Ruined Mead?

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flack

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mead.jpg


Sorry it's hard to tell.. but I'm not quite sure if this mead is infected or not.. or if it's just sticky bubbles of goodness, since this is my first mead...

I'm currently a week in.. and at day 4 added in the yeast nutrient and energizer

10 lbs Millers clover honey
3 lbs 365 wildflower amber honey
48 oz Topanga Quality Honey (Orange)
Witelabs seet mead/wine yeast (WLP720)
1 tsp brewcraft yeast nutrient
1 tsp brewcraft yeast energizer

My hydrometer reading just before inoculation was 1.110 (not sure if this is a correct reading or not)

... ok.. so I have a few questions besides the obvious..
1) Does it appear to be infected? if so, can I remove it/clean it?

2) Is there a proper timetable for adding nutrient and energizer?

3) Is there a better method for adding nutrient and energizer without getting blow out? (I pulled must out with a thief into a sanitized cup, mixed in nutrient and energizer then poured slowly back into carboy)

4) Does my original reading of 1.110 appear to be correct, or is there some math I'm missing to account for honey density?
 
Its very hard to tell as you noted, but I would guess its nothing but normal. Every batch of krausen seems to be unique and I noted my last mead to have its own look anyhow.

Some guys dont add any energizer / nutrients to their meads, however I have also seen strict time tables. I am not really sure but the last one I read had me hit it at start, 24 and 48 hours. I am thinking its also rather unique according to the author of the recipe.

I did not remove anything from mine, I just dumped it in and with a sanatized spoon gave it a light stir.

And yes as long as you took in account of the sample temp, 1.110 is the correct reading, no special adjustment needs to be made when using honey. Gravity is gravity.

Good luck, I bet it turns out awesome!
 
Nope, those are perfectly normal bubbles for mead. All of mine have looked like that. It's going to look like that for the next few weeks (or months, sometimes) until it's done fermentnig. Hightest has a great FAQ put out in the mead forum (not sure why this was moved to the cider forum?) Anyways, the mead FAQ is here.
 
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