Cranberry mead ferment issue

[Dylon_133]

I find my self in need of some advice. I am new to home brewing (just started my 5th batch of mead) and the new batch I started 48 hours ago has yet to start bubbling. I made a cranberry/pomegranate mead, recipe is as follows:
3 liters unsweetened cranberry juice
1 liter water
1600 grams frozen pomegranate fruit with the seeds
2kg clover honey
1 pack mangrove jacks mead yeast
1 gram pectic enzyme
Starting gravity - 1.132
I have also planned on adding .5 gram Fermaid K and 1 gram DAP every 24 hours for the first three days .
When I got home from work yesterday, I did see some action in the airlock although it seemed slow. After I opened up the bucket and added the first increment of nutrients I replaced the lid and thought it was good to go. This morning when I took a look no action in the airlock. The airlock is showing that the lid is not leaking but there is no fermentation happing. Can PH levels screw up the fermentation that bad? or am I just missing something. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[DBhomebrew]

The airlock is showing that the lid is not leaking

What indication are you seeing?

If it was bubbling yesterday, it's probably fermenting today. Bucket lids are notorious for leaking and it doesn't take much at all to stop airlock activity. Maybe there's positive pressure, but not enough to bubble.

 

[Dylon_133]

When I put the airlock in it shows positive pressure but that's it. Ill take a look at the must today when I add the nutrients.

 

[Dan O]

As @DBhomebrew has said, buckets are horrible for air tight containers. That said, they're just fine for primary. I would say trust your gravity readings. If you take a reading today & the gravity has already started to drop, then you're on your way. I would definitely get in there with a sanitized paddle & give it a good once over, really work some oxygen into it & give the yeast the oxygen they need to grow your colony some. If it foams up @ all when you're stirring it, your fermentation has already started.

 

[Dylon_133]

Just pulled the lid to add some nutrients and I didn't see much activity, but the gravity has dropped about 5 points. So I guess there some action going on. These buckets I have are not the best quality so that it probably the issue. I have been agitating once a day as well, I just havent ran into such a melow ferment before. Then again, this is only my 5th batch. Thank you for the input. I will update later on with the outcome!

 

[Dan O]

Just pulled the lid to add some nutrients and I didn't see much activity, but the gravity has dropped about 5 points. So I guess there some action going on. These buckets I have are not the best quality so that it probably the issue. I have been agitating once a day as well, I just havent ran into such a melow ferment before. Then again, this is only my 5th batch. Thank you for the input. I will update later on with the outcome!

Keep in mind, both cranberry & pomegranate are on the acidic side. That could be where the sluggish is stemming from.
Do you have a way of testing the pH?
Also, if you don't have any already, you may want to invest in some potassium carbonate. It helps to buffer pH swings.

 

[Dylon_133]

Keep in mind, both cranberry & pomegranate are on the acidic side. That could be where the sluggish is stemming from.
Do you have a way of testing the pH?
Also, if you don't have any already, you may want to invest in some potassium carbonate. It helps to buffer pH swings.

I was wondering about that, will the normal ph test strips work? I have some more recipes in mind that are high acid so I will invest in some potassium carbonate.

 

[Dan O]

I was wondering about that, will the normal ph test strips work? I have some more recipes in mind that are high acid so I will invest in some potassium carbonate.

Will they work? Probably. How accurate will they be? I'm not exactly sure. I know pH test strips have an expiration date & become very unreliable when out of said date. I would rather trust a pH meter that has been calibrated with the proper calibration liquids.
This is one I bought. Cheap enough for more reliability than the test strips.
https://a.co/d/hzg6DuRI hope this helps you.
Happy meading

 

[DBhomebrew]

Aren't the strips read by color? The fruit juices will throw those off, not to mention the notorious inaccuracy of strips to begin with.

 

[Dylon_133]

Will they work? Probably. How accurate will they be? I'm not exactly sure. I know pH test strips have an expiration date & become very unreliable when out of said date. I would rather trust a pH meter that has been calibrated with the proper calibration liquids.
This is one I bought. Cheap enough for more reliability than the test strips.
https://a.co/d/hzg6DuRI hope this helps you.
Happy meading

That reader is really affordable, thanks for the link I appreciate it. The ferment seems to have taken off now, so fingers crossed ha.

 

[Dan O]

That reader is really affordable, thanks for the link I appreciate it. The ferment seems to have taken off now, so fingers crossed ha.

My pleasure
Happy to help when I can.

 

[Dan O]

Aren't the strips read by color? The fruit juices will throw those off, not to mention the notorious inaccuracy of strips to begin with.

True, most are by color. I hadn't thought about tha

 

[Maylar]

True, most are by color. I hadn't thought about tha

FWIW I've had a couple of the cheapo pH meters and they were worthless. The numbers bounced around and repeatability was very poor. I figured that I'm into mead/cider for the long haul so I bit the bullet and bought a Milwaukee -

Milwaukee MW102 PRO+ 2-in-1 pH and Temperature Meter with ATC

The probes are replaceable, and the extra temperature feature is a bonus - while atemporating the Go-Ferm

 

[MightyMosin]

That reader is really affordable, thanks for the link I appreciate it. The ferment seems to have taken off now, so fingers crossed ha.

If you pick up a meter, get some 4.0 pH calibration solution and some electrode storage solution as well.

 

[TooLz]

Something to note with cranberry is that it has benzoic acid which makes it harder to ferment. Still possible, just harder.

Mod note: Dead link (404) removed.

 

[TooLz]

Since the link seems to not work (thanks for catching mods) this is the file. Just a handy sheet that has some acids breakdowns.

 

[SimPilot]

I would suggest fermenting traditional and then adding what-ever you wanted to add to secondary. This would solve ph problem...

I have a cranberry mead recipe on this forum for reference.