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Did I accidentally restart a stuck ferment? And what now? Easy Session Mead.

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mikeinVA

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Hello all,
made a 5gal batch of Doin the mosts "easy session mead" the other day. followed the directions all the way through. had a good primary at about 68f and on day 11 it had stopped bubbling and SP was 1.000 or a touch less. So fermentation is complete and no available sugars left right? Well I racked off the lees, back sweetened with 12oz erythritol and then added gelatin as a finning agent. 24hrs later its still cloudy as hell and when I look closer there's bubbles (like in a carbonated beverage) coming up the sides of carboy and a little action in the airlock. very little but a bit. also a little foam with some suspended sediment at top in the neck of carboy.
-Any insights as to what the hell happened here? should have been no sugars left and I added a non fermentable sugar. is this what degassing looks like? I stirred gently to incorporate erythritol and thought that would have degassed it.
-Since I'm not done fermenting it seems, will I have to re add gelatin later to get clear and if so should I add some more tannin now as 2 doses of gelatin may strip all of my tannin out I'm betting. Is is ok to add some wine tannin at this stage? I may just do it as the brew was pretty light on the mouthful when sampled

Any advice from you learned folks is always greatly appreciated.

Mike
 
I'd say your thought about it degassing is correct. While there is no sure way to verify without taking readings, I'm thinking adding the sweetener and gelatin stirred it up and it's just getting rid of some co2.
 
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So, just to be clear, you did  not stabilize with potassium metabisulfate and potassium sorbate? Not that it should make a difference with unfermentable sugars, but it really is a good practice to get into, especially if backsweetening.
Pasteurization is an option if you want to remain chemical-free, but the amount of each of potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfate is so minimal & does a great job of preserving flavor, it's kind of a no brainer, for me at least.
 

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