10 Gallons stuck Traditional

[lpsumo]

Hi all
I have been making mead off and on since 2012 but I have never had this problem

I started a Traditional on Sept 10th. 15 pounds honey, 5 gallons water, 2t DAP, and made a D47 starter with warm water, honey and some nutrient. Checked it a month later and it hadn't moved much, if at all (1.080) but had a slightly fermented smell. I didn't bother with an initial SG cause I have never had a batch not ferment dry. I added another teaspoon of DAP and gave it a good stir.

Still no action by October 21st. I made an all day starter with EC-1118, slowly introducing must every few hours for 12 hours, tossed that in and went away for 2 weeks.
Nov 5, no change. I pulled out about a gallon of must, diluted the remainder to 1.050 and made another all day starter with 2 packs of EC-1118.

Still no change, getting frustrated so I made another batch. 14 pounds of honey, water to 5 gallons, 1t DAP, all day starter with 2 packs of D47. It hasn't moved from 1.085

I ferment in the basement, so it's a little on the cooler side. Temp fluctuates between about 17C and 20C

Any thoughts? At what point does it go down the drain?

 

[Brett_Bellmore]

Where did you get the honey? Some place different from usual? It sounds to me like there's something present that's poisoning the yeast.

I mean, I've had batches refuse to take off, but it's always been because my ph was wicked low, (My cranberry mead.) or I'd added something with a preservative in it without noticing.

 

[lpsumo]

Honey is just standard costco stuff. I have never had an issue with it and have 2 other non traditional meads going well with it at the moment.

 

[bernardsmith]

You might want to check the pH. Honey has no buffers and so sometimes the pH can hit rock bottom and that will stall the fermentation. That said, the best way to restart a stalled fermentation is to reverse what you did: create a new starter and to that starter add the same volume again from the stalled batch. Make sure that this is actively fermenting and wait until you have checked and see that the gravity has dropped to almost 1.000. Add the same volume from the stalled batch to this new batch and repeat until all the stalled batch has been added to the new batch, adding ONLY when you see that the new batch has actively fermented the stalled batches. What this does is treats the stalled batch AS IF there is a systemic problem in that batch - if you add fresh yeats to a problem batch there is no good reason why that yeast can solve the problem ... but what you are doing is adding bit by bit a problem batch to what is an effective fermentation... Try it. It works. Usually.

 

[Seamonkey84]

To help with a pH problem, add 1/4tsp potassium carbonate per gallon, that will buffer the ph and add some potassium for the yeast. DAP is nutrients, but it lacks in a lot of other elements that Fermaid O or K have.

 

[lpsumo]

You might want to check the pH. Honey has no buffers and so sometimes the pH can hit rock bottom and that will stall the fermentation. That said, the best way to restart a stalled fermentation is to reverse what you did: create a new starter and to that starter add the same volume again from the stalled batch. Make sure that this is actively fermenting and wait until you have checked and see that the gravity has dropped to almost 1.000. Add the same volume from the stalled batch to this new batch and repeat until all the stalled batch has been added to the new batch, adding ONLY when you see that the new batch has actively fermented the stalled batches. What this does is treats the stalled batch AS IF there is a systemic problem in that batch - if you add fresh yeats to a problem batch there is no good reason why that yeast can solve the problem ... but what you are doing is adding bit by bit a problem batch to what is an effective fermentation... Try it. It works. Usually.

That sounds like a pretty logical solution. I'll try another starter with boiled bakers yeast as an energizer and see if that takes, if not I'll do the long transfer.

And thanks Seamonkey, I'll investigate the pH more. Next time I'm in the big city I'll look for fermaid

 

[lpsumo]

You might want to check the pH. Honey has no buffers and so sometimes the pH can hit rock bottom and that will stall the fermentation. That said, the best way to restart a stalled fermentation is to reverse what you did: create a new starter and to that starter add the same volume again from the stalled batch. Make sure that this is actively fermenting and wait until you have checked and see that the gravity has dropped to almost 1.000. Add the same volume from the stalled batch to this new batch and repeat until all the stalled batch has been added to the new batch, adding ONLY when you see that the new batch has actively fermented the stalled batches. What this does is treats the stalled batch AS IF there is a systemic problem in that batch - if you add fresh yeats to a problem batch there is no good reason why that yeast can solve the problem ... but what you are doing is adding bit by bit a problem batch to what is an effective fermentation... Try it. It works. Usually.

Well, I started the long transfer process. Made a starter overnight, it was going really well, started adding must to it. After about 2 liters of must added it seems to have stalled out. I was able to get slightly better energizer today (contains DAP, yeast hulls, vitamin B complex, and mag sulfate) so I fired in 1/2t of that. I'm about ready to give up on it

The other batch that stalled out is SLOWLY going I think. I see a few bubbles and it's dropped by 0.005 in ten days. Shockingly slow so I threw 1/2t of energizer in that as well.

Might head to the US at the end of the month and I'll look for Fermaid in Kalispell, any other thoughts until then? Does a non fermented honey water mixture "go bad?"