Fermenting question

[James0816]

First time this has happened. Started two one gallon batches yesterday. First batch is standard mead and second using oranges. The second batch kicked right and bubbling nicely. The first batch, not so much. Hardly any bubbles.

Might be bad yeast. Is my batch ruined or can a draw a little out and prime new yeast and save it? I use Lavlin D47 by the way.

Thanks

 

[fossilcat]

Has the gravity changed at all? Counting bubbles is not a reliable indicator of fermentation.

 

[James0816]

Being that i just made the batch yesterday, cant imagine the gravity would have changed at all. Yeast hadnt time to work its magic

 

[bernardsmith]

So where are the bubbles coming from? If CO2 is being produced then what is producing this? If this is not CO2 then what could it be and could THAT gallon be the problem batch. Unless you have the ability to streak a plate or slant and view it under a microscope to see if what you have are bacteria or yeast (or both) then it would be hard to know so soon what is causing those bubbles but I would guess that if there are bubbles something is eating the sugar and if something is eating the sugar then the gravity is falling. That you don't see bubbles in the second carboy means very little. Could be that bubbles in the must (or mead) are more visible in one rather than the other because in one there are more points of nucleation. Could be that one is better sealed than the other..could be a half dozen other reasons. Best option is to check to see if the gravity is dropping on both, either or neither.

 

[Maylar]

Check the seal on your airlock.

 

[bernardsmith]

Check the seal on your airlock.

Aha... By "bubbles" you understood that James0816 was referring to gas being released from the airlock. I understood that he saw bubbles rising in the in the mead. Do you see "bubbles" in your airlocks? I see the water being rising and falling back again as gas is released. Perhaps he can clarify what he meant by "bubbles" and where he saw them.

 

[Maylar]

What came to my mind first is the common observation of bubbles in the airlock being an indicator of fermentation. I've had cases where the airlock wasn't inserted into the rubber bung tight enough to seal. It surprised me to discover just how much resistance a small column of liquid has. The slightest leak will bypass an airlock.