Need help please

[DLKpunk]

So I have made a batch of Raspberry mead where I added about a pound of raspberries to 3.5 pounds of honey and about a gallon of water, with fresh lemon and lime juice... but the raspberries have begone to block the top. Should I worry about this and take the raspberries out so the mead can get rid of the CO2? It has already exploded into my airlock once but after that there were no more signs of fermentation and it's been 36 hours.

 

[theblackwolf]

for future endeavors i suggest getting a 2 gallon bucket(home depot, paint section) drilling a hole for your airlock and using that for a primary fermentor if you are making melomels( mead with fruit addition). because idk the science behind it but when you pitch your yeast into melomels the vigorous foaming increases until like you did it blew into the airlock. the extra volume you get with the 2 gallon bucket helps prevent fruit explosions. now for the next pieces of advice i need more did you replace the old airlock with a clean and sanitized airlock? have you added any nutrients or energizers?

 

[bernardsmith]

Not sure that you need to do any drilling. A two gallon bucket loosely covered is all you need for the primary, unless you are brewing beer. You want to get at the liquor and stir a couple of times a day to degas, to incorporate air... and to ensure that any fruit you have added or that you are fermenting is continually submerged (the CO2 produced by the yeast will force fruit to the surface and the fruit may be less dense than the must so it will tend to float ).

 

[Drewed]

As for now, you will want to get in there and stir or shake it at least twice daily, and be careful, it is going to foam and fiz all over the place. Keep a firm grip over the air lock hole, or better, remove the air lock and stir.

 

[DLKpunk]

for future endeavors i suggest getting a 2 gallon bucket(home depot, paint section) drilling a hole for your airlock and using that for a primary fermentor if you are making melomels( mead with fruit addition). because idk the science behind it but when you pitch your yeast into melomels the vigorous foaming increases until like you did it blew into the airlock. the extra volume you get with the 2 gallon bucket helps prevent fruit explosions. now for the next pieces of advice i need more did you replace the old airlock with a clean and sanitized airlock? have you added any nutrients or energizers?

I added pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient... for about how long should I keep it in primary?

 

[Drewed]

Untill it is done.

I'm not being a dick here, it will take as long as it takes. It might be a week, might be a month, might be longer. You need to taste and take gravity readings to see where it is at.

BAD METHOD:
Leave it in the primary untill the ferm lock stops bubbling / the mead starts to clear.