Monghetti
Well-Known Member
So I've been putting off posting about this mead for a long time, but I think the time has come.
This is my second batch of mead ever and I was hoping for a sweet show mead. I made a few mistakes with this batch and need a bit of advice on how to proceed.
This is approximately a 5.5 gallon batch using about 18.5 pounds of honey.
The first mistake was with the OG. I took the reading, and then took it again and confirmed that it was 1.260. I later realized my hydro could not go that high and think that the OG was most likely 1.126. My second mistake was that I hydrated my yeast (71B-122) in 4 oz of 104* water and forgot to hydrate with Go-Ferm (vital nutrients?)
After 4 days I was at 1.110, after 9 days I was at 1.092, and after 27 days I was at 1.064. I added Fermaid-K at 1.110 and that was it. After 33 days I racked to secondary with a gravity of 1.060. I got lots of bubbles and airlock activity and thought I was good to go and that it would finish fermenting, but when I checked the gravity tonight (after 2 + months) I was only at 1.056.
What should I do at this point? I'm thinking my best bet would be to add some 1118, some Fermaid-K, aerate and see what happens. Is there anything else I should consider doing? Do you think this mead will have some weird flavors because of the prolonged fermentation and possible multiple yeast strains? Any advice would be appreciated!
This is my second batch of mead ever and I was hoping for a sweet show mead. I made a few mistakes with this batch and need a bit of advice on how to proceed.
This is approximately a 5.5 gallon batch using about 18.5 pounds of honey.
The first mistake was with the OG. I took the reading, and then took it again and confirmed that it was 1.260. I later realized my hydro could not go that high and think that the OG was most likely 1.126. My second mistake was that I hydrated my yeast (71B-122) in 4 oz of 104* water and forgot to hydrate with Go-Ferm (vital nutrients?)
After 4 days I was at 1.110, after 9 days I was at 1.092, and after 27 days I was at 1.064. I added Fermaid-K at 1.110 and that was it. After 33 days I racked to secondary with a gravity of 1.060. I got lots of bubbles and airlock activity and thought I was good to go and that it would finish fermenting, but when I checked the gravity tonight (after 2 + months) I was only at 1.056.
What should I do at this point? I'm thinking my best bet would be to add some 1118, some Fermaid-K, aerate and see what happens. Is there anything else I should consider doing? Do you think this mead will have some weird flavors because of the prolonged fermentation and possible multiple yeast strains? Any advice would be appreciated!