JohnWilliamson062
Member
My brother-in-law and I just tried our first batch with a 13 gallon carboy and it is stuck, probably.
18 pounds of honey, 2 gallons of cider, some Irish moss and three tablespoons of yeast nutrient started out.
It took us almost 24 hours from when we filled the carboy to when the temp dropped to where we could pitch the yeast(champagne). Not as we planned, but we used our experience from 5 gallon carboys to gauge the rate. This one has thicker glass and lower proportion of surface:volume. Over this period aeration may have been reduced. We were not able to mix the full carboy very well.
A day and a half to get going good then took off. Ran hard for four days at over 60 bubbles per minute and crashed overnight. Watched it for several times around 2-3 minutes with no bubbles. It is in our "brew closet" which is somewhat sealed and it did continue to smell as though some fermentation was taking place, but nothing visible. We agreed it wasn't possible for fermentation to have concluded in 4 days.
We read up in our new mead book and decided for that large of a batch we need more nitrogen/nutrient. Popped the cap and put in 8 tablespoons, bringing it close to 1/gallon as indicated in the book and the nutrient directions. Also poured in some well aerated water. The water was probably a mistake as the yeast took off at first. We were concerned it was not aerated properly to begin with and were intending to increase volume. Waited.... Waited... Nothing. That was 4 days ago.
Probably have bacteria and distressed yeast are wreaking havic on our first big brew. We are considering transfering it to reduce sediment and re-pitch yeast after transfer.
Any thoughts?
18 pounds of honey, 2 gallons of cider, some Irish moss and three tablespoons of yeast nutrient started out.
It took us almost 24 hours from when we filled the carboy to when the temp dropped to where we could pitch the yeast(champagne). Not as we planned, but we used our experience from 5 gallon carboys to gauge the rate. This one has thicker glass and lower proportion of surface:volume. Over this period aeration may have been reduced. We were not able to mix the full carboy very well.
A day and a half to get going good then took off. Ran hard for four days at over 60 bubbles per minute and crashed overnight. Watched it for several times around 2-3 minutes with no bubbles. It is in our "brew closet" which is somewhat sealed and it did continue to smell as though some fermentation was taking place, but nothing visible. We agreed it wasn't possible for fermentation to have concluded in 4 days.
We read up in our new mead book and decided for that large of a batch we need more nitrogen/nutrient. Popped the cap and put in 8 tablespoons, bringing it close to 1/gallon as indicated in the book and the nutrient directions. Also poured in some well aerated water. The water was probably a mistake as the yeast took off at first. We were concerned it was not aerated properly to begin with and were intending to increase volume. Waited.... Waited... Nothing. That was 4 days ago.
Probably have bacteria and distressed yeast are wreaking havic on our first big brew. We are considering transfering it to reduce sediment and re-pitch yeast after transfer.
Any thoughts?