Its stuck

I have a JAO thats stuck.

I tried to keep it as close to the origanal reciepe as possible. In fact I have made 4 patches similtaniously, but my clover is stuck.

These are the steps that I have taken to unstick it.

first, I tried pitching, (nuked and fried) bread yeast, then adding nutrition, and energizer.

After that did not work I made a starter with K1V adding and increasing must additions at 20 minutes, 1 hour, and then overnight, all to no avial.

Now it has been recomended to use UVAferm and its really hardcore I guess, but I dont know what else to do.

I have also checked the ph. last month (the JAO is about 2 months old) it was a bit high at about 4.4 or 4.6. I have added some calcium carbonate and then it droped to about 3.2. Then having added a splash of lemon juice it brought it up to about 3.6. Last night it was back up to about 4.4. I dont understand why the PH has risen so much when nothing in particular has been done and I am sure that there must be bacteria or bad yeast culture in this batch.

The next step I will take is rack off the lees so as to seperate the must from the lees, repitch with the UVAferm using a starter with goferm, and hope for the best.

Now, I am thinking that the reason its stuck has to do with the one gallon plastic water jug, Maybe its not as sterile as I had thought.

My questions are these. Why would the PH go up? Could I have a poor quality jug that allows bacteria or air to get in? Most importantly is how do I get this patch unstuck??

most plastic water jugs are not PET so they are permeable to things passing back and forth through them, seems you have quite a "soup" of nutrients and chemicals and additives going on. did you take a hydrometer reading? is it possible that it was just one of those batches that finished out fast and was ready for the secondary?

No way it finished early. It started about 1.35 and is now at about 1.080 where it has been sitting for about a month. Just cant figure this one out

maybe the plastic absorbed something causing the pH instability? do you have something to rack into a glass carboy or some glass gallon jugs? Give it a fresh clean environment and pitch a fresh starter into it?

I have another #2 pet jug. Its a another one gallon water jug that will get used. I have glass carboys but they are the 5 gallon variety and they are all being used at the moment.

This one has really stumped me.

PH should be at least 7.0 for any mead, or else it will seldom go anywhere. It may be a strange anomoly, that your PH was so low, but it must be fixed. This is the most viable answer at this point...

when using Ken Schaumm's book "The Complete Mead Maker" as a guide, he recommends a PH level of higher then 3.0.

That maybe a bit too low. On another board I have seen 3.2 as the lowest limit as to the amount of acid most wine yeast are able to function at. I believe a higher (7.0 and above) PH would produce a chalk like taste and would not be very pleasant to drink. My other mels usually finish off, in the mid 3s in the PH scale.

I still have no idea what is wrong with this batch. When making a starter the it is clearly separating after several hours. Something is killing the yeast and I am not sure what it could be. 3.6 PH is not low enough to kill the yeast IMHO.

Considering a pH of 7 is neutral...