First batch, no airlock activity after 3.5 days

[stabthebunny]

So I finally got around to trying out this mead thing. Its the first time I have ever fermented anything as well. I am doing 5 one gallon carboys to start with the "s" type airlocks.

I followed this recipe (adjusted to one gallon instead of 5 of course):

12 lbs unprocessed honey
5 gallons spring water
2 packets dry yeast
2 tsp yeast nutrient

Heat 2 gallons of spring water to 160f in a large kettle and remove from heat. Add yeast nutrient and 12 lbs unprocessed honey, and then stir until thoroughly dissolved. Transfer kettle back to heat and bring back to 160f; maintain this temperature for 30 minutes. Skim off any foam that accumulates. Remove from heat and let cool; add 1 to 2 gallons spring water to quickly bring the temperature back down below 90f. Transfer must to primary fermentation chamber and aerate by shaking or stirring for 5 minutes. Start yeast per packet instructions before pitching into must. Add fermentation lock and store in a cool dark place for 14 to 28 days. When you see one bubble every sixty seconds, primary fermentation has concluded. Rack the mead into the secondary fermentation chamber and store in a cool dark place for 2 to 4 months. Sample the mead and bottle once it has achieved an acceptable level of clarity and shows no signs of fermentation.

I felt like I did a good job of keeping everything sanitized and kept to the directions the best I could. I did, however, do a couple things wrong that I know of. First of all I forgot to get a proper tube to go with the hydrometer I bought so I didn't get a reading till today. Also, at the time I thought that starting the yeast before hand was just to proof it so I just pitched it in dry.

I used a "Bulk Mead Blend" yeast they were selling at the homebrew store which I regret now.

So here it is 3.5 days later and there is zero airlock activity. There are some bubbles in there but barely enough to cover the surface of the must. The one I picked up to show my father has even less. I got the idea today to use the plastic tube my hydrometer came in to test it and got .86. It was sitting right at 75 degrees. It smelled sweet and tasted sweet and maybe a little bit sour.

My current plan is to wait a couple more days and test it again to see if there is any change.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[stabthebunny]

Also, I should add that there is quite a bit of sediment at the bottom already. If I hold it above my head I can still see light but it seems like there is a good amount for only being a gallon.

 

[Arpolis]

I am not famiar with the gravity reading you posted. Did you mean 1.086? That sounds about right. The recipe you posted is really low on nutrients in my opinion. Mead in general is really low on nutrients and ferments slowly when the yeast are not properly taken care of. What kind of yeast nutrient are you using? Is it strait DAP which the stuff would just look like white/clear crystals? Or is it a nutrient blend which would be a finer tan colored substance? I use 1tsp DAP per gallon and 1/2 tsp per gallon of the tan variety. So in 5 gallons you are looking at 7.5tsp rather than 2.

If using the tan colored nutrient I suggest adding in 1 tsp for each one gallon carboy. Then shake them up super well to try and mix in some O2. That should help. If you are using strait DAP. Then do the same but also take about 3 tsp of some dried bakers yeast. Mix that in about a cup of water and set in the microwave for about 10 min to kill off that yeast. Then evenly mix that goop into each carboy. That will add some organic nutrients that DAP just can't provide alone.

 

[stabthebunny]

Sorry about the reading. My guess is that your assumption is correct and my hydrometer just does not have the decimal point printed. It is just about at the 11% potential alcohol mark if that helps.

The nutrient I am using is fine and tan in color made by Brewcraft and is in a black and white 2oz. package. It also says "Thiamin, vitamin B complex". I forgot to say that I used the amounts on the packages of the nutrient, energizer and yeast. Each gallon got 1/2tsp of Nutrient and energizer and 2Tbsp of yeast.

Thanks much for your reply. Sorry I forgot to include all the details.

 

[Arpolis]

Yea the blended nutrients I normally call the yeast energizer and I call strait DAP the nutrient when relating them to most generic recipes. For mead it is best to use both at the ratios I stated above. In this case I would still add another tsp of your nutrient per gallon. The labeled instructions are more towards beers or wines and they naturally have 10 times more available nutrients compared to a traditional mead..

 

[fatbloke]

Yea the blended nutrients I normally call the yeast energizer and I call strait DAP the nutrient when relating them to most generic recipes. For mead it is best to use both at the ratios I stated above. In this case I would still add another tsp of your nutrient per gallon. The labeled instructions are more towards beers or wines and they naturally have 10 times more available nutrients compared to a traditional mead..

Oooooh......"best" is a bold thing to say.....

