Is my mead wrong?

[Antonio Marotta]

HELP!
So I made 25 gallons of mead 4 days ago. 3 in 5 gallon good grade buckets and 2 in 5 gallon carboys. All with Lalvin D47 except one was an ale yeast.
So my problem and question... 4 days later I am still seeing a 2 inch layer of honey on the bottom (I thought I mixed it well initially).
The air locks are all bubbling, but not as constant as the batch I made last year. Maybe about one bulb every 5 seconds?
Any suggestions?
1 carboy is D47 yeast, 15 pounds of honey and a snack box of raisins.

1 carboy is D47, 15 pounds of honey and a package of mashed strawberries.

1 bucket is D47, 15 pounds of honey and a bag of mashed up once frozen cherries.

1 bucket is D47, 15 pounds of honey and a 4 cut up oranges.

1 bucket is Ale yeast, 15 pounds of honey and 2 teaspoons yeast nutrient.

 

[bkboiler]

honestly it sounds fine to me.
i’d swirl them if that makes u feel better, but on Bray’s One Month mead recipe it says to wait to 1/3 sugar break before shaking...your call.
RDWHAHM

 

[Toxxyc]

Undissolved honey is bad for yeast, like really bad for yeast. It can kill it and produce serious off flavours. A few questions:

1. What is your fermentation temperatures like?
2. What was your procedure like?
3. Did you add any nutrients to the other batches as well? (Fruit is not a nutrient)

Maybe post a picture if you can? It's possible that it's sediment on the bottom and not honey. If it's honey and you're sure it's honey, you're going to have to stir/shake those fermenters ASAP to make sure it mixes in properly. I would also feed all batches according to TOSNA 2.0, and not only with a single feeding up front.

PS: Bray's One Month Mead (the BOMM) only works by following that EXACT recipe. Anything else and it's not a BOMM. Deviate from it, and it's not the same, so don't assume it's all the same. Mead is quite sensitive in some regards, but also a lot less sensitive in others, so treat it simply like it needs and you'll be rewarded!

 

[RPh_Guy]

on Bray’s One Month mead recipe it says to wait to 1/3 sugar break before shaking

No, it says degas daily.
Aerating is good multiple times daily before the 1/3 break.

 

[Antonio Marotta]

I don’t know the temps. I’m new to all this. This is only my second batch.
Procedure: put 5 pounds of honey in carbon/pail, fill with warm water. Mix it up (I could of done this better possibly). Add yeast. I put the yeast in very warm water for 15 mins to activate.
I only added nutrient to one batch and the railings in 1 more. I thought the fruit would be the nutrient for the others.

Is it too late? Anything I can do now?

Undissolved honey is bad for yeast, like really bad for yeast. It can kill it and produce serious off flavours. A few questions:

1. What is your fermentation temperatures like?
2. What was your procedure like?
3. Did you add any nutrients to the other batches as well? (Fruit is not a nutrient)

Maybe post a picture if you can? It's possible that it's sediment on the bottom and not honey. If it's honey and you're sure it's honey, you're going to have to stir/shake those fermenters ASAP to make sure it mixes in properly. I would also feed all batches according to TOSNA 2.0, and not only with a single feeding up front.

PS: Bray's One Month Mead (the BOMM) only works by following that EXACT recipe. Anything else and it's not a BOMM. Deviate from it, and it's not the same, so don't assume it's all the same. Mead is quite sensitive in some regards, but also a lot less sensitive in others, so treat it simply like it needs and you'll be rewarded!

 

[Shine0n]

Go to the brew shop and buy some yeast nutes, degas twice a day for 8-10 days and buy a wine whip it to the degassing and it will mix up the honey nicely.

D47 is temp sensitive, it likes 60f. Not higher than 67ish but I've used it higher with decent results but it was a lower abv style mead.

You've put alot of money in this so don't mess with skimping now.

Just curious, what honey did you use?

If it were me I would've made 25 gal in a brute and then racked into the carboys but tis what it tis.

Raisins are not the best for nutes!

 

[Antonio Marotta]

Thanks. Is it too late to add yeast nutrient? I have some already. I think it's disodium phosphate?
I bought a stirrer online and it will be arriving tomorrow.
The honey came from my honey bees. They pull from my mothers garden. The honey was nice and dark.
What's a 25 gallon brute? I have 2 13 gallon Demijohns, but I didnt want to make 1 flavor.

Go to the brew shop and buy some yeast nutes, degas twice a day for 8-10 days and buy a wine whip it to the degassing and it will mix up the honey nicely.

D47 is temp sensitive, it likes 60f. Not higher than 67ish but I've used it higher with decent results but it was a lower abv style mead.

You've put alot of money in this so don't mess with skimping now.

Just curious, what honey did you use?

If it were me I would've made 25 gal in a brute and then racked into the carboys but tis what it tis.

Raisins are not the best for nutes!

 

[Shine0n]

You would need to take a sg reading, as long as you aren't past the 1/3 sugar depletion you should be fine.

Also I used a wire coat hanger in a cordless drill to degas until mine arived.

You should add nutes at yeast pitch, the next day and every other day for 4 days. Degas twice a day for 8-10 days and you'll see how much faster and cleaner your ferments will go. You also need to stay in the temp range of you yeast and better yet would be on the lower end of that range.

You're a lucky person to have the bees at your disposal.

 

[Shine0n]

Oh yea, a brute is a feed storage bin or trashcan. They make both

 

[Shine0n]

Damn, I'll get all this out if it kills me lol

Once you get down on the sg you can rack a traditional mead onto fruit to get the most out of the flavors. I use alot of fruit, sometimes at 5 lb per gallon.

I do on occasion use half in primary and the second half in the secondary. Both are different tastes.
Where are you located? I assume abroad as most Americans say carboy.

 

[Maylar]

Keep an eye on your gravity, and figure out where you are each time with respect to alcohol %. Disodium phosphate (DAP) can't be absorbed by the yeast after about 9% and what doesn't get used will remain in the mead and you will taste it.
The recommended nutrient nowadays is organic nitrogen like Fermaid-O.

 

[Antonio Marotta]

I don’t know anything about the sugars (1/3 depletion, etc). I measured the original SG at 15%. Today the Lalvin is at 70 SG and the ale yeast is at 50.
So is it too late for nutrient?
Should I not use DAP at all?

 

[Maylar]

If you started at 15% (1.114) you'll be at 9% around 1.045. Don't add any more DAP below that.

 

[Antonio Marotta]

BTW, I am in Upstate NY. I started a bee hive just for fun and ended up with a lot of honey and nothing to do with it... so I made mead. 100 pounds of honey this year.