first attempt at mead

[jurgenxt1]

Hi all

It is my first attempt at mead making and I think it is not going well. I have no airlock activity after 6 days by now. This after adding a second packet of yeast and aerating twice a day for about 5min. It foams a lot when I whisk it and I can smell a slight alcohol/strong smell, but no visble activity.

I've boiled about 4 gallons of water and mixed in 5 pounds of eucaliptus honey whilst the water was hot along with yeast nutrient. I let it cool on its own to about 20C and added the first packet of yeast (belgian ale yeast) and left it for 3 days and no airlock activity. Added 2nd yeast packet and started the aerating schedule but still no airlock activity. No active foaming or bubbling in the must as well. It is quite cold here in Cape Town now but I keep the temp. in the brew bucket constant at around 20C with an electric blanket around the bucket.

So ... I'm not sure if I did/am doing something wrong or that I'm just paranoid. I will appreciate any feedback and wisdom my fellow esteemed mead makers can provide.

Thanks!!

 

[Bearmaul]

5 pounds of honey in 4 gallons is not much at all. Typically most meads call for 3-4 lbs per gallon of water.

 

[fatbloke]

Yeast nutrient of some sort will also be necessary.

Whether its a proprietary one like Fermaidk, fermax, Tronozymol, etc or boiled/microwaved bread yeast, a handful or two of raisins and maybe a vitamin B1 tablet or two......

It's gonna need something.

The small amount of honey issue has been mentioned

Plus some litmus strips (wine range strips 2.8 to 4.6 sort of area) or a small pH meter as pH swings can also be an issue with meads especially traditionals i.e. honey/water/nutrient/yeast.....

 

[ColeVet67]

I too am fairly new to Mead. In fact i just made a Cyser, Apple Cider Mead, only a few weeks ago.. First i would say... belgian ale yeast is not the right yeast. This is a beer yeast and the ABV will essentially kill it off after the ABV reaches the yeast tollerance. First i would ask.. What was your initial SG...? And what is it now.. ? My mead was somewhere around 1.114 initial, and dropped to .997, but i used D-47... a WINE yeast, i also used nutrients every 3 days. Now im waiting for it to clear, and only rack off the Lees if they accumulate more then 1/4 - 1/2 in. Oh .. and welcome to MEad making. If you need more info.. please feel free to ask..

 

[jurgenxt1]

Sorry my mistake. It is 12 pounds of honey (~5kg ... mixed my unit terms up)

 

[jurgenxt1]

Thank you guys for the feedback so far. I'll try another yeast to start with and see how things go from there. I will also try and get a hydrometer to test the gravity over time. I haven't been able to get one yet, but I'll search online for one.

 

[jurgenxt1]

As an update ... I've added general brewers yeast (found in the baking section in the shop) and I was able to determine my current gravity reading. My reading is 1.070 .

 

[jonmohno]

Your bucket lid may just be leaking. ? And what is the belgian yeast abv tolerance? You need more nutrient/energizer. You could just be having a slow ferment, add nutrient.

 

[jurgenxt1]

The Belgian yeast ABV is 11% I think. I messured the gravity again this evening and it change from 1.070 to 1.062 in a little over a day so I guess the stuff must be fermenting although no visible bubble activity. Am I also correct in assuming that aeration should no longer be done at this point? Any thoughts?