Can this mead be saved

[beer_guy_dave]

On 9/27, I started a mead with 12 # honey, 2 packs of Safeale US 05, yeast nutrient and water to make 5 gallons. The idea was to ferment this, then put it into 5 secondaries (1 gal each) on fdifferent kinds of fruit.

OG 0.084. after 10 days, sp gr was 0.034. 4 days later, 0.030. Now, after a total of 18 days, sp gr is still 0.030. Per Compleat Meadmaker, I aerated it and added a small amount of nutrient. I intend to aerate again daily for the next few days. Tastes good, albeit sweet.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Dave

 

[BigKahuna]

Don"t Aerate Again!

Just pitch some D-47...it'll get you a bit closer to dry....maybe fully dry.
You've exceeded the alcohol tolerance of the yeast (surprisingly @ 7.2%) and now need a yeast with more alcohol tolerance.
The main thing here...DON'T Aerate Again! It'll cause oxidation...YUCK!

 

[beer_guy_dave]

Thanks BK. Just happen to have a pack of D 47. I was REAL leery of re-aerating. I'm glad I asked. I'm planning to start another mead tomorrow and I'll probably just go with D 47 from the get go.

The mead I'm now dealing with is my first (if you don't count a batch of JAOM). I'm looking forward to the melomels.

Thanks again.

Dave

 

[MikeRLynch]

If you're going to pitch the d47, I'd make a starter with it, get it to high krauzen (or peak fermentation, wine yeast is different) and then pitch the whole thing in. You can aerate the hell out of the starter as opposed to having to aerate the mead if you pitched it in dry. Pitching a dry yeast into a highly alcoholic solution like mostly fermented mead is toxic to them, and they'll have a hard time getting going. Give it some nutrient when you pitch, and you should be fine.

Also keep in mind mead can take forever to finish out. I had one that took two months in primary before I got down to a reasonable gravity.

 

[summersolstice]

Also keep in mind mead can take forever to finish out. I had one that took two months in primary before I got down to a reasonable gravity.

I've been making mead for several years and I've never had a problem with a long primary fermentation. As long as you use a fresh and healthy wine yeast rehydrated according to the manufacturer's directions and manage your primary fermentation with the judicious use of a stepped nutrient program, twice daily aeration for the first 2-3 days, daily gentle lees stirring for the following 3-4 days, and proper temperature management (no cooler than 68F) there's no reason why your primary fermentation should last any longer than a week or 10 days or so. Within 10 days your gravity reading should be down to about 1.00 and time to rack to a glass or stainless secondary for an additional several months.

 

[hightest]

...Also keep in mind mead can take forever to finish out. I had one that took two months in primary before I got down to a reasonable gravity.

When this lengthly a mead fermentation takes place it is usually a result of:

• Insufficient, or improperly timed, nutrient additions, or
• An acidified must, or
• Pitching an insufficient amount of viable yeast, or
• Low ambient temperature fermentation temperature, or
• A combination of the above

There are other reasons, but these are the "biggies"...

 

[petes]

May be OT and a silly question but how does a must become acidified?

 

[hightest]

May be OT and a silly question but how does a must become acidified?

IMO, the question is neither OT or silly. The process of fermentation creates CO2 gas, and pumps out H+ ions that are the by-product of cellular metabolism (keeping the cell membrane electrically balanced).

The combined result of these processes serves to lower the pH by the formation of carbonic acid (dissolved CO2), and increasing the hydronium ion concentration by H+ passing out of the cell wall. Since pH is a function of the negative log of the hydronium ion concentration in a solution, as that concentration increases, the pH decreases and the must becomes more acidic...

 

[beer_guy_dave]

Okay, so I pitched the D 47 about 10 hours ago. Temp is okay, I don't think it is an acidity problem, or a problem with the yeast. I don't think I aerated it according to an appropriate schedule to start with. I think that caused the problem.

Fermentation now restarted and I think all will be OK.

Thanks to all for the assistance and God bless this forum!!!

I'll try to update when this goes on to the fruit(s).

Dave

 

[petes]

Thanks hightest... been puzzling over that since my problem with the MAOM.