Stuck fermentation and when to secondary

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BlackDogBrewing

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On 8/1 I made a 5-gallong batch of sweet mead with 12 gallons of wildflower honey, approx 3.5 gallons of water, 5tsp. of LD Carlson yeast nutrient and 2 Wyeast sweet mead 4184 smack packs. The OG was 1.086.
Two days later I stupidly decided to try to airate again using my degasser attachment on the drill. I made a giant geyser and lost about a gallon or so. Lesson learned.
I just checked the gravity, it is 1.043. I know mead takes a long time to ferment and even more time to age. The mead is now clear, with a large amount of sediment in the bottom. I see very little airlock activity.
I'm guessing the ferment is stuck? Should I re-pitch liquid yeast or do the dry yeast route as suggesed in FAQ? Am I just being impatient? Also, when should I transfer to secondary? Thanks.
 
Yep, it sounds stuck. You can try a few things to get it restarted.

1. Check the pH. This strain can be finicky and is very sensitive to pH. If the pH is below about 3.2, it probably needs to be adjusted.

2. Aerate it well. This strain needs all the TLC you can give it, and this will help the yeast to divide.

3. Add some yeast energizer like Fermaid K that is heavy on the autolyzed yeast. At least 2 grams per gallon.

4. Yeast Hulls - provide useful sterols and other survival factors while binding short chain fatty acids and other yeast toxins. 1 gram per gallon is good.

5. I'm not sure what temperature you've been maintaining, but if it is less than 70 F, you may want to bring it up to about 74 F to see if that helps.

If that doesn't get your fermentation going, I would restart using something like Hightest's protocol using ADY.

If you rack it now, you will leave a lot of active yeast behind. I would wait to see if it restarts first. If it doesn't, and you need to repitch, I would rack it first.

I hope that helps.

Medsen
 
do a search for 'staggered nutrient additions'...this is a great way to get mead rolling through fermentation.
 
MedsenFey said:
Yep, it sounds stuck. You can try a few things to get it restarted.

1. Check the pH. This strain can be finicky and is very sensitive to pH. If the pH is below about 3.2, it probably needs to be adjusted.

2. Aerate it well. This strain needs all the TLC you can give it, and this will help the yeast to divide.

3. Add some yeast energizer like Fermaid K that is heavy on the autolyzed yeast. At least 2 grams per gallon.

4. Yeast Hulls - provide useful sterols and other survival factors while binding short chain fatty acids and other yeast toxins. 1 gram per gallon is good.

5. I'm not sure what temperature you've been maintaining, but if it is less than 70 F, you may want to bring it up to about 74 F to see if that helps.

If that doesn't get your fermentation going, I would restart using something like Hightest's protocol using ADY.

If you rack it now, you will leave a lot of active yeast behind. I would wait to see if it restarts first. If it doesn't, and you need to repitch, I would rack it first.

I hope that helps.

Medsen
Click to expand...

Thanks for your assistance, I'll be sure to do the above. The fermentation temp has been between 72 and 74 degrees.
 

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