Fermentation questions (for an unusual mead)

[mindghost]

Hi,

Inspired by the Habanero Capsicumel recipe (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f80/habanero-capsicumel-60272/), I decided to mix up a pepper mead but I wanted to experiment with the sugar source some. The goal is to get a dry, hot, peppery drink. Here is the recipe:

1 Gal spring water
2 lbs amber agave nectar
1 lb honey
1 Sarrano pepper (diced)
juice from 1 lime
1 Tbs EC1118 (first time using)
yeast energzer and nutrient

Started on 3/2. All tools were sanitized before beginning, and some re-sanitized during the making.

I heated the water to the point of a few bubbles forming on the bottom of the pot, then turned off the heat. Dumped the agave and honey in and mixed. That mixture went into a 1 gal jug, back to the pot, and back to the jug to airate. In went the pepper and lime juice, and it then sat for over an hour to cool. I rehydrated the yeast with some spring water, and pitched. Shook it a bit, then added yeast nutrient and yeast energizer.

The next morning I had some foam, and by that night fermentation was going smartly. The second night I added a little more nutrient, and degassed/airated at least once a day, sometimes twice. Smelled great, like spicey bbq sauce.

Last night (3/6) I noticed that foaming had stopped. No activity in my airlock, and 1/2 inch of lees at the bottom. No C02 moving in the mead and it is visibly clearing. This brings me to my question(s): Should the EC1118 be done that quickly? I normally work with D47 or V1116 which take much longer. If its not that the yeast are "done", could they be having trouble fermenting the agave?

In case it is stuck, I added a tiny bit of nutrient and energizer before leaving for work this morning. Have to see if any activity has popped back up when I get home.

Thanks for any replies.

 

[bubbachunk]

I would say take a gravity reading and find out where you actually are

 

[malkore]

With that much agave nectar, not sure I can call this 'mead'.

that's a good yeast for high ABV/dryness. can always feed more sugar to dry it out.

degas primary and stagger some nutrient additions to help it 'be all it can be'

 

[mindghost]

Unfortunately I didn't take an OG reading. I rely more on descriptions of the yeast and recipe measurements I find here to get an idea of how something will turn out. To date I have not been disappointed.

I was degassing each day, and did add additional nutrient 2 days after initially mixing the must up. The yeast still seem to have quit within 5 days, and it's almost cleared now.

I racked last night. The brew is still very sweet and I can't taste alchohol at all. All you get is sweetness and pepper. It's quite nice, but not what I was going for.

I'm thinking that the yeast aren't able to ferment the agave, and that they crapped-out so quickly because they got through all of the honey and there's nothing left they can work with.

Could that be possible?

To test it, I added some KV-1116 last night to the secondary, and this morning there was no activity.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

 

[mindghost]

So after some additional research, I did indeed find out that agave is difficult to ferment. Lesson learned.

At least the stuff tastes good, even if it is sweet and low alchohol. With the way its clearing I'll probably be able to bottle in about a week. I figure that I'll drop a shot or two of tequila in each bottle :cross:

Once that's done, I think I'll try the same recipe except I'll go 2.5 lbs honey and .5 lbs agave. That should get me tothe dryness that I'm looking for. I'll also be able to call it a proper capsicumel then, hehe.

 

[biochemedic]

Take a gravity reading...wait a few days, take another gravity reading...

Edit -- interesting idea to fortify with a small amount of tequila. Another concept would to be brew a small batch of super dry straight mead (or if you want to maintain the same level of spiciness, maybe even a straight capsumel with the same pepper you had in the first batch), and then blend the two... If you just want just a hint of tequila flavor, you could do a little oaking using oak chips soaked in tequila.