4 batches of mead, only two bubbling

Hello all,

For my first time making mead, I made 4 1-gallon batches.

1) 4 pounds of honey, water
2) 3.2 pounds of honey
3) 2.4 pounds of honey, water
4) 3.6 pounds of honey, pasteurized but not preserved apple cider straight from source, 1.8 lbs cranberries in sanitized Muslin bags

I rehydrated the yeast in 104 degree water with GoFerm previously diluted in. So far, I have given the batches .15 teaspoons (scale to .75 teaspoons for a 5 gallon batch) of a Fermaid K/GoFerm mix.

It has been about 40 hours and only batches 2 and 3 are bubbling. Batch 1 is a bit concerning but is probably alright because when I've degassed it, there has at least been some CO2 foaming happening.

Batch 4 shows zero signs of fermentation. No bubbling airlock, no foam upon agitating. I cannot check pH right now, as I am at work, but this is what I suspect. Potentially from the cranberries.

Is this too early to be worrying at all? Am I right to suspect pH? How might I get the pH up and start from scratch?

Thank you! Let me know if you need any more info!

that 2nd batch had water in it too, my bad

Airlock activity is not a teller of if a batch is fermenting or not. Take hydrometer readings. BUT;

Batch 4 has a few issues from looking at it. The gravity on that is likely through the roof and is really inhibiting the yeast, as well as the PH possible being out of balance form the cranberries (which also contain things that yeast dont like if I remember). You'll want to maybe dilute it down some. There are ways to adjust PH but I dont remember what they are specifically.

MarshmallowBlue said:

Airlock activity is not a teller of if a batch is fermenting or not. Take hydrometer readings. BUT;

Batch 4 has a few issues from looking at it. The gravity on that is likely through the roof and is really inhibiting the yeast, as well as the PH possible being out of balance form the cranberries (which also contain things that yeast dont like if I remember). You'll want to maybe dilute it down some. There are ways to adjust PH but I dont remember what they are specifically.

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I called my LHBS and they said to use some Potassium Bicarbonate to up the pH....so I guess I'll try that and see if I can make the yeast happy again.

The starting gravity was actually fine at 1.160. That's about where it should be for a cyser.

Does anyone know if it's true that yeast contain something that the yeast aren't fond of? (Aside from particularly high acidity)

I know Lingonberries contain something, and they are in the same family as cranberries. Your probably fine. But 1.160 is Way to high, your stressing your yeast out. Dilute it down to below 1.140 to give them a chance. You can add more honey back in later for the abv boost. Google "step feeding mead"

Edit: Found a thread on some wine site about cranberries. Its the Naturally occuring Benzoate http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f45/trouble-fermenting-cranberry-must-5561/ The first few replies go into it.

MarshmallowBlue said:

I know Lingonberries contain something, and they are in the same family as cranberries. Your probably fine. But 1.160 is Way to high, your stressing your yeast out. Dilute it down to below 1.140 to give them a chance. You can add more honey back in later for the abv boost. Google "step feeding mead"

Edit: Found a thread on some wine site about cranberries. Its the Naturally occuring Benzoate http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f45/trouble-fermenting-cranberry-must-5561/ The first few replies go into it.

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Hmm...Perhaps you're right but I'll tell you why I thought 1.160 was fine......Michael Fairbrother of Moonligh Meadery gave a recipe in a podcast I listened to calling for 18 lbs of honey and 3.5 gallons of cider, which...calculate it out...should result in about 1.155 to 1.165 depending on honey moisture.


Also, I also referenced a Meadmaker of the Year NHC forum handout, and my SG is within the sack category:

Mead by the BJCP Numbers
Original gravity ranges

Hydromel 1.035 – 1.080

Standard 1.080 – 1.120

Sack 1.120 – 1.170

I'm not sure what to think now.

Regardless, I'll have to dilute this mead because of the pH. I'm calculating that my pH is down in the low 3s and I don't think I can get that up to 3.8-4.2 that I want with sodium bicarbonate. I think using that amount of sodium bicarbonate would have to contribute off flavors. So maybe diluting is the only way.

Two points I want to reinterate:

1. Use Potassium carbonate. NOT sodium bicarbonate (makes mead too salty) or calcium carbonate (makes mead chalky). Also, potassium is a limiting nutrient in honey so you get a 2 for 1 deal of adjusting ph and adding a limiting nutrient.

2. 1.16 SG is a beast of a starting gravity. It can be done, but you *must* have control of ph, nutrients, degassing daily, and temperature from the beginning. It must be dealt with and loved twice a day for the first several weeks. If anything goes wrong, it is generally beyond repair. Restart seldom works. Dilution has mixed results. I've been doing this a long time and I very seldom make a 1.16 SG sack unless I can stay on top of it from start to finish.

