at what point do i say i failed?

Ok so here is the rub, i attemptem my first mead on friday.
Here is what i started with
4 gal spring water
9Lbs clover honey
3Lbs wildflower
3Lbs orange blossom
Wyeast nutrient
Red star cote des blanc
OG was at 1.14 as i dodnt add all the water
sanitized everything real good mixed pitched
Put the fsrmenter in the basement...no airlock movement in 36 hours moved the fermenter to a warmer environment re pitched with d-47 after another 24 hours still no air lock movement.
Added more water now gravity is 1.105 and tested the ph and that seems to be in the 4 range... Still no activity. So my question is if i rack to a different vessel and re pitch should all my problems go away or is the batch spoiled

You don't list nutrients in your recipe. That may be all you need to do.

I added wyeast wine mead and cider nutrient at the initial pitching and added an additinal lds yeast nutrient second time i pitched

The absence of airlock activity doesn't necessarily denote that its not fermenting. Also, meads can have a tendency to not have any visual signs of fermentation, like a beer would. I don't see anything that stands out as "wrong", assuming you didn't buy honey with some kind of preservative. Give if another day or two, take another gravity reading, and see if its going down.

And take a sanitized rod/dowel/spoon, and stir it to give it oxygen and to drive off any c02 that has formed. Do that a couple of times a day, and then see where you are in two days via a SG reading.

Are you getting a good seal on your stopper & airlock? I have a plastic 6.5gal BMB, and it is sometimes a little tricky making sure I have a good seal. Usually have to pull out the electrical tape.

I checked my honey and the only ingrediant listed was honey. Also the clover said true source certified...i didnt look into that but i assumed it was truly clover honey not just any honey under the catch all of being "clover" honey. I suppose i should dig out my hydrometer and check that against my refractometer reading. so i plan on checking that and if it hasnt budged i will transfer to a new clean and sanitized vessel and hope that a repitch will work.

Honey can be difficult to ferment, especially with that high of gravity. This can take a while to get down it won't be as fast as beer. I made mead a few years ago and with a 1.110 gravity it took 2 weeks to get to 1.010. You need to be patient and possibly add more yeast nutrient.

There was a mead video I watched from brewing tv that explained it pretty well.

I'd advise checking three things:

First, check the gravity as it currently stands. If it's now lower than it previously was, you're fermenting... but your airlock (or its O-ring) is likely faulty. This has happened to me before. The good news is that's only a $2 fix.

Second, if your gravity hasn't changed, check the source of your spring water. Spring water sounds nice and wonderful, but most of the big spring water brands actually bottle regular city water, which can contain chlorine and chloramine. If that's the case, you could have some big problems.

Third, check ambient temperature. If you're fermenting anywhere below 70, D-47 can be really slow.

Also, do not underestimate the lag phase. I've had lag phases of upwards of 72 hours before. Especially in harsher conditions. Colder temperatures, higher OGs, lack of oxygenation, and lack of nutrients can all cause longer lag phases. In the future, I wouldn't even start troubleshooting until you've hit the 60 hour (2.5 days) mark.

Taking it slowly and patiently without altering too many variables at once is likely the best way to proceed with your mead. Rapid temperature, nutrient, cell-count, or sugar density changes (especially happening at the same time) can make for shocked or stressed yeast.


(Also, to answer the question in the thread's name: Only when it directly, obviously, and offensively spoils. Until then, success isn't ever off of the table.)

I always shake like hell to aerate when I make mead. Pitch some yeast nutrient, DAP, and a pH buffer too. I add more DAP 2-3 more times along the way also. I shake every day for the first week at least to release C02. It takes a good 36-48 hours for it to REALLY start fermenting. I aerate my dry yeast well, and if I'm making more than a couple gallons I might even pitch an extra pack who knows.

I LOVE Cotes De Blanc for mead, but I HATE D-47 for mead, and I have the right to say that as I've made a dozen batches with it in the past. It's purely a flavor thing, the D-47 ferments well, and will get it a lot drier than the blanc.

Give it some time and I think your mead will turn out satisfactory. Done correctly, you can make great mead in just 3-6 weeks, but I've had to let some hang around for a year to taste decent.

I think that your starting gravity and so the sugar concentration is incredibly high. You have enough sugar to make a mead with about 19 %ABV. My guess is that amount of sugar in the must will have posed a problem for the yeast if you simply sprinkled the dry yeast onto the top of the must. When making such a high ABV wine I would step feed the sugars so that the yeast has an opportunity to transport the sugars inside their cell walls in a far lower sugar concentrated solution - A gravity of about 1.100 (about 13% ABV).
What I might do is take a pint of the must and dilute it with a pint of water and then add a new batch of yeast to this. If - when - it shows good signs of fermentation, I would add another pint from the problem batch. When that shows signs of fermenting I would add three pints from the problem batch (doubling the starter), and continue doubling the starter when it shows signs of strong activity after the added batch until the entire problem batch is now with the starter...

I'd do what Yooper suggested: Stir it up a few times a day, professional mead makers do the same thing on a larger scale. Keep the fermener in the mid to low 60's or that D-47 might put out some off flavors. I'd stir twice a day for a week, make sure you have a good seal on the fermenter/airlock and see what happens.

So i have an active airlock woohoo. Thanks for the suggestions i still will add some more yeast nutrient and stir it up at least once a day for the rest of the week.

Also learneda valuable lesson...when there is an active airlock don't attemp to degass on carpet...

