Mead Fermentation Rate

Why does mead ferment so much slower than apple wines or beers? Mine seem to crawl. I add nutrients and energizer.

Is it the yeast, or the complex sugars in honey? Is it the lack of free aminos?

What makes mead so slow to ferment?

Even diluted honey is a rather hostile environment for yeast to thrive. If you follow the SNA process described in the sticky FAQ above you can speed up your primary to around a week or two, and it also helps with keeping the yeast viable for a faster conditioning. Not a whole lot, just a little faster and cleaner in my opinion.

digdan said:

Why does mead ferment so much slower ..

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The answer you seek is in the Mead FAQs - Honey Fermentation Concerns.

hightest said:

The answer you seek is in the Mead FAQs - Honey Fermentation Concerns.

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I wish the guy that wrote those FAQ's posted more on this forum....

just kidding, hightest

I've got a ton of cherries in the freezer from the summer and just waiting for a good price on bulk orange blossom; but maybe I'll run the recipe by ya.

AZ_IPA said:

I wish the guy that wrote those FAQ's posted more on this forum....

just kidding, hightest

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I'm not, I miss him correcting all my mistakes!
And sharing his experience, and more or less making me a better mead maker. (That takes a lot of effort)
Without his egging me on I have gone to the dark side and started a wine! Mr. Beer snob doing a Malbec.
Actually I do like wines, but usually I can buy better wines than I could make; but sooo many people have told me times have changed.
It is hard for an semi old dog to learn new tricks, but I'm working on it.