I have a mead that won't quit out-gassing.

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JasontheBeaver

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I put together this 1.112 OG, 5 gal batch in late May 2011 and racked it after 3 weeks.
Then racked again every 60 days until a couple weeks ago.
Then I stabilized it with a crushed campden tablet and 2.5t potassium sorbate where it foamed all over creation! I then added a bit of honey.
I threw an airlock on it and after 4 days it started bubbling again. Crap, renewed fermentation, or just CO2 out-gassing? No krausen was forming so I thought it was CO2.
I waited 2 more weeks and racked it again, stabilized it again, then stirred vigorously for 15 minutes to get as much CO2 out as possible. Refitted the airlock and waited. 4 days later (today), more bubbles in airlock!
Grav is at a stable 1.010 and I really want to get this into bottles but I'm afraid of exploding corks until I get this problem resolved.

Help anyone?
 
Ingredients/recipe and method in full would help the troubleshooting...

But sounds very much like a prolonged ferment caused by continuous racking and regrowth of the yeast colony.......
 
Your gravity reading are not changing at all or have gone back down after you added more honey? Might be grasping at straws but can you get it cold, like at like refrigerator temps if not closer to freezer? Give it 24-48 hours to chill, see what drops out.
 
Yeast starter: Nottingham yeast 11g, 14g go-ferm, 187g water @ 104F.
Mixed 15lbs blackberry honey and hot water to 5.3 gals.
added 4.5g DAP and 4.5g yeast nutrient, poured back and forth a few times to aerate.
Cooled to 80F
Pitched starter, made sure starter and must were same temp, 80F.
OG: 1.112
12 hours later SG:1.102, added 2.8g nutrient and 2.8g DAP, stirred
18 hours (total from pitch time) SG:1.104, added 2.8g nutrient and 2.8g DAP, stirred
32 hours SG:1.100
56 hours SG:1.094
4 days SG:1.088 added 1.8g nutrient and 1.8g DAP, stirred
7 days SG:1.070, stirred. The next morning I noticed increased bubbling in airlock. This makes me wonder if I should stir daily?
21 days Racked
81 days Racked
126 days stirred, taste sample was good
135 days SG:1.014 Racked
209 days Racked
256 days Racked
340 days SG: 1.008 Racked, stabilized, serious foamage! Added some honey.
345 days, noticed renewed bubbling in airlock
373 days Racked, stabilized, stirred like crazy until no more foaming, about 15 mins.
376 days noticed renewed bubbling in airlock.
380 days, today. Stared at it for at least 15 mins. Throw myself at the mercy of HBF mead Gods.
 
Apparently your mead wants to finish out in spite of the added sulfites. If it were me, I'd walk away and let it finish. If it never does, call Guinness!
 
Update: Today the mead blow the airlock clear off and there is obvious sediment in the bottom of the glass carboy. This is obviously not outgassing, it's renewed fermentation.

Upon review of my notes and more studying, I only used 1 campden tablet for 5 gallons when I was stabilizing. Apparently we should use 1 tablet per gallon... oops.

Indeed these notty yeast are tenacious! They went 340 days before I fed them some honey and BOOM! Back to life.

Tomorrow I will rack it again and stabilize with 2.5t sorbistat-K and 5 crushed campden tablets.
 
I'd stop racking your mead unless its finished. You kept stalling it by taking it off the healthy yeast cake, and just prolonged primary from finishing.

Hopefully it is the nottingham and not something else eating your honey.
 
You didnt stop the yeast, and now you need to wait for it to rest again before you have a chance to halt it again
Stopping an ongoing fermentation means adding enough sulfites to stop you and all your friends from considering drinking it... Wait till it stop, inhibit the yeast, resweeten and hope it dont start again

1 tab per gallon is for passive yeast(its only birth control, it dosnt kill the parent)
Active yeast will probably just shrug it off and keep eating
 
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