YABCT (Yet another bottle carbing thread)

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

SegmentedMonkey

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
59
Reaction score
0
Location
Nova Scotia, Canada
I was just checking the status on my cyser, and over the last month, I've done 3 checks on it's SG and it's showing 1.005 each time. I'm guessing she's done. Being done above 1, does that mean that it most likely hit the max ABV and then the yeast croaked, leaving some sugar behind? Does this rule out bottle carbing? I used a Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, which I've had good results with in the past, and previously, my last two batches stabilized around 0.998 to 0.995, and they bottle carbed nicely with 3/4 cup of dextrose for the 23L batch.

This batch WAS a little richer than previous, with a total of 18lb honey and 3 gallons of apple cider.

Am I stuck with a still mead, barring a force carb system? :confused:
 
Ya, I'd say the yeast likely hit it's alcohol toxicity level. 6lbs per gallon is going to put your ABV over 18%... Let the aging commence. I think you are indeed stuck with a still cyser, unless you force carb. I used the EC-1118 on a high grav cyser & hit 18.75% ABV. The residual sugars help to counter the alcohol burn, but mine still needs at least another year to age. Regards, GF.
 
Ah, I thought it was a 3 gallon batch, and even so, my math was wrong. :eek: But I think you'll be close to 18% ABV. What was your OG/FG? That'll tell you for sure. Regards, GF.
 
Ah, I thought it was a 3 gallon batch, and even so, my math was wrong. :eek: But I think you'll be close to 18% ABV. What was your OG/FG? That'll tell you for sure. Regards, GF.

I actually added the honey in two batches. Lemme do some math to find what my current ABV would be.

Starting: 1.070
Before 2nd batch: 1.000 9.2% here
After adding 2nd batch: 1.033
Now: 1.005 3.6% increase since addition

Now, I'm no expert, but that leaves me with 12.8%. I wonder why she's stopped. It did get quite cold over the later months of winter in my brew room, so I wonder if it cold crashed. Should I try re-pitching and leaving for another few months?
 
I wouldn't repitch just yet, try raising the ambient temp & give it a gentle swirl or 2. That might get it to go down below 1.000; did you add any yeast nutrient or yeast energizer? Regards, GF.
 
Yeah, I added some yeast nutrient at outset, and again after about 1/3 ferment. I put in some "energizer" last week in an attempt to get it up and running again. I'm not too worried about the ABV, 12 would be fine for me. I'm concerned about getting the yeast working again so I can bottle carb half of it and bottle half still. I'll try a little swishing around and adding another touch of nutrient.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top