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**Arneba28** · 02-21-2008, 07:01 PM

12 hours after pitching Wyeast 4184. I have no activity from my airlock...dont know why. OG is 1.0732..is it because it is so heavy..mead yeast naturally slow to start?

beala · 02-21-2008, 07:26 PM

Fermentation can take up to 36 hours to begin, especially if you used a liquid yeast without a starter.

flowerysong · 02-21-2008, 10:20 PM

Fermentation can take 24 to 72 hrs to start for *anything*, not just mead. 12 hours is way, way too early to begin panicking.

It's also worth noting that airlock activity is an extremely unreliable method of monitoring fermentation activity. If after three days you still haven't seen any activity, take a gravity reading--it's the only way to actually know if fermentation has taken place.

ilikebeer · 02-24-2008, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beala

Fermentation can take up to 36 hours to begin, especially if you used a liquid yeast without a starter.

did it ever start? how long did it take?? i just started a batch of cherry mead yesterday morning, and seems to be slow to start compared to the batches of wine i have done (First mead)...

**Arneba28** · 02-24-2008, 07:06 AM

started after 37hours almost on the dot. well airlock first bubbled after 37 so im sure it started a few hours before that. Was worried that it would be like pushing bubbles through syrup since OG was 1.073. its THICK! Cherry mead sounds great. formed a real nice foamy head on it. This will be split to (2) 5.5gal batches after primary, and pitch champagne yeast with another 2.5gal wort...

ilikebeer · 02-24-2008, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arneba28

started after 37hours almost on the dot. well airlock first bubbled after 37 so im sure it started a few hours before that. Was worried that it would be like pushing bubbles through syrup since OG was 1.073. its THICK! Cherry mead sounds great. formed a real nice foamy head on it. This will be split to (2) 5.5gal batches after primary, and pitch champagne yeast with another 2.5gal wort...

cool. it is hard to be patient in the beginning. splitting sounds like a great idea!

i had an OG of 1.090: 12 lbs of honey and 6 lbs of cherry puree (5 gallon). I want a sweet mead and heard after I bought the supplies that I may need more like 15 lbs of honey... what do you think? Can I just add honey to taste later? Thanks!

beala · 02-24-2008, 07:05 PM

Oh wow pay no attention to me. Flowerysong is right. It's 72 hours. For some reason I thought there were 12 hours in a day so 3 days = 36 hours

eschatz · 02-24-2008, 07:26 PM

i dont think i've ever had a beer start in 12, well, maybe. but that would be really pushing. wake up tomorrow and she'll be bubbling probably.