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shmafl73

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So here it is. my first mead or anything home brewed. recipe is as follows (so far) 15lbs wildflower honey, 4 gallons purified water, 1 tsp yeast energizer, 1 vial mead yeast for 5 gallons.
Notice i forgot to add the nutrient. It has been in primary for 2 days now, saw very little bubbling this morning. Can I add the nutrient now? do I wait for secondary?
I saw a recipe for a nutrient that can be mixed by pharmacy
Ammonium sulphate - 325grains
magnesium sulphate - 50grains
potassium phosphate - 175grains
citric acid - 650grains
should be enough for a 5 gallon batch, i am not a chemist so i dont know what all that would do.
If adding that nutrient now would i need to dilute it before introducing it to the primary or just throw the powder in?

Thank you for any help here.
p.s initial gravity 1.20 whatever that means from hydrometer.
 
You should google Fermaidk, niacin, thiamin, panetonic (probably spelled wrong) acid ? Di-ammonium phosphate etc etc.....

So such a basic recipe as you quote might just be best bought pre-mixed.

The terms nutrient and energiser are seemingly, inter-changable but one is tan/beige powder and the other white crystals like tablet sugar. I'm guessing that what you've used is the tan/beige powder type ? Which if you only use one, is the one to use as it generally already contains some DAP. Whereas we often use extra DAP to boosr the nitrogen source in the early stages.

Of course if you have some chemistry then maybe the pharmacy mixed one is worth a punt but I wouldn't add stuff I'm unfamiliar with. Its a bit like sulphites, you can use either potassium metabisulphite or sodium metabisulphite but the Kmeta is more forgiving. If you use too much Na-meta you can get a slight salty/metallic off flavour so Kmeta is better (except here its 4 times the price of Na-meta here).

So I'd say its up to you......

Otherwise it looks fine......
 
Well if I omit the nutrient, should I add more energizer? Looking at the energizer I have it is the tan/beige but it has white crystals as well. I am thinking of adding 1 1/2 more tsps. Would that do anything bad?
 
1.5 tsp. Would be ok. When I make my mead I add 1tsp every 24hrs for three days. Make sure to gently stir your must before adding as it will foam. This is called degassing. After the three days I let it sit undisturbed for about two weeks then start checking hydrometer readings. Once it has finished fermenting I then transfer to a glass carboy to clear.
 
When stirring gently, do I want to avoid disturbing the sediment at the bottom? Or is that a sign of a stalled ferment?
 
I try to stir from top to bottom. Im not sure if you have a stalled ferment without looking at it or listening. You can hear the co2 at the surface sometimes. If you stir and see a little foam then it is fermenting. Honey alone does not have enough nutrients to keep a healthy fermentation so hence the nutrients and energizer. I would suggest buying a book named "the complete mead maker" it will tell you everything you need to know. I bought this book after my first batch, explains a lot.
 
Fermenting seems to be going good now. 4 days later the airlock is squeaking every second or so. Sounds AWESOME!!!
 
Ok day 11. I think I now have a stalled ferment. No bubbles no airlock action and nothing floating. OG 1.110 now 1.048. Do I try more yeast or go ahead and transfer to secondary and hope for the best?
 
First wait and make sure it's actually stuck, so take a reading in a couple days. If it is, I'd rack, add nutrient and energizer (they are different things), aerate a little bit with a wire whip, and repitch with something like lavlin ec-1118, preferably already started by mixing with some of your must in a small jar about 12 hours before.
 
Thank you so much everyone. It is now in the clearing stage @ 14%. Just one more thing. I need to back sweeten because it is a bit dry. Mead was made with wildflower honey. Would it hurt to back sweeten with clover or should I stick with wildflower? And 5 gallon batch, would 1lb work or should I use more? The process I believe from what I read is to dissolve honey in water at 160 for 15 mins, let cool and then rack into final carboy until clear
 

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