D47 No Krausen, No Bubbles but 1.099 to 1.8 in 48 Hours

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so I've never made mead before but I've had a few beers ferment so quickly that literally over night fermented out and Krausen fell back into the beer before morning and it was pretty much totally fermented out. just a thought. also I thing you might have meant a different gravity number or I'm dumb (very possible) but it looks like you went up by a whole lot in your gravity not down????
 
Most (all?) meads have very little if any krausen, and depending on head space it could take awhile to generate enough CO2 to make the airlock move. Or there could be a small leak somewhere and the airlock may never bubble.

But, because your gravity is dropping, you have fermentation (assuming the title is typo and you went from 1.099 to 1.080).
 
Yeah, there is a typo in the title, 1.080. I just went and stirred to degas (something new Im trying this batch). Quite a lot bubbles came out of solution and the airlock went like crazy. I am using a 6 gallon carboy on a 3 gallon batch... so that is probably a good point I hadn't thought about on head space. Ive only done 5 mead/cider/cysers and this is the first with zero krausen and needed a reality check. This is also my first cyser with added grape juice. Maybe its not technically a cyser anymore? Based on the hydrometer sample taste test the GJ added a nice extra layer of flavor which I hope carries through to the final product.

Recipe is:
2 gallons AJ
1 gallon grape juice
5lbs honey
2 packets of D47

1.5 tsp fermax with yeast and I added 1 more tsp today thinking it may need the kick and because it is 1/3rd fermented.
 
Eh, I usually see a small krausen, mostly a light foam, on my cysers with ale yeast. In any event this one ended up finishing at 0.992, which is a lot lower than I was expecting. That meansI ended up drier and higher abv than I meant to... 14%. Taste good on its way into the secondary, liked what the D47 did even if it went too dry. A little hot but not an over whelming alcohol flavor even at this young age (4 weeks) and some nice fruit flavors. I expect with a good 8-12 months to age this will be good.
 
I had krausen in all my batches so far, moved to a bucket instead of fermenting in a carboy, with D47 as well and no krausen either, no airlock activity, so came as a shocker to me as well. Took a gravity reading yesterday and sure enough went from 1.110 to 1.070 so it's definitely fermenting. Seeing a thread like this really helps put my mind at ease, I was starting to panic.
 
I had krausen in all my batches so far, moved to a bucket instead of fermenting in a carboy, with D47 as well and no krausen either, no airlock activity, so came as a shocker to me as well. Took a gravity reading yesterday and sure enough went from 1.110 to 1.070 so it's definitely fermenting. Seeing a thread like this really helps put my mind at ease, I was starting to panic.

I've gotten lazy with gravity readings but a moving gravity is always the best indicator of fermination. Risk of infection while taking a gravity reading scares me more than a stuck fermentation these days. I think I take gravity samles mostly for the taste test. Love seeing how a beer/mead/cider changes over time.

Anyway, with a moving gravity and no air lock activity you might have a leak elsewhere. Make sure you don't have a loose stopper/cap/hose somewhere in your setup.
 
I have done 3 meads so far and never have I ever seen any krausen. I also used EC1118 in all 3 batches. Airlock was usuall bubbling within an hour though.
 

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