Mead in China

[Ganbei]

Yes sorry forgive the pun

First time home brewer here. I'm from the Netherlands, living in Guangzhou, China.

Finally started my first batch of Mead last week. I can tell you that getting the equipment and ingredients in China is no walk in the park. The normal glass carboys are impossible to find and the one i did find arrived in 1000 pieces.
So i ordered the 'Chinese' type glass carboys (pictures to follow later)

China is a major honey supplier, but due to concerns of tainted or diluted honey it took me some time to find a trustworthy supplier as well. I did eventually did find one (i think, one never knows in China).

The Mead:
5 Gallon
OG 1.120
Honeysuckle Flower Honey (very fragrant)
Champagne Yeast

SG reading after 1 week: 1.090
Concerned i made the mistake of not aerating multiple times during the first week, hence the SG didn't drop as much as i expected. Plan to aerate a bit more this 2nd week.


Anyone else out here in the Middle Kingdom??

 

[estricklin]

Welcome to the forum, and mead making.

You may find that using regular 5 gallon plastic food grade buckets are easier to find where you are, maybe even those plastic clear water jugs that are shaped like carboys. Both will work fine for a fermenting vessel. You don't even need an airlock, a piece of plastic wrap will work fine.

I've heard of the problems with honey from China, glad you were able to find a decent supplier.

Are you using yeast nutrient?

 

[Ganbei]

Thanks for the welcome message!

Forgot to mention, but i was able to find a Northern Brewer fermenting bucket.

I added Wyeast Yeast Nutrients according to the instructions. Should i add more 1 week in?

The 'Chinese' glass carboys look like this:

I'm not happy about it having a plastic lid, but you gotta work with what is available right?

 

[noblesquirrel]

there's nothing wrong with plastic lids

 

[progmac]

Thanks for the welcome message!

Forgot to mention, but i was able to find a Northern Brewer fermenting bucket.

I added Wyeast Yeast Nutrients according to the instructions. Should i add more 1 week in?

Try adding a bit more nutrient now and then a final dose when gravity is around 1.079 (that is approximately the '1/3 sugar break'). Dosage depends on what you added initially. Also think about degassing daily until the gravity falls to around the 1/2 sugar break (around 1.060 in your case).

 

[Ganbei]

Sorry didn't update here.

After my last message i added a bit more nutrient, degassed/aerated twice last week.

Last Sunday's reading was 1.08, so going too slow i guess. Added the final bit of nutrients, but started degassing and aerating daily.

Added challenge is that the temperature suddenly dropped from 25 degrees C to 11 degrees C. So gonna improvise some heating tomorrow to keep the yeasties from falling asleep.

 

[Ganbei]

Update.

SG now dropped to 1.07, so dropping 0.01 point every week :-( degassing daily, added some nutrients but doesn't seem to matter - yeasties be stubborn.

Heating setup just a simple large bucket, water, aquarium heater and pump.

 

[Ganbei]

Update January 5th 2015.

Fermentation is really really stuck. SG at 1.062 for several weeks despite stirring, nutrient addition (not too much).

Ordered new packages of Red Star champagne yeast and Lalvin EC-118 to try, oak chips, ph stabilizer and other brand yeast nutrients.

Plan ‘O Action: Rack the current stuck fermentation batch in 2 secondary carboys. 1 will remain as is, other will get some oak chips to experiment.

Start new 5 Gallon batch in the then empty fermenting bucket, learning from my mistakes from the first batch （stir and aerate!).

 

[gratus fermentatio]

What is the must temp?

 

[Ganbei]

What is the must temp?

During the cold weeks we had i let it sit in a warm bath of ~20 degrees celcius.
The yeast strain is Red Star Champagne and it says it tolerates down to 15 degrees celcius, so i don't think it was the temp problem.

In hindsight it is probably a combination of not enough aerating and not enough/not the right nutrients. As stated in my other thread i cannot find Fermaid K, so have to make due with other nutrients.

Starting a new batch as soon as i get my newly ordered honey from more local beekeeper, probably next weekend.

 

[Gavin C]

Are you using a hydrometer or refractometer to measure the gravity. Sorry for the obvious query but if it's the latter, are you making the appropriate corrections to the reading?

 

[Ganbei]

Are you using a hydrometer or refractometer to measure the gravity. Sorry for the obvious query but if it's the latter, are you making the appropriate corrections to the reading?

I'm using a Hydrometer. Indeed I did compensate for the temperature.

I also double checked if the hydrometer isn't broken my measuring plain water. And as far as i can tell it isn't broken.

Anyway i already racked in to secondary. Added oak chips and marbles yesterday to lessen the headspace. Just gonna let it ride like that and focus on the new batch.

 

[KenSchramm]

Hello Ganbei-

I am wondering if you can provide any additional information about mead makers in China. I have an academic friend seeking information about the mead culture there.

Thanks,
Ken

 

[Peter D Day]

It is possible the honey is the problem. If it is tainted it may be working against the yeast.

 

[OceanRain]

Yes! I am also in the Middle Kingdom - Qingdao, on the East Coast.

Making a splendid ginger wine, and experimenting with others. Ready to venture into mead.

Where did you find champagne yeast in China? And where did you get your yeast nutrient? Taobao?

I haven't been able to find it.