First Batch of Mead - Still sweet after 21 days

[curiousbrew]

Mead makers, and merry friends,

I embarked on this new hobby and have a question. I've read through and have been following the "Complete Guide to Making Mead" as closely as possible, with careful attention to sanitization, temperature, yeast hydration, yeast nutrients, de-carbonating in the first 8 days, air locking, and racking to a carboy after initial fermentation, etc. I used a 1-gal kit which I ordered from "adventures in home brewing" which included diammonium phosphate, fermaid K, pectic enzyme (which I did not use, since I was not adding fruit), and campden tablets. It came with 4 Pounds of Honey, and Lalvin 71B. My last recorded reading was 1.032 and it's coming in quite sweet. During the first 8 days I'd stir the mixture in the two gallon bucket and it would foam up quite a bit. During the transfer to the carboy on day 21 I didn't try to mix it, but it doesn't appear to be bubbly either. I'm wondering whether or not the fermentation is still occurring on day 21 or whether it may have gotten stuck somewhere. I'd much rather have a higher alcohol content with little or no sweetness (can't drink sweet alcoholic bevs). Is it possible fermentation is still occuring, and I just need to wait, or should I try and investigate whether or not fermentation is still happening?

 

[Dan O]

Mead makers, and merry friends,

I embarked on this new hobby and have a question. I've read through and have been following the "Complete Guide to Making Mead" as closely as possible, with careful attention to sanitization, temperature, yeast hydration, yeast nutrients, de-carbonating in the first 8 days, air locking, and racking to a carboy after initial fermentation, etc. I used a 1-gal kit which I ordered from "adventures in home brewing" which included diammonium phosphate, fermaid K, pectic enzyme (which I did not use, since I was not adding fruit), and campden tablets. It came with 4 Pounds of Honey, and Lalvin 71B. My last recorded reading was 1.032 and it's coming in quite sweet. During the first 8 days I'd stir the mixture in the two gallon bucket and it would foam up quite a bit. During the transfer to the carboy on day 21 I didn't try to mix it, but it doesn't appear to be bubbly either. I'm wondering whether or not the fermentation is still occurring on day 21 or whether it may have gotten stuck somewhere. I'd much rather have a higher alcohol content with little or no sweetness (can't drink sweet alcoholic bevs). Is it possible fermentation is still occuring, and I just need to wait, or should I try and investigate whether or not fermentation is still happening?

Welcome to the forum. A couple of questions.
1. What is the temp of your must?
2. Temp of your brew room? Temperature plays a fairly big role in the happiness of the yeast.
3. You may have taken a lot of yeast out when you racked, whether you stirred it up or not. Yeast clean up after themselves, IF you let them. If you get impatient & rack too early, you could slow your ferment down.
Also, I believe Fermaid K has DAP in it.. too much DAP is not good for your must & should ONLY be added in the beginning, usually up front.
4. Lastly, readings are ONE of the only ways to determine if it's done fermentation. Usually, 3 consecutive readings in a row, over 2 weeks.
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading

 

[pdhirsch]

It does sound like it might be stuck... but 4 pounds of honey seems like a lot for one gallon of water. If you had a very high OG, the 71B may be at the limit of its alcohol tolerance.

A few more questions:
How long ago did you see the 1.032 reading, and what is the SG now?
What was the gravity at the beginning?
How did you go about adding the nutrients: all at once, or staggered?
Finally, now that it's in a carboy with an airlock, is the airlock bubbling at all?

 

[Dan O]

FYI...bubbles only mean that it's putting out CO2. Not a valid way of telling whether it's fermenting or not.

 

[pdhirsch]

FYI...bubbles only mean that it's putting out CO2. Not a valid way of telling whether it's fermenting or not.

But "no bubbles" is a pretty clear sign that fermentation is *not* taking place, right?

 

[curiousbrew]

Welcome to the forum. A couple of questions.
1. What is the temp of your must?
2. Temp of your brew room? Temperature plays a fairly big role in the happiness of the yeast.
3. You may have taken a lot of yeast out when you racked, whether you stirred it up or not. Yeast clean up after themselves, IF you let them. If you get impatient & rack too early, you could slow your ferment down.
Also, I believe Fermaid K has DAP in it.. too much DAP is not good for your must & should ONLY be added in the beginning, usually up front.
4. Lastly, readings are ONE of the only ways to determine if it's done fermentation. Usually, 3 consecutive readings in a row, over 2 weeks.
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading

I took a pretty detailed log of my mead making here: First Batch - MEAD - Oct 26 2021 - did it come through OK?

