1st time Brewing a mead with Kveik Yeast

[Brews-n-Blues]

Hello,
Just curious if anyone has had a similar experience with Brewing a 1gal batch of "Mango-Pineapple-Jalapeño" Mead?
I used:
100% juice and 1 pepper
(quartered w/seeds)
2 1/4 lbs OB Honey
1/2 cup black tea for tannin,
1/2 tsp Ferm Aid,
1 box of raisens (chopped)
1/2 pack of "Mangrove Jack's Craft Series M12" Kveik Yeast (dry).

OG: 1.134 (7/16/21)
2nd GR: 1.038 (7/25/21)

The fermentation was VERY vigorous!!
My Fermentation box is set to a constant 70°. I had to switch to a "Blow-Off" tube
set-up, not even 24 hours into it.
It lost some volume with a "mini-geyser" event in my fermentation chamber at 2:30am!!? I switched back to a normal airlock, when I thought it had settled down a bit, I replaced the lost volume with more juice, then it blow the air lock again with another vigorous re-fermentation!? I caught it time this time!
So now that it's at the end of it's primary fermentation, there is a huge amount of what looks like "wispy, billowy" sediment on the bottom of the fermenter? The fruit is floating on top still, with no mold.
There's no action in the airlock at all. Should I rack this now into another gal fermenter, with the sediment, but off of the fruit? If I rack without the sediment, I'l lose over half the volume of product?
Should I let it sit longer?
Is this a normal event with Kveik Yeast?
Any suggestions?

 

[Ty520]

Just an FYI, mead is fermented, not "brewed"

That is quite a bit of sediment.

Kveik is pretty vigorous, so a blow out is not unexpected

Check your gravity 3 days in a row. If there is no change, go ahead and rack off the fruit, but keep an airlock on just in case. Kveik has good flocculation, so with time, it should hopefully settle more, and help reduce losses during the second rack.

 

[Brews-n-Blues]

Thanks for the info!
Cheers!

 

[Golddiggie]

With this being a small batch, I'd check the SG on one day, give it at least a few days and then check it again. Since you will drink/discard the sample you used to test the SG with. OR give it a few more weeks for things to settle and the yeast to actually compact, before doing anything else.

The time frame for mead to finish is far longer than a beer (except, maybe, a BIG beer that you're also aging on oak). Give it time and it will be better than if you try to rush it through.

Also, get a larger vessel to ferment 1 gallon batches in (especially mead). You want at least another gallon of head space there. Getting a two gallon vessel wouldn't be a bad idear.

 

[Dan O]

With this being a small batch, I'd check the SG on one day, give it at least a few days and then check it again. Since you will drink/discard the sample you used to test the SG with. OR give it a few more weeks for things to settle and the yeast to actually compact, before doing anything else.

The time frame for mead to finish is far longer than a beer (except, maybe, a BIG beer that you're also aging on oak). Give it time and it will be better than if you try to rush it through.

Also, get a larger vessel to ferment 1 gallon batches in (especially mead). You want at least another gallon of head space there. Getting a two gallon vessel wouldn't be a bad idear.

I use a hydrometer for my gravity readings. I take my sample, take my reading, pour about 1/2 a shot glass to sample & pour the rest back into the must....less waste.

If everything is cleaned thoroughly beforehand & your sanitizing habits are sound, it's safe to pour it back in. What a waste to throw it away! Also, drinking too much of an actively fermenting yeast will land you on a toilet with a case of the squirts

 

[cmac62]

Just curious if anyone has had a similar experience with Brewing a 1gal batch of "Mango-Pineapple-Jalapeño" Mead?

Somehow I doubt it. LOL With that said you could just drop the hydrometer into the jar, with the fruit it wont give you a perfect reading but close enough. You could also put it in the fridge for a day or two and the yeast cake will likely firm up and then rack if off. Either will work.

 

[Golddiggie]

I use a hydrometer for my gravity readings. I take my sample, take my reading, pour about 1/2 a shot glass to sample & pour the rest back into the must....less waste.

If everything is cleaned thoroughly beforehand & your sanitizing habits are sound, it's safe to pour it back in. What a waste to throw it away! Also, drinking too much of an actively fermenting yeast will land you on a toilet with a case of the squirts

IMO, I don't care how good you cleaned and sanitized things, I wouldn't pour a sample BACK into a batch no matter what. Shifting from using hydrometers to refractometers means my sampling size is now less than one ounce. With my current fermenters, I can also pull a sample with zero oxidization or contamination risk.

 

[Brews-n-Blues]

With this being a small batch, I'd check the SG on one day, give it at least a few days and then check it again. Since you will drink/discard the sample you used to test the SG with. OR give it a few more weeks for things to settle and the yeast to actually compact, before doing anything else.

The time frame for mead to finish is far longer than a beer (except, maybe, a BIG beer that you're also aging on oak). Give it time and it will be better than if you try to rush it through.

Also, get a larger vessel to ferment 1 gallon batches in (especially mead). You want at least another gallon of head space there. Getting a two gallon vessel wouldn't be a bad idear.

Thanks for the info.
I have always heard with that much headspace, whether it be Mead, Beer Wine or Cider, you almost guarantee enfection, even with a CO2 blanket?
I always try to have at least a 2"-3" headspace? Does Kveik Yeast normally leave this much sediment? This is the most I've ever had in a batch, and I've done several? Just not with Kveik?
Just curious?

 

[Brews-n-Blues]

I use a hydrometer for my gravity readings. I take my sample, take my reading, pour about 1/2 a shot glass to sample & pour the rest back into the must....less waste.

If everything is cleaned thoroughly beforehand & your sanitizing habits are sound, it's safe to pour it back in. What a waste to throw it away! Also, drinking too much of an actively fermenting yeast will land you on a toilet with a case of the squirts

Hi Dan O,
Thanks for the input.
I also use a hydrometer for readings and always take taste samples. Although I didn't taste this batch yet, as it did not look appealing at the time. It has cleared a lot, since the time of the 2nd GR?
It was very "murky" with that sediment. Now it just has the sediment? So a tasting will happen when I do a 3rd GR.
Hopefully the sediment will settle?
Cheers!

 

[Brews-n-Blues]

Somehow I doubt it. LOL With that said you could just drop the hydrometer into the jar, with the fruit it wont give you a perfect reading but close enough. You could also put it in the fridge for a day or two and the yeast cake will likely firm up and then rack if off. Either will work.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Brews-n-Blues]

IMO, I don't care how good you cleaned and sanitized things, I wouldn't pour a sample BACK into a batch no matter what. Shifting from using hydrometers to refractometers means my sampling size is now less than one ounce. With my current fermenters, I can also pull a sample with zero oxidization or contamination risk.

What is your current fermenter?
Is it one of those "conicle" styles with a sampling tap at the bottom?