NewBrewer, I did what?

[DontTreadOnMe]

Ok... I've learned a lot here on this site and was off to a great start, but, I got a little over anxious and may have caused an unrecoverable issue with my first mead.

Traditional...no fruit or spices, etc.
Everything was going fine,
1 gallon
D-47 Rehydrated
Yeast nutrients and Energizer added over first 3 days
Aerated daily
OG 1.090 01/21/16
FG .9995 over 10 day period
Racked to secondary 02/26/16 (would have been great if left alone!)

Here comes the dumb a** move........

It was racked onto 2+- cups of Honey because I thought it was too dry, then... it was to sweet and tasted like HONEY! duh! (But, I guess, would have been OK at this point, for an overly sweet mead!)

Here comes the even bigger dumb a** move

I rehydrated 1/2 pack of D-47 added it to a cup of the must in a separate container (active),
4 hrs later added 1/2 cup more of must to container(active),
4 hrs later added 1 cup of must to container (active),
4 hrs later I added this to secondary with 10 chopped raisins and 1/8 tsp of DAP

24 hours later I get approximately 1 bubble every 5 minutes or so and I'm afraid that the high alcohol content of the must killed most or all of my secondary yeast addition...Is my foolish move, to add yeast to the secondary in this situation recoverable...I'm not even sure if the minimal airlock activity is from fermentation- or if it's just off-gassing.

I will continue gravity readings in hopes (I think) that there is some sort of fermentation.
Today SG 1.040 OH CRAP? (he says...crying in his beer)

 

[Arpolis]

lol oh grasshopper. Everything is fine! Just relax. Your yeast may be at its alcohol tolerance or just not strong enough to finish this mead any further. But that is still not a problem. There are one of two things you can do.

1st: use a different yeast to ferment this further: red star pasture champagne or Lalvin ec-1118 can do this just fine. But let this mead sit as is for another 2-4 weeks before you try something like that. Do a starter just like you did the re-pitch of D47 and it will be fine. But seriously wait that 2-4 weeks. A bunch of sediment and yeast will fall out of your mead and make it easier for the new yeast to do its thing.

2nd: make another mead! Do it exactly like the first one. Or even try a different yeast for complexity. After it has gone 2-4 weeks and you have racked it once or twice. Blend the dry mead into the sweet mead until you get the gravity where you want it. Probably no higher then 1.020.

Either way will work. The second way probably more reliably. But honestly you have not mest up at all. Just gives you a little more experience.

 

[195877]

At least if you re-pitch EC-1118 you wont have to be as concerned about keeping the temp so low as with the d-47

 

[DontTreadOnMe]

lol oh grasshopper. Everything is fine! Just relax. Your yeast may be at its alcohol tolerance or just not strong enough to finish this mead any further. But that is still not a problem. There are one of two things you can do.

1st: use a different yeast to ferment this further: red star pasture champagne or Lalvin ec-1118 can do this just fine. But let this mead sit as is for another 2-4 weeks before you try something like that. Do a starter just like you did the re-pitch of D47 and it will be fine. But seriously wait that 2-4 weeks. A bunch of sediment and yeast will fall out of your mead and make it easier for the new yeast to do its thing.

2nd: make another mead! Do it exactly like the first one. Or even try a different yeast for complexity. After it has gone 2-4 weeks and you have racked it once or twice. Blend the dry mead into the sweet mead until you get the gravity where you want it. Probably no higher then 1.020.


Either way will work. The second way probably more reliably. But honestly you have not mest up at all. Just gives you a little more experience.

Thank you!
I will be ordering the ec-1118 today (in case I decide to re-pitch), along with another 1 gallon jug.
I will wait , while monitoring gravity, for 2-4 weeks as you suggest.
I will decide later but am leaning towards the 2nd: option. That way I'll have more mead and, will have a use for the extra jug I'm ordering.

 

[Arpolis]

Let us know how it goes!

 

[DontTreadOnMe]

Let us know how it goes!

I will, thanks again!

It is currently bleeping the airlock at approximately 1 per/ 4 minutes with very, very little noticeable activity. No gravity change today but who knows what might happen over the next few weeks (slow fermentation perhaps?)
And...I did order the ec-1118 and another jug.

 

[DontTreadOnMe]

just a quick up-date:
Gravity is on the move!
The airlock is bleeping 2 times a minute now with obvious activity at the surface (light foam and small bubbling at raisins)
SG is down from the 1.040 to a staggering 1.038

 

[Arpolis]

Great! Just ride it out then. See how it goes.

 

[195877]

Great! Just ride it out then. See how it goes.

Keep an eye on that temp...

 

[DontTreadOnMe]

I'm keeping the temp at about 67F, thanks

Thanks Arpolis,
I was also wondering if you think I should be degassing and or swirling to bring the yeast into suspension...or like you said; just ride it out?

 

[Arpolis]

I'm keeping the temp at about 67F, thanks

Thanks Arpolis,
I was also wondering if you think I should be degassing and or swirling to bring the yeast into suspension...or like you said; just ride it out?

I am a fan of letting it ride. I almost never stir yeast back into suspension. But it has been proven that when you often stir yeast it does help. Look up experiments with mead on stir plates. So stirring as much as you like would be fine.

 

[DontTreadOnMe]

I am a fan of letting it ride. I almost never stir yeast back into suspension. But it has been proven that when you often stir yeast it does help. Look up experiments with mead on stir plates. So stirring as much as you like would be fine.

Thanks, I will post progress in the coming days!

 

[DontTreadOnMe]

SG 1.026 so it looks like things are going relatively well. Sample was test tasted and most of the overwhelming honey flavor is gone. It continues to have bubbling and sparkles on the surface so it seems that it will get to a drinkable gravity (sweetness) level. I don't currently notice any off-smells (seems clean to this inexperienced nose) so eventual aging should hopefully turn this into something nice.

 

[Magnushate]

Mead making is all about time, usually the longer it sits, the better it gets. Some of my best batches so far I've all but forgot about them leaving it bulk age in secondary.

In the future, if you believe you've hit your alcohol tolerance on the yeast but still want to shake a bit of extra sweetness off the mead, I've added water to dilute the ABV (assuming enough room in the fermenter) which will kick start the yeast again. It usually gives you a more controllable result without adding a bunch of different types or more yeast and potentially introducing off flavors. In the end either way will work. Hope your mead turns out the way you hope and welcome to the hobby.

 

[nitack]

Mead making is all about time, usually the longer it sits, the better it gets. Some of my best batches so far I've all but forgot about them leaving it bulk age in secondary.

Listen to this. Make mead long enough and you'll forget something bulk aging, or even find bottles that are years old in the back of a closet and you'll say "I wonder what this is..."

Even better when you find something you didn't really like that got great with age. It happens all the time.