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Fermaid K contains DAP but not enough for high OG fermentations like traditional mead, as @CKuhns stated regarding why staggering is important in the first place. For the best results with an SNA protocol, additional DAP beyond what the Fermaid K contains is required. Fermaid O is great...

I just wanted to add an update to this for anyone interested. Within a day or two, airlock activity began to pickup, and now 17 days later is still ongoing. About 2 bubbles per second. Ambient temps around 70 degrees. I haven't done much with step feeding honey in the past, and I honestly wasn't...

So I have been off experimenting with kveik for the better part of a year and have been quite impressed with their performance and speed, but find they are lacking in the esters and body for traditional meads, and I found myself back here. I got my hands on some good mesquite honey and had a...

Potassium carbonate or potassium bicarbonate added upfront will serve as a PH buffer. This was learned from @loveofrose in his BOMM thread and has, for me at least, been a standard addition for all meads. It also adds potassium which is beneficial to the yeast. Controlling the impact of your PH...

This is subjective to discuss but it is absolutely real. When I first started brewing I exclusively used glass caboys and stuck an airlock on there at day 1. By day 4 or so the nice fruity fermentation smells would be replaced with sulfur and weird bread aromas and stank. When I learned about...

Many of us have been there and champagne yeast (Especially EC1118) is an utter beast. I ran into this issue with a grape soda I made a few months ago, and this was after opening all the bottles after 3 days to relieve pressure. I have nobody but myself and my own hubris to blame but yeah, it...

Definitely take an SG reading. With that sugar content, the temp and yeast variety I would guess it is probably finished.

The picture looks great! WHat kind of yeast did you use? The milky aroma is likely just a character of the yeast. Keep us posted.

I know this is a few months old but what you mentioned about secondary falling out of favor applies more to beer than wine or cider. I have used fruit in the primary before and you do still get a fair amount of flavor depending on how long you let the ferment run, and how much fruit you use. For...

Bentonite removes some, but if you want to really clear it up use Sparkoloid or Super Kleer (Clear?) Sp. They both work very well. The Super Kleer is 2 easy steps in a couple of packages and works well with little fuss. Huge improvement overnight that just gets better within a week. The...

I will gladly purchase any unused peppers from you if you are willing to part with them.

This is all true and good information. I ferment my peppers with a 5% brine made from distilled water and korean sea salt. In addition (Because I am making hot sauce) I blend them up in a ninja until liquefied, and I add based on my recipe, onions or sugary fruit like pineapple and mango...

I have used the little cubes in the past. They imparted great flavor to a few batches of hot sauce, and they imparted toasted wood flavor to an already nasty experiment with high gravity mead. The mead has aged over a year and while it actually tastes "good" now, it is too sweet and isn't a good...

I suspect this is identical to Sparkaloid (SP) and if so, will say it does an excellent job. Noticeable difference at 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours by which time for me everything has been crystal clear. The drawbacks I have noticed are boiling it up (it gets the pot kind of nasty and needs to g a...

The inactivated yeast will provide your B vitamins and the DAP will provide YAN. I would like to give the yeasties some potassium to help them along the way as well. I haven't looked up this SpringFerm and it may contain some. I think you are doing the right things. Also if degssing isn't...

I wouldn't be concerned with spoilage if your lag time is less than 24 hours. It will be considerably less if you pitch with a healthy starter, or use a Kveik like Hothead. Other members are free to correct me if I am wrong but I suspect the consensus is to wait on any acid additions until at...

What nutrients (if any) are you using? I have found too much nutrient can leave behind bread-like flavors; especially Fermaid-O.

I don't use bread yeast cause, WHY, when there are so many other options available? I want it ready in 6 to 8 weeks. But the JOAM concept, modified, I like very much and use all the time. Though every time I post about one of them, folks rush to remind me I didn't actually make a JAOM. Ok, but...

I bottled 5 gallons of something almost identical to this 3 weeks ago. I like dry drinks but this could actually use a little back sweetening. It has the taste and body of a Pinot Noir (almost) and while I appreciated the quality at bottling time, the flavor wasn't what I had hoped for...

Has your ambient temp changed? If it heats up, and there is still fermentable sugar present, the yeast can wake up. It has happened to me before. Also, I have noticed with mead, the scum sometimes but it is possibly residual beeswax. I would be worried seeing that in a wine but not so much a...