I absolutely am not trying to berate you. I just want to warn you what you are it for to make it successful. I screwed up a few batches in the beginning like this. I had one stick at 1.05. To "fix" it, I just mixed it with bourbon. I still love to do that with sack meads to this day. So, silver lining and all.

loveofrose said:

Two points I want to reinterate: 1. Use Potassium carbonate. NOT sodium bicarbonate (makes mead too salty) or calcium carbonate (makes mead chalky). Also, potassium is a limiting nutrient in honey so you get a 2 for 1 deal of adjusting ph and adding a limiting nutrient. 2. 1.16 SG is a beast of a starting gravity. It can be done, but you *must* have control of ph, nutrients, degassing daily, and temperature from the beginning. It must be dealt with and loved twice a day for the first several weeks. If anything goes wrong, it is generally beyond repair. Restart seldom works. Dilution has mixed results. I've been doing this a long time and I very seldom make a 1.16 SG sack unless I can stay on top of it from start to finish. I absolutely am not trying to berate you. I just want to warn you what you are it for to make it successful. I screwed up a few batches in the beginning like this. I had one stick at 1.05. To "fix" it, I just mixed it with bourbon. I still love to do that with sack meads to this day. So, silver lining and all.

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Thanks for the info! Much appreciated. I added a very small amount (1/4 teaspoon) of sodium carbonate before reading this and got the ph from about 3.6 to 3.9. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Hopefully the excessive gravity doesn't prove too much for the yeast. I'm degassing a couple times a day at least and doing staggered nutrients so I have at least some hope. I'll let you know how things work out from here.

If you end up having to re-pitch. Be sure to use a raging starter.

MarshmallowBlue said:

If you end up having to re-pitch. Be sure to use a raging starter.

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Question about that...

I already rehydrated the yeast in 20g of GoFerm and have done 3 nutrient additions....so would repitching with even more GoFerm make this batch taste like vitamins? Probably. I think I may be out of luck if this thing doesn't get going today...

not nesescary. Just make it out of honey and water and a bit of nutrient (just enough to help the yeast, not levels for a gallons worth). A starter is just something that allows you to pitch higher cell counts of yeast and assure viability. A big starter will go a long way in giving you a better chance of breaking that 1.140 area where yeast get stalled out above that.

Either way I can almost guarantee that that batch will be a pain all the way through.

How about using about 150mL of another batch that has healthy, active yeast working right now? Maybe those brave soldiers would have a chance.

That's essentially the same thing as a starter so If you have it than go ahead; But do something like a 8oz

I used about 250mL of an actively reproducing must as a starter in the problematic cranberry must last night, removed the cranberries (which I stupidly hadnt done yet), and when I woke up it was bubbling like craaaazy. Took a grav reading and it's down to 1.125 already (taking into account some dilution I did, I think the adjusted starting gravity was 1.155). Things are going well. I'll keep my eye on it and make sure to degas it until the 1/3 sugar break to keep things moving.

This just occurred to me as I was typing though...I don't want to ignore any variables here...I had my cranberries in sanitized muslin bags...could this have also been a contributing factor to the problem?

Update:

This mead started bubbling like all hell after I took the above actions (pseudo-starter from other fermenting must, diluted, raised pH with very small amount of calcium carbonate). The OG is down from about 1.155 to about 1.040 (still bubbling every 10 seconds or so), meaning I've already beaten the yeast's alcohol tolerance (I've heard 71b, while listed at 14%, can get up to 18% or so).

Tasted a hydrometer reading last night and this stuff is delicious already, though too sweet at the moment. Thanks for your help. All 4 batches are getting down to their FGs, all is well.

for #4 are you staggering your nutrients? I think that's how moonlight meadery is successful with their higher gravities without creating all the harsh fusel alcohols.

dmomo said:

for #4 are you staggering your nutrients? I think that's how moonlight meadery is successful with their higher gravities without creating all the harsh fusel alcohols.

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Yes I actually used Michael Fairbrother's exact staggered nutrient schedule. Once I got the cranberries out of the must and got the pH up a bit with calcium carbonate, the fermentation took off and is now (3 weeks later) down to 1.035 and it tastes magnificent already. We'll see how it ages out.

I really think the pH of the cranberries was the issue, not so much the higher gravity...like you said, I think the staggered nutrient additions can help power through the high OGs....or so I'm told

It certainly doesn't hurt