quick question

Hi all,

I just started my second mead this weekend.
My first is in carboy sitting, has been going for a bit over a month and is still showing airlock activity.
The recipe I used for it was
15 lbs Orange Blossom Honey,
4 Gal water
Lavlin lv118 yeast (I remember the 118 part, but don't have my recipe book in front of me, so I'm not positive on the lv.)
nutrient and energizer.

The second started on saturday and I used
16 pounds clover honey
White labs WLP 720
4 gal water
nutrient / energizer
1 vanilla bean chopped.

Now to the question. The new mead is fermenting much more violently than the first mead ever did. About 15 hours after I pitched the yeast, it actually looked like the surface was boiling it was offgassing so much. No off smells or anything, just lots of bubbling. And the airlock never rests. Is this normal? Is it due to the change of yeast?

J

I'd say the yeast and possibly temperature. Just as some yeasts can't handle high ABV, some yeasts just can't handle the osmotic pressures in meads. If you mixed the second batch less, the yeast would also have a better chance of getting started. The only professional mead maker I know says she'll put half of the honey in and let it ferment out, then add the rest. Makes for faster, more uniform ferments.

I've seen meads ferment for 14 months.

I agree with David's comments.

I wouldn't worry about it. It sounds like you have a nice strong ferment going. There are a few differences in your batches that could make all the difference. I noticed you used clover over OB. Clover is a darker honey and in my experience seems to ferment stronger than a lighter honey like OB. You also added nutrients/energizer. Depending on what is in them, it could help a lot. And, believe it or not, sometimes something as simply as a vanilla bean can cause that strong reaction. I made a cinnammon clove batch that seemed to make the water boil (no heat of course) . . . right next to it was the other half of my base mead, slowly chugging away. The only difference, the cinnamon and cloves. Hope this helps.

Missing

Actually, I just noticed that I didn't get the last line in on the second recipe. There is a cinnamon stick in there as well. I'm glad to hear noone thingks it's anything to worry about. The fermentation is still going just as strong, and the color of the entire batch is considerably lighter than when it started.

just for follow-up. I racked and pulled a SG reading this weekend. SG is down to 1.014. I've got the original gravity in a notebook at home, but don't have it off the top of my head. I remember doing the math on Saturday and comming up with about 9% ABV, but all of that was 4 days ago, so my memory is probably a bit fuzzy.

Anyone have any ideas at what SG the white labs sweet mead yeast will die out?

Also, the SG of the first mead I made, started about a month and a half before this one is at 1.052 right now, still working away, but much slower than this second one went.