Fermentation Going strong but slow

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Arneba28

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So my braggot has been in primary for 9 days now. still airlock activity every 10 seconds. the OG was 1.0732. took a reading today and its 1.0611 with temp correction...This seems very slow. I know that mead takes a while but damn, thats it after 9 days. I never added yeast nutrient. If I added it now, Is there a way to add it now, will it help get it going a bit
 
meads really need energizer (DAP). nutrient is good, but the energizer is the nitrogen source.

Hard to say if you needed a little boost or a lot without knowing your recipe. in beer, the malt provides plenty of nitrogen. in mead, you need to add some. with a braggot, you may need a little.

it could also be a bit cool, and slowing the fermentation, or you had several days of lag time...

If you decide to add anything, just pre-mix it in a little boiled/cooled water first and pour it in. fermentation will mix it.
 
thanks yeah I had wondered about adding nutrient but the guy at the LHBS said that because it was a braggot that I prob would not need any..doubting his knowledge at this point. airlock bubbles every 4 seconds still and its the now start of the 11th day...activity started after just less then 24 hours so the lag wasnt too bad

heres the recipe

10lbs Honey
3lbs Multons ExtraLight DME
I mixed the brought it to a boil and mixed in the DME..let it cool to I60 and mixed in the honey...pitched yeast at 75deg F..This is a 5.5 gal batch, actually just over 5.5..planning on splitting it in half. adding in another 2.5 gallons wort into both and pitching champagne yeast to finish it out
 
Since the honey to malt ratio is so high, I'm guessing you're going to need DAP. I think most braggots are closer to a 50:50 ratio, in which case DAP wouldn't be needed. So, 1+ on malkore's suggestion of mixing DAP and water and adding to primary.
 
have you ever had this with your braggot that you have going. it kind of smells like cheap whiskey. a very sweet but alcoholy smell, def unlike beer more like whiskey..and I know the abv is only around 3% even after 11days
 
I've had a lot of strange smells come out of my airlocks for a lot of things, and one of them is a harsh phenolic liquor smell; I've yet to see a correlation between that and harsh results, so I wouldn't worry.

Just to be sure, what temperature are you fermenting at?

(sometimes I get a strong cheap whiskey smell out of my airlock, but that's usually when I fill my airlock with cheap whiskey.)
 
fermentation has been at a steady 67-70, except for the 3 hours that my roommate thought it would be a good idea to put my active carboys in the 55deg F basement:mad:
 
3 hours wouldn't cool 5 gallons down that much. i was using my 42 degree basement in 8 hour rotations to keep my first lager between 48 and 54 degrees.

I've never done a braggot myself, though I think I should. I don't feel there's anything wrong with your recipe, but shot of energizer will probably help.

Its also worth double checking your hydrometer with 60F tap water, which should be damn close to 1.000.

What kind of yeast, and how much did you pitch? It may be under pitched, or there wasn't enough oxygen present at pitching so you have a small colony (too late to aerate now). If that's a possibility you could hydrate another 5-6g of yeast and pitch again to up the colony size. If so, do this when you add the energizer so they can consume it.
 
I pitched wyeat 4184 sweet mead yeast. tolerance is 10%. My hrdrometer is dead on. I pitched a starter just under half gallon. I used mr. malty pitching calc and my pitch was a little low. going to get energizer tomorrow. so it the batch will be split. more wort added and champage yeast added to both to finish it off...IF IT EVER GETS THERE
 
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