this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2025
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Mildly Interesting
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They don't mention it specifically, but I thought osmosis was the primary mechanism. Water flows towards dissolved solutes, and honey has tons of solute and little water, so water will flow out of bacteria into the honey until an equilibrium is reached. Bacteria can't survive that level of dessication.
Then if you want to make mead, the first thing you have to do is add a bunch of water so bacteria can grow.
Yes, that’s about all it is. “Low water activity” and a lower pH. Same reason jams and jellies don’t ferment. They can get moldy over time, but fungi have always been better at low water activity environments.
Yeasts are fungi, not bacteria.