Restart fermentation to fix my mead?

[david kim]

Hey guys,
I created my mead on 1 March 2024 and I didnt get an initial gravity reading. I also added 2.250kg (4.96lb) of honey into a 1 gallon jug along with oranges and water. This seems like wayy too much honey and fruit for a 1 gallon jug. I used EC-1118 yeast.
*I know, I was so excited as this is my first mead and I got the scaling all off*

There appeared to be a healthy fermentation with bubbling for about 2 weeks. The bubbles have since slowed down and i decided to rack off the fruit into a secondary on 21 March 2024 (21 days since initial fermentation).

When racking into the secondary, I also had a little taste along the way and the mead seemed to have very low traces of alcohol and was very sweet.

I took a gravity reading and it was on 1.090 (checked twice over 3 days). Im afraid I mustve stuffed up (Likely fermentation has stopped). I was hoping for a higher alcohol mead around 18% but it is definitely no where near there. Is there a way to still achieve this after fermemtation has slowed and i have already racked into my secondary?

P.s. i racked my primary into my secondary gallon jug and after racking into the secondary, i only managed to fill half of jug. I tried filling the remaining space with 750ml (25.36floz) with some 12.5% store-bought mead, and i still have so much headspace. Can i just fill this with water? Should i do something to restart fermentation? What do i even do at this stage, i just created a frankenstein's monster.

My end goal is to have a higher alcohol mead around 17.5% and right now it tastes like its under 5%.

Ive read a lot about restarting fermentation but is it as simple as just pouring yeast (ec-1118) into my secondary? Will it even work since i mixed my mead with 12.5% store bought mead?

Photo of primary and secondary attached.

As you can see, im all over the shop, any help is appreciated.

 

[IslandLizard]

I took a gravity reading and it was on 1.090 (checked twice over 3 days).

What instrument did you use to read the gravity?

[Edits / Additions]
Why rack it off the yeast when it's not done fermenting? A big mead may take 2 months or longer to finish out, creeping slowly to a final gravity as ABV increases.

Do you still have that primary jug with the yeast cake? If so, and it's still sanitary, I'd be inclined to add that yeast back in there. Or rack the mead back into your primary jug, if that's easier.

Still, 5 pounds of honey in 3/4 gallon of water is way sweet. Probably best to dilute what you have, so you'll have 2 batches of 1 gallon going at a more reasonable gravity. And pitch new yeast of course.

 

[david kim]

What instrument did you use to read the gravity?

[Edits / Additions]
Why rack it off the yeast when it's not done fermenting? A big mead may take 2 months or longer to finish out, creeping slowly to a final gravity as ABV increases.

Do you still have that primary jug with the yeast cake? If so, and it's still sanitary, I'd be inclined to add that yeast back in there. Or rack the mead back into your primary jug, if that's easier.

Still, 5 pounds of honey in 3/4 gallon of water is way sweet. Probably best to dilute what you have, so you'll have 2 batches of 1 gallon going at a more reasonable gravity. And pitch new yeast of course.

I used a hydrometer

I racked it into secondary due to getting rid of the fruit. A lot of sources say to rack off the fruit, after 2-3 weeks due to no further use and potential for spoilage. otherwise, i would have just left it in the primary. I do still have the primary with the yeast cake at the bottom.

Sooo, from what you are saying, i should definitely rack the sediment from the primary into the secondary?

And although i mixed my personal mead with 750ml of store bought mead in the secondary, i should still split it into two 1 gallon jugs and top up both with water and yeast and restart the fermentation?

If you could let me know,
Cheers.

Thanks for the advice

 

[IslandLizard]

Your hydrometer reading should be considered accurate as is, yes.

If it's (very) sweet and with low alcohol, you could secondary/age it a bit and enjoy as is, as a desert mead.

Or referment as much down as possible.
That is, as long as that store bought mead you've added didn't have any "protective" preservatives/stabilizers in it (e.g., Sorbates). Those will stall your yeast.
If that's the case it will be difficult to impossible to revive that batch.

Depending on the gravity when you started, 1.090 can be a rather decent gravity to restart. Or dilute to 1.060 to make it easier.

I'd add the yeast cake you have and see if it resumes.

Did you add any (yeast) nutrients when you started the batch?

