Won't stop bubbling

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Devo9

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I am making my first mead and it is turning out great! I split the batch into two 1/2 gallon glass cider jugs. One Cranberry, one Blueberry, and both taste delicious! However, I have gotten it where I want it and I added a crushed Campden Tablet to each bottle and replaced the airlocks. This morning the airlocks were still bubbling... should I be worried?
 
Oh and I may have done something foolish.... I panicked this morning and added another campden tablet to each. Will my mead be ok?
 
Have you added any sulphite?

Campden = sulfite

Well, the first thing to do is to do nothing! Stop adding stuff and mucking around with it. Campden (sulfites) don't stop fermentation so they will probably keep going until they are finished. You may stress/stun the yeast a bit, though, so you don't want to add any more.
 
Campden = sulfite

Well, the first thing to do is to do nothing! Stop adding stuff and mucking around with it. Campden (sulfites) don't stop fermentation so they will probably keep going until they are finished. You may stress/stun the yeast a bit, though, so you don't want to add any more.

So I have to let the yeast continue? I cannot stop the fermentation?
 
Not easily, but its not impossible.

The first thing you probably want to do is put it in the fridge if you can. That will put most yeasts to sleep and make them sink to the bottom. Then you can rack off the top of the yeast, being very careful not to suck any of them up. If you get some, dont panic just put the new fermentor in the fridge and repeat once the yeast settles again. Once you are sure the yeast has been left behind add some sorbate as per the instructions, and if you had to do a number of rackings maybe another camden, but you may already have enough of that. Once it has been sorbated you can take it out the fridge, hopefully fermentation won't start up again.

The other option would be to pasturise, but I've never tried it.

As an alternative, what many people here do is to let it complete, then follow the cold-crash->rack->stabalise as above and then back-sweeten.
 
If I backsweeten, how do I make sure that the yeast doesn't just reactivate and start fermenting all over again?

I do not want to use any unnatural sweeteners and I think I have added enough chemical to this batch. So I would prefer to not add any more chemicals (but I guess I will add more if need be).
 
If I backsweeten, how do I make sure that the yeast doesn't just reactivate and start fermenting all over again?

I do not want to use any unnatural sweeteners and I think I have added enough chemical to this batch. So I would prefer to not add any more chemicals (but I guess I will add more if need be).

To stabilize, you add some campden (not now- later!) and sorbate together. That doesn't kill yeast, either, but it stops yeast from reproducing so fermentation won't restart. This only works once the mead is done, though, and clear, and with most of the yeast gone as the yeast don't have to reproduce now since there are so many of them.

If it's still fermenting, it's a long way from being ready to stabilize and sweeten.
 
Oh and what about pasteurizing? Can I stop fermentation that way? What are the side effects?
 
If I backsweeten, how do I make sure that the yeast doesn't just reactivate and start fermenting all over again?

I do not want to use any unnatural sweeteners and I think I have added enough chemical to this batch. So I would prefer to not add any more chemicals (but I guess I will add more if need be).

I recomend the same cold crashing technique above. Also, using Potasium Sorbate on it will stop the yeast from reproducing but not being active. Good thing that Yeast have a lifespan measured in days.

So Coldcrashing will settle it to the bottom and get it to flock together a bit, also put in dormancy or mostly and then rack onto the potassium sorbate to take care of the very little but still present yeast left.

A combanation of those two techniques should do the trick. What I do at the same time as the Potasium Sorbate is to hit it up with some Sparkloid, a clarifying agent, to clear it quicker. Then in about a week you should be able to rack it off again, then bulk aging or bottle and bottle aging for 6 months to a year is best for aging.

The only other option is wait till it's done on it's own then backsweeten putting some Potassium Sorbait in the back sweetening solution so that fermentation doesn't start up again.

Hope this helps.

Matrix
 
Thank you everyone, I really appreciate the help! Looks like I will be back sweetening after all.

But I have a feeling this guy is going to be close to 18% ABV (I used Red Star champagne yeast)... Is it a bad idea to dilute if I want it about 13%? Or should I just enjoy the stronger drink?
 
Thank you everyone, I really appreciate the help! Looks like I will be back sweetening after all.

But I have a feeling this guy is going to be close to 18% ABV (I used Red Star champagne yeast)... Is it a bad idea to dilute if I want it about 13%? Or should I just enjoy the stronger drink?

Champagne yeast doesn't do well with crash cooling and trying to stop- it's pretty active even at fridge temps and is a bugger to stop. I'd just wait it out.

Yeah, you'll probably have an 18% ABV mead if your OG was above 1.120 or so. It depends on where you started, and how much honey you used at the beginning.
 