The biggest thing I have found with my meads is not enough oxygen. I use a stone and bottled O2 when I fill the carboy and then once a week I repeat the O2 for the first month. After that I let it ferment around 70 until I get the FG I am after. Chill for a few days and then keg

BlkWater_brewer said:

I use a stone and bottled O2 when I fill the carboy and then once a week I repeat the O2 for the first month.

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Bad idea. Adding any O2 after the gravity has gotten 70% of the way to FG (And I've rarely ever met somebody who added oxygen after 72 hours from pitching), you damage a mead or wine by adding more O2. If your fermentations are taking over a month, you're either lagering, fermenting too cold, using too few nutrients, or needlessly oxidizing your mead.

A mead at 1.110 can be fermented to dryness in 7 days, with few ever bringing that fermentation past 15 days. (Secondary is a different story, but oxygenation in secondary is almost always a bad idea, unless you're going to be fermenting another 3-5% alcohol in secondary... which is usually not the case)

marcownz747 said:

Bad idea. Adding any O2 after the gravity has gotten 70% of the way to FG (And I've rarely ever met somebody who added oxygen after 72 hours from pitching), you damage a mead or wine by adding more O2. If your fermentations are taking over a month, you're either lagering, fermenting too cold, using too few nutrients, or needlessly oxidizing your mead.

A mead at 1.110 can be fermented to dryness in 7 days, with few ever bringing that fermentation past 15 days. (Secondary is a different story, but oxygenation in secondary is almost always a bad idea, unless you're going to be fermenting another 3-5% alcohol in secondary... which is usually not the case)

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I will have to disagree with you 100% on all points, been making meads for a number of years with no issues. Fermented to dryness in 7 days, that's a good one. I never said I added O2 to the secondary, just the first month in the primary. Seldom is the SG ever lower than 1.056 at this point. A Mead is not a beer, O2 is necessary during early fermentation. So I will have to continue as I was taught until the day it no longer works. Why the race? A 10-12% Mead should take longer than a high ABV RIP. I suppose you could rush it, but I don't.

Just curious what is a "high ABV RIP"?

henryakirk said:

Just curious what is a "high ABV RIP"?

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Just a guess. But I'm assuming he meant "high ABV RIS"(Russian Imperial Stout). and spell check "helped" him with the RIP. But I have been wrong before.

BlkWater_brewer said:

I will have to disagree with you 100% on all points, been making meads for a number of years with no issues. Fermented to dryness in 7 days, that's a good one. I never said I added O2 to the secondary, just the first month in the primary. Seldom is the SG ever lower than 1.056 at this point. A Mead is not a beer, O2 is necessary during early fermentation. So I will have to continue as I was taught until the day it no longer works. Why the race? A 10-12% Mead should take longer than a high ABV RIP. I suppose you could rush it, but I don't.

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I've never had a mead take a month to ferment out- usually 5-7 days. I don't rush it- it's just that a healthy fermentation doesn't take weeks and weeks.

It may need the extra time due to lack of nutrients, though. Usually adding nutrients at the 1/3 sugar break is all I need, and I never add oxygen after about day 3-5, when the mead is finishing up. If it takes a month for the SG to get to 1.056, I'd be concerned about the health of the yeast. It should go much faster in almost all circumstances.

BlkWater_brewer said:

I will have to disagree with you 100% on all points, been making meads for a number of years with no issues. Fermented to dryness in 7 days, that's a good one. I never said I added O2 to the secondary, just the first month in the primary. Seldom is the SG ever lower than 1.056 at this point. A Mead is not a beer, O2 is necessary during early fermentation. So I will have to continue as I was taught until the day it no longer works. Why the race? A 10-12% Mead should take longer than a high ABV RIP. I suppose you could rush it, but I don't.

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I mean, if you're making mead that you enjoy, you're doing it correct enough. But I've never had primary fermentation take longer than 4 weeks... and that was when I lagered a mead.

I don't want to start dropping credentials, but I manage a winery and am one of only two people doing the fermentation there. I run the same fermentation schedule on my dry meads that I run on our dry reds. I DON'T do 5-7 day ferments, but they CAN be done. I take about 2-3 weeks tops for a wine/ale yeast ferment, making sure that I'm staggering nutrient additions and oxygenating until I make it to 60% of the way to my expected FG.

What yeast strains are you using? What temperatures are you fermenting at? Are you adding yeast nutrients or doing it "naturally"?

Again, if you're making stuff that you like, I'm glad. However, fermentations that are prolonged that much can introduce other problems, like higher chance of introducing Acetobacter or Lactobacillus, longer periods of exposing your yeast to high alcohol content (which in turn, stresses the yeast and increases time for the yeast to put out off flavors), potentially too-low of a temperature for the yeast.

Yooper said:

I've never had a mead take a month to ferment out- usually 5-7 days. I don't rush it- it's just that a healthy fermentation doesn't take weeks and weeks.

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I always use the Wyeast sweet Mead yeast if it makes any difference. My last 7 batches have all been the same. I even made a Cyser last November and only tapped the keg last week of Feb. Fermentation temp is constant 72, I add 1 tsp of yeast nutrient before putting it in fermentor. Then add 1/2 tsp each week when I aerate - probably for 3 weeks in retrospect. I get visible activity with in 4-5 hours after pitching and then constant activity for months. My Cyser bill was 30lbs of Raw clover honey. 14 gallons of fresh "hard cider" blend from local orchard, 1 lbs corn sugar and 2 pkgs Wyeast Sweet Mead with a 3 litre starter. OG was 1.12 finished at 1.008. Fermentation was violent more like constant bubbling of soda water. Dry enough at 1.008 but enough residual sweetness from the sugar.

That's my story