I too say use a mix if both but the ratio I find works best is 2 parts energiser (as its already got nitrogen probably DAP in it) the to supplement the low nitrogen/nutrient of honey naturally, 1 part nutrient a.k.a. DAP.......

Too many "bests" out there to be sure which one really is..........best

Anyway, difference of opinion aside, the OP has done a couple of things worthy of note.

Boil raw, unprocessed honey ? The whole point of using honey in a quality condition like that is to retain all the aromatics and volatile flavour elements which are now floating around the ionosphere. Sacrilege!

And while I don't know that yeast, with corrected nutrition (at least 1 tsp per gallon of mixed liquid/must), the sprinkling on of the yeast dry just generally inceases the lag phase from the couple of hours to 12 or so, to possibly a few days even a week (didn't see any mention of sulphites so it shouldnt be too much longer)......

Personally I'd just be stirring or shaking the living hell out of it.

If its in buckets I'd be blitzing it with a hand blender twice daily or if its in a carboy type jug I'd be sanitising a liquidiser and funnel, blitzing for a half liqidiser jug full for a minute or two then adding back in too aerate the bejesus out of it.......

 

[stabthebunny]

Ill put another tsp of nutrient in there in the morning and see what I can do about aerating it.

I don't know if I am splitting hairs here or not but there was no boiling involved. 160 is a long way from 212.

Thanks again for your input guys. Ill post back in a couple days with the result.

 

[Arpolis]

Oooooh......"best" is a bold thing to say.

Too many "bests" out there to be sure which one really is..........best

Ok yea I agree "best" is a bit bold. So i should have said with the combos I have put together in the fraction of time as I am sure you have FB I like my ratio. I have complete respect for your thoughts FB and am glad you chimed in. Original poster can take our words with a grain of salt and figure what works with him over time.

Heating at all is an outdated process. At most using warm water to thin the honey a bit is all that is used now days. Many older books talk about heating musts and skimming the "scum" off the top. That is more related to poor water conditions and possibly honey with an abundance of hive or other contaminants that are not seen much with modern honey extraction processes.

Some experiments have been done with heating and not heating honey and there are some pros and cons on each side. But if flavor and aroma are what you are looking for then it is best to not heat the honey.

 

[huesmann]

160ºF is hardly boiling. It's probably just good enough to get the honey dissolved properly.

IMO, besides the potential nutrient problem mentioned previously, you may have aeration issues. Shaking the container isn't really enough to properly aerate. Stirring the bejeezus out of it can work, as long as you have it open to the atmosphere. I like to use an aquarium air pump and an airstone to just let it bubble air into the must for a few hours--saves my arm from having to stir like mad.

 

[ACbrewer]

I don't know if I am splitting hairs here or not but there was no boiling involved. 160 is a long way from 212.
.

When it comes to other things (ie not water) in your must, 212 could the above or below it's evaporation temp. I mean ethonal is at about 170F. Fatblokes point was that heating the honey, and 160 is probably to high for this, will end up driving off many of the flavors(volitals) that are in raw honey and the whole point for using raw honey. I just read someone suggesting 150F was the limit, but it is in another thread, and not a mead journal with scientific study. I'm not saying it is wrong (150) just at this point an anticdote.

Anyhow, patience and aeration. I had one mead that took a week to go from 1.084 to below 1.080... and it was a liquid yeast.

As for your hydrometer, the numbers you see on it (10, 20, etc) are 1/1000's of g/cm3. Technically they are to be understood as 1.010 and 1.020 and we generally write them here as such, although sometimes people short hand to "well it had and og of 50" but mostly we talk about the "og of 1.050"

 

[fatbloke]

ACb's spot on. My idea of heating is room temperature.....

I don't like even putting crystalised honey in a sink full of hot water to reliquify it. Honey is hygroscopic and attracts water any way so I just put the honey with 1 or 2 measures of water and leave it for a couple of days, shaking the container every time I pass it.

We don't have as good a range of honey available here, as you lot in the US have access too so I like to make sure that the "quality" of the honey is retained as much as I can.

I don't have a stainless airstone so don't aerate like that, but the blender/liquidiser tricks have all worked fine for me.......

 

[huesmann]

Stainless, bah. I just soak it in sanitizer for a bit before dunking it in the must.

 

[stabthebunny]

I just thought I would follow up on what happened.

The yeast I had bought was just bad. I tried it in another gallon bottle and still no activity and even tried to rehydrate and proof it and got absolutely no fermentation going on. Things are working much better with the new batches I made using Lavain EC-1118.

Thanks for all the replies. If nothing else I learned quite a bit from my first attempt.