Oh yeah, I had over a 1.120. I Had a little mishap with my conversion... Lol but I decided to roll with it anyways!

But what about diluting? Good idea? Bad idea?
 
I used the same yeast recently. I fermented a little high, like 80 degrees. Took about 2 weeks to stop. It was "hot" but good enough for my friends and I to drink almost the whole gallon while camping. I had it in secondary for about a month and added some bentonite(sp?) and re-racked a couple times.

Two Beer or not Two Beer
 
Hmmmm, I wish I had kept better track of the OG and SG... (I broke my Hydrometer) Would have been fun to carbonate some of this (even if it is a bit dry).

Meh, there is always next batch!!
 
Devo9 said:
Hmmmm, I wish I had kept better track of the OG and SG... (I broke my Hydrometer) Would have been fun to carbonate some of this (even if it is a bit dry).

Meh, there is always next batch!!

If you can spare a bottle just try it. The yeast isn't dead, so make sure some of it makes it in the bottle and add sugar, worst case is that you have a flat mead...

Two Beer or not Two Beer
 
If you can spare a bottle just try it. The yeast isn't dead, so make sure some of it makes it in the bottle and add sugar, worst case is that you have a flat mead...

Two Beer or not Two Beer

I was more worried about bottle bombs... I do have some Champaigne bottles... do you think it is safe to try? If I do try, is there any safe way to keep it incase is does blow?
 
Devo9 said:
I was more worried about bottle bombs... I do have some Champaigne bottles... do you think it is safe to try? If I do try, is there any safe way to keep it incase is does blow?

I cant help you on that, I'm too new myself to talk about what's safe or not. I would say put a towel over the bottle and in a room where it won't break anything. Other than that I would say go for it.

Two Beer or not Two Beer
 
Wait until your mead finishes fermenting and measure your gravity. If it is stable over several readings it is complete. If the fg <1 you will be able to carbonate it with a measured amount of sugar that won't cause a bottle bomb. If the number is stable > 1 then you have likely exceeded the alcohol tolerance of the yeast and you should stabilize and backsweeten to taste.
 
WIMARIPA said:
Wait until your mead finishes fermenting and measure your gravity. If it is stable over several readings it is complete. If the fg <1 you will be able to carbonate it with a measured amount of sugar that won't cause a bottle bomb. If the number is stable > 1 then you have likely exceeded the alcohol tolerance of the yeast and you should stabilize and backsweeten to taste.

That's great advice, never thought of that, but you are totally right.

Two Beer or not Two Beer
 
Campden = sulfite

Well, the first thing to do is to do nothing! Stop adding stuff and mucking around with it. Campden (sulfites) don't stop fermentation so they will probably keep going until they are finished. You may stress/stun the yeast a bit, though, so you don't want to add any more.
Sorry, guess I meant sorbate. I always confuse the two.
 
Sorry, guess I meant sorbate. I always confuse the two.

Nope, I never added any sorbate. I am thinking I am going to give the cold crash, rack, then add campden and sorbate, method a try with 1/2 my batch (I've grown braver since my last post). But I'll try give the cold crashing a bit of time before adding any more chemicals.

I'll keep it chilled even after the sorbate is added, just in case. (good thing I live in Winnipeg, a.k.a. Winterpeg)

In the future I'll be using a less alcohol resiliant yeast so nature can take it's course without any worries.
 
So I put both batches in the fridge (the night of the first post on this thread Nov. 1), and kept them there until last night (2 days). I racked both batches off of the lees, topped them off with a bit of water (boiled then cooled) and left them out on the counter over night.

There isn't any action... none at all. It is possible that my campden tablet overdose has killed off the yeast? I will leave it out for a couple more days just in case, but what do you think happened? They were still active when I tossed them in the fridge... shouldn't a night out be enough to reactivate the yeast?

I broke my hydrometer (washing accident) so I am not sure what the SG is, but it tastes about as sweet as it was when I added the campden.
 
That was the point of putting them in the fridge and then racking off the lees, you have left most of the yeast behind, so there's nothing left to do any fermenting. That said you should now add some sorbate if you haven't already to make sure what yeast is left can't multiply enough to start up again. In the meantime, get a new hydrometer so you can make sure its safe to bottle.
 
Without stabilizing(sorbate), diluting to 13% could reactivate any remaining yeast, especially when using a less ethanol tolerant yeast than champagne.
 
Well putting your batch in an extremely cold deep freezer, (Or walk in freezer if you have the access) will kill all the yeast though I can't really say I recommend it, due to that it could destroy some flavours.
 
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