 

[Graham H]

Looking at the label, the store bought mead “contains sulphites.” I’m guessing that’s used to inhibit microbes, but I’m not a wine/mead expert…

 

[IslandLizard]

Looking at the label, the store bought mead “contains sulphites.” I’m guessing that’s used to inhibit microbes, but I’m not a wine/mead expert…

Sulphites are a natural byproduct of fermentation. We add extra sulphites to protect against infections (other microbes) and oxidation.

AFAIK, in higher concentrations sulphites will slow down yeasts too, but not permanently disable them from multiplying as sorbates do.

 

[david kim]

Your hydrometer reading should be considered accurate as is, yes.

If it's (very) sweet and with low alcohol, you could secondary/age it a bit and enjoy as is, as a desert mead.

Or referment as much down as possible.
That is, as long as that store bought mead you've added didn't have any "protective" preservatives/stabilizers in it (e.g., Sorbates). Those will stall your yeast.
If that's the case it will be difficult to impossible to revive that batch.

Depending on the gravity when you started, 1.090 can be a rather decent gravity to restart. Or dilute to 1.060 to make it easier.

I'd add the yeast cake you have and see if it resumes.

Did you add any (yeast) nutrients when you started the batch?

The store mead has sulphites so im guessing this would make it tougher to referment.

I think I might try kickstart fermentation again by mixing some ec1118 in some honey water in a bottle then pouring it into the jug after 12 hours.

Hopefully thisll work! And ill add some yeast nutrient into the jug in a couple days (it arrives via mail in 5 days from now).

Note: I did not add yeast nutrients during initial fermentation.

Cheers!

 

[IslandLizard]

Note: I did not add yeast nutrients during initial fermentation.

Your fruit may have contained some well-needed nutrients. Raisins are always good, DAP, and some dead yeast.

https://gotmead.com/blog/making-mead/mead-newbee-guide/the-newbee-guide-to-making-mead-chapter-10/

https://www.omnimead.com/mead-making-101/nutrients-in-mead-making

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/best-natural-nutrients-for-mead.697027/

 

[MightyMosin]

My end goal is to have a higher alcohol mead around 17.5% and right now it tastes like its under 5%.

These higher ABV meads need a lot more time to integrate all the flavors and they also need a lot of O2 before yeast pitch to make the best colony to survive the high osmotic pressure of that high gravity and then the eventual high ABV. It's a bit late, but I will continue to advocate shooting for 10% ABV or less for first timer meads. You want to really enjoy that first mead and it is so much easier to accomplish at that level of ABV.

That is, as long as that store bought mead you've added didn't have any "protective" preservatives/stabilizers in it (e.g., Sorbates). Those will stall your yeast.
If that's the case it will be difficult to impossible to revive that batch.

Depending upon how much he diluted the purchased mead, he may have sufficiently diluted the sorbic acid that they yeast can keep going if sufficiently strong before adding into the mead.

Depending on the gravity when you started, 1.090 can be a rather decent gravity to restart. Or dilute to 1.060 to make it easier.

1.074 will target you at 10% ABV.

Sulphites are a natural byproduct of fermentation. We add extra sulphites to protect against infections (other microbes) and oxidation.

AFAIK, in higher concentrations sulphites will slow down yeasts too, but not permanently disable them from multiplying as sorbates do.

^ 100%. In addition to that, any free sulphites that are in there are probably busy bonding with O2 in your must and shouldn't prevent your yeast from doing their job.


Info about restarting stuck fermentation. For Lalvin yeasts, the recommended ones are: Uvaferm 43, Uvaferm BC, Anchor VIN 13, and K1-V1116. While everyone tends to reach for EC-1118, it is not listed as one to use in the video or in their yeast choosing guides.
QA23 is also listed as a yeast to use for a stuck fermentation.
https://www.lallemandwine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Quick-Yeast-References-Chart_2018_LR.pdf

If all the proper nutrients are done up front, then the chances for stuck fermentation really goes down... to the point that you probably shouldn't have one unless you do something like adding almost 5Lb honey to a 1 gallon batch... almost 4Lb might work though with proper yeast selection and nutrients.

 

[Raptor99]

It's a bit late, but I will continue to advocate shooting for 10% ABV or less for first timer meads. You want to really enjoy that first mead and it is so much easier to accomplish at that level of ABV.

+1