't bother with the reviews). 1/2 gallon of honey could go for as little as $25, although probably closer to $30, depending. Grade A maple I think I've seen at $55 for 1/2 gallon.

Yup. If memory serves, a gallon of Grade B cost me $75 when I made my acerglyn. I usually buy a 5 gallons at a time of Dutch Gold honey, for about $145 shipped, which is the best price I've found.