takoch

Recipes 

Brewed a 2-gallon batch of mead three months ago. OG=1.080. Kept at 70* F. SG has been at 0.998 for the past several weeks, but I still see a fair amount of tiny bubbles rising to the surface. Surely the yeast is done working by now, as there is nothing left for it to ferment. Is it possible that there is some other bacteria working? Or am I, like every other first time mead brewer, being impatient? Oh, and when I last sampled it, it tasted a little like honey, but mostly overripe citrus (and banana?), and vodka. Nearly undrinkable.

Thanks for any feedback.

Attached Images

 

Bugeaud

Recipes 

It'll need at least 4 months aging if not more to be really drinkable, preferably a year. Then it'll be really tasty. What yeast did you use? Some yeasts have trouble totally drying out (0.995) and will still keep on kickin' a bit for a long while, unless you sorbate or cold crash.

Hazroth

Recipes 

As he said the yeast might still be kicking slightly or its possible you're seeing co2 exit the must if you haven't degassed

takoch

Recipes 

Thanks for the speedy replies! I used Wyeast 4632 dry mead yeast. I've read it can take a long time to finish out, so I plan to let it sit for another few months before I worry about how it tastes. I'm just curious if there are any signs that things are going horribly wrong.

Bugeaud

Recipes 

The clearest signs of things going horribly wrong is if it smells very vinegary or sulfery, or if there is signs of mold growth in your carboy. Contamination is a mead makers biggest enemy.

Bradinator

Recipes 

Did you use EC-1118? I thought I read somewhere because its a champagne yeast it can cause the must to retain its carbonation.

__________________
"There is only two ways do to something; The smart way or the hard way."

"Beer is pretty resilient stuff, its resistant to human stupidity"

biochemedic

Recipes 

I don't think there's anything magical about champagne yeast that causes retention of carbonation... Actually, the Wyeast Dry Mead strain that the OP mentioned (one of my favorites, btw) is a champangne yeast. What the OP is seeing is off-gassing of dissolved CO2.

__________________
Bottled: Basic Spiced Cider, W. Coast of Belgium IPA, NJFB Stout v1 & v2
Mead List: Southern Pyment, Simple Cyser '08, '09,'10 & '11, PomPom Melomel, English hop metheglin, American hop metheglin, Chocolate Mead, Cherry Melomel, Belgeglin, Bochet
Primary: Caramel Quad, Cocobochet
Secondary: Why do I keep this line here...?
Bulk Aging: Mead Day Ginger Metheglin
Planned: Traditional Gesho T'ej