Stuck fermentation.

[freaknumber3]

My mead is stuck. I've done this recipe a few times now with great success. This time however it stopped fermenting at 1.042. OG was 1.130. It's an orange mead. 1 gal. 3# honey. 1 can of juice concentrate (no preservatives, I've used it before with no issues), 2oz lactose, 2 oranges sliced up. Some potassium carbonate, ferm k, ferm o (staggered every other day for 3 doses), k1-v1116 yeast hydrated with some goferm. Usually it takes off like a bat out of hell till it is below 1.000. Generally takes about 7-10 days. This time however it stopped at 1.042. Started it on May 20. All was well. Racked it on Jun 1, removed oranges. Sg 1.050 at this point. Jun 3 sg 1.042. Jun 9 sg still at 1.042. Was starting a different mead and had bought a bunch of yeast from a going out of business sale which led me to using a smack pack of wyeast 1056 in it. Added a splash of the yeast to this one in hopes of restarting fermentation. Today Jun 12, still no activity.

It tastes good, very sweet from the unfermented sugars. How do I get this going again? Thoughts? Opinions? Advice? All welcome.....

 

[CKuhns]

Couple of suggestions:
1. Gently stir or shake / swirl it to get the lees (and yeast) back in suspension.
2. Move it to a slightly warmer location. Add 5 degrees F or so.

Give it time, a week or so and check SG. If still stuck...

3. Check pH. If low < 3.0 add Potasium Bicarbonate.
4. (Last resort) Create a yeast starter Using EC 1118. And pitch.

Finally if nothing works and it tastes good. Clarify, bottle and pasteurize.

 

[freaknumber3]

Already tried the stirring a couple times. It's plenty warm already, around 70 degrees. I have other fermentation going without issue. Ph at 3.9. Made a yeast starter and added it last night. Haven't checked on it today yet.

What about if I blended it with another mead in active fermentation?

 

[CKuhns]

Blending with another or adding some water may help as well.

 

[Casa De Oro]

You can try treating it with teSt hulls for 24 - 48 hours first, then rack and repitch.