1. Must was a pretty standard 71-72 degrees. I did not take an initial reading, but I suspect it was a degree or two warmer, maybe 73 degrees. At one point the room temperature dropped to 69 but it was still relatively stable there.
2. Room was temperature controlled at around 72 degrees.
3. The yeast that was left on the bottom was pretty much flat on the bottom - I had to rinse it with water pressure to get it off - it was like it was painted on the bottom of the fermenter.
Regarding the amount of DAP, I used what the starter kit provided me with. It was a 50-50 mix of DAP and Fermaid K (1/2 teaspoon each). I introduced the first 2/5th two hours after adding the yeast to the must, and the remainder 1/5 every following day as directed on the instruction guide I received.
4. If I go with my reading from yesterday, I can take another two readings in the next week and a half.

Thanks for the response!

 

[Dan O]

But "no bubbles" is a pretty clear sign that fermentation is *not* taking place, right?

Or stuck, which means not done. At the moment, I have 5 separate batches fermenting. All are moving slowly, because of cooler temperatures in my basement,& have little bubbling going on in the airlock. (I, too, have no climate control) I only have 1 fermentor heater, that I will be putting under the biggest one tonight. Once I do, that one will take off again & make like a raped ape!
Point is, readings from a hydrometer & a refractometer (which I don't have) are really the only ways to truly tell where your ferment lies.

 

[dwhite60]

Four pounds of honey in a gallon should give a starting gravity of about 1.140. I'm almost surprised the 71-B started at that high gravity.

If it's made 1.032 it's probably done. This will be around 14% abv. This is the upper limit of 71-B alcohol tolerance.

Bottle it up, store it away for at least six months, you'll have a nice after dinner dessert beverage.

 

[Miraculix]

Or if you really want to go for hard mead, add some cbc1 which will bring it probably almost to 1.0

.... But this will need to age to taste good.

 

[dwhite60]

Right now, start a new batch using about three pounds of honey . This should be consumable before your other batch has really aged in. This one will still need a few months.

 

[pdhirsch]

Four pounds of honey in a gallon should give a starting gravity of about 1.140. I'm almost surprised the 71-B started at that high gravity.

If it's made 1.032 it's probably done. This will be around 14% abv. This is the upper limit of 71-B alcohol tolerance.

Bottle it up, store it away for at least six months, you'll have a nice after dinner dessert beverage.

That's what I was thinking too -- I think the yeast has gone as far as it can go, given that much honey.

 

[curiousbrew]

I was also surprised by the amount included in the kit, I probably should have held off adding the additional pound.

Four pounds of honey in a gallon should give a starting gravity of about 1.140. I'm almost surprised the 71-B started at that high gravity.

If it's made 1.032 it's probably done. This will be around 14% abv. This is the upper limit of 71-B alcohol tolerance.

Bottle it up, store it away for at least six months, you'll have a nice after dinner dessert beverage.

I did a basic calculation of abv from the readings I took. I had a feeling that my initial readings were not accurate since I was getting used to the process, but if it was actually right, here is what I've come up with.

ABV = ((OG-FG) x 1.05) / FG)
-------------------------
0.79

ABV = ((1.13 - 1.032) x 1.05 / 1.032) / .79 = 12.6%

At this point I think I think it may be best to just let it age for a bit and then gift the batch. I'll try another run with 1lb less honey.

 

[Miraculix]

I like my meads best if between 10 and 11 % abv. More and it gets too strong for me, also it needs more time to mature, although a good snp cuts the time considerably. I always use about 2.5 pounds of honey on 4 to 4.5 litres of most in total, that gives me good results. I later on backsweeten in a bottling bucket and pasteurize in the bottle by keeping it at 70C for 10-15 minutes.

 

[pdhirsch]

I was also surprised by the amount included in the kit, I probably should have held off adding the additional pound.


I did a basic calculation of abv from the readings I took. I had a feeling that my initial readings were not accurate since I was getting used to the process, but if it was actually right, here is what I've come up with.

ABV = ((OG-FG) x 1.05) / FG)
-------------------------
0.79

ABV = ((1.13 - 1.032) x 1.05 / 1.032) / .79 = 12.6%

At this point I think I think it may be best to just let it age for a bit and then gift the batch. I'll try another run with 1lb less honey.

I was also surprised by the amount included in the kit, I probably should have held off adding the additional pound.


I did a basic calculation of abv from the readings I took. I had a feeling that my initial readings were not accurate since I was getting used to the process, but if it was actually right, here is what I've come up with.

ABV = ((OG-FG) x 1.05) / FG)
-------------------------
0.79

ABV = ((1.13 - 1.032) x 1.05 / 1.032) / .79 = 12.6%

At this point I think I think it may be best to just let it age for a bit and then gift the batch. I'll try another run with 1lb less honey.

1 pound less honey per gallon would be 3 pounds per gallon, which is what I generally use. (Although to be more accurate, for a 1-gallon batch I would use 3 pounds of honey plus enough water to bring it up to 1 gallon -- not 3 pounds of honey plus one gallon of water.)

My OG is usually just over 1.100 and K1V (my go-to yeast) will ferment it down to just below 1.000 (usually 0.995 or so), so it's dry and the ABV runs about 13 - 14%. I've been happy with the results.