Introductions!

[Skeith]

Hi everyone! I'm Skeith and I recently got interested in making mead and ginger beer. My first attempt was atrocious but that's part of the fun, right?

pleased to make your acquaintance.

 

[An Ankoù]

Likewise, Skeith.
Asia's a big place. Any particular part?

In what way was it atrocious? Ginger beer is easy to throw away if it goes wrong, but honey is expensive. What went wrong?

 

[AkTom]

Howdy.

 

[wallyLOZ]

Welcome to HBT!

 

[Skeith]

In what way was it atrocious? Ginger beer is easy to throw away if it goes wrong, but honey is expensive. What went wrong?

my mead's PH is a bit high (4.3) and I think that the fermentation had stalled, won't go below 1.091.

My ginger beer simply won't ferment at all.

 

[An Ankoù]

my mead's PH is a bit high (4.3) and I think that the fermentation had stalled, won't go below 1.091.

My ginger beer simply won't ferment at all.

There's something very wrong with both those cases. If you share your recipes and process info, we might be able to help.
First shot is that there's something wrong with the yeast or the pitching temperature. Maybe you're using Campden tablets or similar in the must. Let us know what;s going on. We've all been there.
Yeah, they say mead ferments better with a slightly lower pH, but I doubt that;s the problem.

 

[Skeith]

Ok so what happened with the mead is that the honey didn't mix well in the water when I started despite my best effort to mix it thoroughly. I got a very low OG of 1.025 or something close, so I manually mixed it until it was 1.057. My guess is that it still didn't mix all the way through because now the the gravity is 1.091. I'll have to think of a better, more effective solution for mixing besides shaking for 10 minutes. For now I've added more yeast, I think it stalled.

Regarding the PH I was more concerned with botulism.