Stuck Bochet

Made 4 single gallon batches of various meads for my first go at homebrewing, and all but my Bochet managed to ferment out nicely. Unfortunately, I made these before I learned my lesson in regards to taking OG readings, but I just checked the gravity and it is a whopping 1.08 give or take.

My ingredients-

3.5 lbs clover honey
K1v-1116, rehydrated with goferm
Spring water to 1 gallon

1/5/12- Cooked honey for just over 2 hours until very dark red, nearly black. Slowly added water and siphoned to gallon jug. When temp hit 102, pitched rehydrated yeast.

1/15/12- Still haven't quite figured out SNA, vigorous ferment had tapered down, added 1/4 tsp Fermaid K. (yeah, this is likely my problem right here I expect)

2/2/12- Racked to secondary, forgot to take SG, again like a bad n00b.

2/8/12- Noticed this one not clearing like the others, and holy wah, 1.08 SG.

That'll teach me. Anyways, I imagine I will have to repitch some yeast. I have some pasteur champagne and montrachet in the fridge, but live almost within spitting distance of Austin Home Brew Supply and any excuse to go in there is a good one. Any thoughts on what yeast to try, and nutrient addition? I do have to stick to yeasts that can take higher temps, even in February I have to crank the AC to keep my apartment at 68, but gets up to 74 sometimes. I'd rather shoot for higher temp friendly yeasties than discover what fusels taste like. Thanks as always guys!

I would have waited until the temp was more around 70 before pitching and aerated the snot out of it before pitching as well. You could try aerating it a bit and repitching. Maybe even try some EC-1118 yeast. It will ferment dry, but you can always backsweeten later. I personally wouldn't though.

Good point with the temp. Then again, I'd of expected high temps to inhibit yeast, not stop them a couple weeks later. The yeast took off and where fermenting like crazy at first. Because of that, I am still leaning towards an issue with nutrient but then again I am very new at this and can only speculate. Was thinking about EC-1118 to get it going again, if only to try out the strain.\


Edit- I shook the jug and opened the stopper ever 45 seconds or so for 5 minutes before pitching the yeast, after I took the temp reading so it likely cooled a bit. Also, I aerated 2x a day for the first 4 days of the fermentation.

I pitched some EC-1118 three days ago, and still no signs of life. I added about 20 golden raisins to give it some extra nutrients and have it at about 68 F.

I just checked the pH and it is coming up about 4. Is this perhaps the problem? I took a gravity reading, and the hydrometer is still bobbing at 1.08 SG.

Thanks guys.

I just checked the pH and it is coming up about 4. Is this perhaps the problem? I took a gravity reading, and the hydrometer is still bobbing at 1.08 SG.

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PH should be at least 7.0 . Usually mead does not encounter PH problems, maybe something happens during the honey boiling stage? Maybe this is a call for a mead experiment! (excuses to make more mead are great )

From what I have been able to discern, the pH seems alright. I can't figure it out, I thought EC-1118 was supposed to be a really great yeast. It's been 3 days and no signs of life, any thoughts on what to do at this point?

Hopefully by morning, or when I get home from work it starts up again. If not, I am wondering if I should maybe try adding more nutrient, repitching the EC-1118 again, or try something perhaps a bit more intense like Uvaferm 43? Which brings another question, if I do repitch my yeast a week after a failed attempt, should I rack the liquid to try and leave some of that behind to avoid icky flavors?

From what I know "which is always subject to questioning", as long as the ph is not below 3.8 then it is fine. Honey is acidic by itself so 4.0 is low but manageable. I would imagine you may need to pitch a powdered nutrient like DAP and yeast energizer. If your 1118 is just dormant due to a lack of nutrients they may start back up or you may need to re-pitch if not. If you do re-pitch yeast. Make a starter but use partial must and partial water so there is less shock factor going into that 4.0ph. Also I don't think you really need to siphon off the previously pitched yeast, a lot of post recent within the last month suggest that you don't see problems with sitting on lees or dead yeast until after a few months..... As long as it is 1118. That's my 2 cents.

This thing still hasn't budged. I tried making a starter of EC 1118, I've added nutrient (fermaid K), raisins, aerated, even followed the LBHS guy's suggestion of tossing in a little priming sugar. (regret that one, but what's done is done)

Is there anything else I can try? It's been stuck at this gravity (1.08) for over 2 months now. I am moving next week, and would like to be able to bottle this for the trip but dislike the idea of having such a sweet end product. The stuff smells absolutely amazing though, like roasted marshmallows and caramel.

How did you make 1118 starter?

I would take a cup of your bochet must mixed with a cup of warm water and some nutrient and energiser, shake really well and add your 1118. Wait 12 hours and it should be very active. Add another cup of must, shake the snot out of it. Wait another 12 hours and pitch.

Whoops... not like that. I only let it go for a few hours. I will give this a go, just need to get some more EC- 1118. Think all I have is montrachet at home.

Bugeaud said:

PH should be at least 7.0 . Usually mead does not encounter PH problems, maybe something happens during the honey boiling stage? Maybe this is a call for a mead experiment! (excuses to make more mead are great )

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The pH level of the must can drop to low levels as honey itself is actually quite acidic. It is generally considered optimal for yeast production if the pH is between 3.7 and 4.6. When the pH level drops too low 2.5 or 3 it can cause a very sluggish ferment that can take extra months to mature. Or even cause a stuck fermentation.

turtlescales said:

Whoops... not like that. I only let it go for a few hours. I will give this a go, just need to get some more EC- 1118. Think all I have is montrachet at home.

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yea......when it's stuck you want to really get the yeast turbocharged before you throw it to the wolves.

My only question now, is should I try this before or after the move? Talking cross country here.

It's waited this long, I would probably seal it up good and pitch when you get there.

Might be a pain to haul a jug of actively fermenting liquid across country.

That works. Gives me another excuse to go hunt down the nearest LBHS in the area.


As for the jug.... seal it up? Don't just leave it with an airlock? This is just a gallon jug, so won't be too bad to move. This is going to be a long trip with a long detour. What are the odds that heat in the car, or jostling from the road kicks fermentation back up? And thanks for the input

Prolly won't kick ferm back up, but might cause degassing. You probably do want an airlock on it in that case.

Have you tried using GoFerm when you prep your yeast?

Yes, I used go ferm in the laste starter attempt. I'll travel as planned with the airlock. Thanks again for all the input everyone.

Please keep us updated on how it goes. I'm experiencing the same problem.

bk0 said:

Please keep us updated on how it goes. I'm experiencing the same problem.

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Absolutely. It's going to be a few weeks before I can attempt to restart this sucker though.