First Mead - Am I screwed without nutrient?

Sooooooo I attempted to make my first batch of mead today using Malkore's Not So Ancient recipe. I used 12lb honey for a 5 gallon batch. Used about 4 oranges worth of juice added to the must, spices, zest etc....

I put this in my carboy and used a white labs sweet mead yeast. I smacked the pack, waited an hour or so, then pitched.


I didn't really do enough reading prior to this, just followed the recipe and did not take any nutrient into account. Should I run out to the homebrew shop tomorrow and get some? Will it be ok without any nutrient? Is there anything else I can improvise with?

I assume I should see it bubbling tomorrow morning - slow bubbles not like an active beer fermentation?

You'll be fine. You used the smack pack which should have a little bit of nutrient in it to help the smack get a good start. You also added some other fermentables (juice) which will have some nutrient in it.

Is it going to be as nutrient rich as others, probably not, but no need to worry about it.

You really need the nutrient but you can add it tomorrow with no problems. I don't know of any way to improvise.

edit: ok, Jezter6 and I just said completely different things. I had forgotten about the nutrient pack in the smack pack so he has a good point. Also, I almost wrote about adding some apple juice or something but didn't know if you were trying to follow the recipe exactly.

Disclaimer-I have never made a mead, but have only done a ton of reading.

From what I understand it is possible without the nutrient/energizer. The only thing is you will have a LOOONG fermentation. As the above poster said, go out and buy some. You could probably just toss some in according to the nutrient addition schedule, but the initial dose will just be a bit behind. I think you should go get some.

I'm not in any hurry, long fermentation is fine by me. I've already mentally prepared myself to know I'm not consuming this for 6-12 months.

That said, I will already be towards that side of town so I should probably pick some up.

I'm just getting started with meads myself, and have learned a few things. Most importantly, oxygen and nutrients are key in straight meads. My first mead started in November, and only had malt extract in a starter for nutrients, no additional aeration etc. For my fourth mead (loooots of reading and learning since the first one) I not only used staggered nutrients, but also aerated daily for the first 4 days. At the end of the 4th day, the 4th mead had dropped 0.056 from 1.103 to 1.047. The first one dropped 0.05 from 1.12 to 1.07 in 3 weeks and to 1.037 in 2.5 months!
Guess what I'm doing every time from here on out... I thought I'd be patient, but after seeing #3 and #4 go, I will definitely help the yeast out as much as possible.
Good luck!

well, it's two days later and it doesnt look good. Here is what i found when I opened my pantry this morning:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9137475@N07/4437589397
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9137475@N07/4438365422

No airlock activity or anything after staring at it for a minute. Am I screwed?

the pictures are a little grainy and taken from a distance, so I can't be sure, but it almost looks like a small krausen is forming on the top.

Can you see things bubbling up and down inside the mead? As yeast churn, little yeasties and other sediment can usually be seen going up and down inside the mead.

Airlock activity is surely not a sign of activity, as there could be a small air leak somewhere, the water might not be topped up enough in the lock, etc, etc.

Since it's only been 2-3 days, I'd wait and maybe check in on it in a week or so with a hydrometer reading to see if the gravity reading has changed.

For future reference, in a pinch, you can add boiled bread yeast as a nutrient if you don't have fancy stuff on hand.

Fletch78 said:

For future reference, in a pinch, you can add boiled bread yeast as a nutrient if you don't have fancy stuff on hand.

Click to expand...

boiled bread yeast........

or if you have any vitamin B1 tablets

or even a small quantity of yeast extract will often do the job.

Oh and isn't "epsom salts" sometimes used as a nutrient or is that something else I'm thinking of..........

A handful of chopped up raisins boiled and cooled can be used for nutrient as well.

For the boiled bread yeast, do you just toss the dry yeast into boiling water, or is is better to let it soak a bit first, maybe even do a mini culture to get it growing and then boil?