First time making mead - possibly messed up

[blake_carnai]

Hello all. I made 2 batches of mead for my first time and I have a few questions to know if I did it right.

First of all, the mead is made with honey water, blackberries, strawberries, and oranges. Me and my friends started 2 batches about 2 weeks ago. One 3 gallon batch and one 1 gallon batch. In the 3 gallon batch we added 2 packets of yeast because we thought you can't add too much. In the 1 gallon batch we only added half a packet of yeast. Anyways it has been 2 weeks, and they have both completely stopped bubbling. They used to have 1 bubble in the airlock like every few seconds, but now there is no bubbling. It might be worth mentioning that we used bread yeast because that is all they had at Walmart. Did we mess up somehow or is this normal at all? Should we move on to the bottling stage? Also another problem, one of the containers has some orange stuff built up on the sides. I'm thinking this is either yeast or oranges, but I don't know how it got there. I attached a picture of the orange stuff.

One last thing to mention is that there is a considerable pile of dead yeast on the bottom of both batches, does this mean it is done fermenting even though it's only been a few weeks?

Thanks for anyone that can help!

 

[CKuhns]

From the picture it is definately not done fermenting. Two weeks in most cases is not near enough time.

I would strongly suggest you get a hydrometer and check your gravity.

Without knowing how much honey you added, if you used nutrients and what temperature your fementing at there is no way for us to determine how its going.

Definately do not bottle at this point.

 

[CKuhns]

From the picture it is definately not done fermenting. Two weeks in most cases is not near enough time.

I would strongly suggest you get a hydrometer and check your gravity.

Without knowing how much honey you added, if you used nutrients and what temperature your fementing at there is no way for us to determine how its going.

Definately do not bottle at this point.

Edit:
Sorry, didnt mean to sound harsh. Mead takes time, give it at least another 3 to 4 weeks, rack and check your gravity. With a littlw care and some age you should be just fine.