Opinions on a mead

I'm 2 months into BigKahuna's Leap Year Mead and have a couple of hmmmms...

2 months in, no airlock activity (has leveled out nicely) and has cleared beautifully. Tastes fantastic, has a slight hint of apples and still a tad bubbly. My problem is that my gravity reading is at 1.055, so it's roughly at 6.7% alcohol. I was under the impression that it would be quite a bit more alcoholic.

So, is it possible for me to get this kicking again, or would it be best to call it and bottle it, as it's delish anyways? I'm happy with it, it's just a bit too sweet for my taste.

Pitch more yeast? Add yeast nutrient? What are my options here?

Did you degass and aerate it at all after you pitched the yeast into the must?? Did you use the yeast in the original post, or another one?

IME, using Lalvin yeast strains, after two months, it's either fermented fully, or is damned close to it. Although I do tend to give it enough nutrient for the OG and volume, oxygenate and degas/aerate it during the fermentation stage. You might want to rouse the yeast some to see if that helps. Adding a little nutrient could also help. Depending on what you'll be adding, I'd use either 1/4 or 1/2 tsp to start. You can always add a bit more X days/weeks later.

BTW, mead takes many months to be ready for bottles. IME/IMO, there's no way in hell it's either ready, or safe, to bottle at just two months from pitching. Doubly so with your SG so high.

Degassed and aerated until the damn thing exploded Still have mead on my ceiling.

I used Red Star champagne, as it's what I had on hand and I've had success with it in the past.

I roused the yeast multiple times, and was only able to knock off a few points. There's still a ton of fermentable sugars in there, so I was thinking of taking off about a cup, warming it up slightly, pitching another pack of yeast with nutrients and putting it all back in to ferment a bit longer.

DO NOT want to bottle, I just think it tastes good is all

I've never used the Red Star yeast, so I have no idea about how much nutrient it needs to do the job. IF I was to pitch new yeast, I'd go with one of the Lalvin strains, like EC-1118 which is known to restart stuck fermentations.

Explosions/foamcano's are usually due to using too small a vessel for fermentation. Like a 1 gallon jug for a 1 gallon batch.

I'd guess that if it's stalled, then it's likely either a nutrient thing, or a pH issue....

fatbloke said:

I'd guess that if it's stalled, then it's likely either a nutrient thing, or a pH issue....

Click to expand...

PH is easy to test for, nutrient level not so much. IME, with traditional mead recipes, PH hasn't been an issue. Whenever you add citrus you need to at least check the PH to make sure it's not too low.

So if it's a nutrient thing, would I do alright by removing a bit, warming it up, stiring in some nutrient and readding to the must?

So sorry guys, I've been researching up and down the internet but nothing really beats an experienced opinion!

I'm thinking of repitching the yeast tonight, with added nutrient. I noticed when I woke up this morning that the airlock is unbalanced again, so clearly it's up to something.

Typically you do not add nutrient when your S.G. has depleted more than 1/3, but that is the rule I follow for wine. Wonder if it is different for mead? What was your starting S.G.? Did you immediately go under airlock or were you using a bucket-type primary?

You could add some DAP or Fermaid/nutrient at room temp. No need to warm up/heat some to add it to. I would also try gently swirling the mead to see if that also helps.

BTW, has this been in an area that's in the yeast's temperature range? If its cooler than the listed range for the yeast, try to get it at least into the lower half of the range.