possible stuck fermentation...

[sailman]

my first batch of a sweet mead has been in the fermentor now for 2 weeks.. the beginning OG was 1.12...it never really vigoriously started to ferment however it did ferment (getting about 18 bubbles per minute)..fermentation has definately slowed down.. we are only getting about 3 bubbles per minute and took a specific gravity. The gravity was only 1.082. I dont have a way to check the ph..

what are some suggestions? should i rack it into a secondary carboy, add some nutrients and aerate it really well...

pretty sure its a slow fermenation because it definately has fermented some..dont want to lose a good batch..

tasted it and its really sweet and has a good flavor but you can definately tell its got a long ways to go..

thanks for any help..

 

[sailman]

after doing some reading .. i see where some suggest just stirring the must some to get some oxygen going to give the yeast some activity...

after just taking some of the mead out with the wine theif and stirring it just a tad with that im seeing about 1 blip every 18-19 seconds..

dont know if this helps or if im just not patient enough to just sit and wait

 

[david_42]

30 points in two weeks is very fast for a mead. Meads generally take 6 months to a year to ferment completely. Sometimes more. The OBC did a yeast experiment with mead a few years ago and some of the mead was bottled after a year without any extra sugar for carbonation and they had bottle bombs.

If you are in a hurry, don't do meads.

 

[ALPS]

Honey has little nutients for yeast. For a good fast(er) ferment you need to add some.

Add some yeast nutrient and DAP then aerate the must as much as you can. 2-3 minutes of pure O2 would be good. Or just sir it up. A lot. Don't worry about oxidizing your must at this point, it isn't even close to being done.

 

[sailman]

we added 4 tsp acid blend, 1 tbsp gypsum, 5 tsp yeast nutrient and .25 oz yeast nutrient to the must before racking to the fermentor...

do you feel that i should add more at this point and aerate it more? or should i let it sit and see.. im getting about 3-4 blips per minute in the airlock right now.

 

[ALPS]

Some people say staggered nutrient additions give good results. Instead of adding all your nutrients at pitching, some is added at pitching,a bit more after 24-36 hours after fermentation starts and a small amount at the midpoint of fermentation. I don't have the amounts off hand, but it's worked well for me.

Some say you should stir daily for the first half of fermentation. Since you have added all your nutrients already, check the gravity and if it's still high try stirring.

 

[sailman]

well i added some nutrients last evening....needless to say it may not be stuck completely but its SLOW!...so i added 2 tsp yeast nutrients, 2 tsp high alcohol yeast nutrient and took out a good portion and whipped it in the blender as i had read on some other sights to try and get some oyxgen in it..

i did take a gravity reading as well and it was 1.072... so it has dropped another 10 pts but im only getting a bubble every now and again..

do you think i should repitch some yeast? need some suggestions so i dont lose this batch!

 

[NurseNan]

How goes the batch so far? Is it still fermenting?

 

[sailman]

well on 6/30 i repitched a yeast starter to get it going again.. as of today is very very clear but not doing anything... i need to take a specific gravity and decide what to do... im thinking about racking it over and pitching some champagne yeast if the gravity reading is still not the best...

it was also still very very sweet last time we tasted it and i dont want it bitter i dont want it so sweet either so i think the champagne yeast may help to dry it out

 

[sailman]

well today we racked over to a secondary and took a specific gravity.. realized that it definately had a LONG ways to go.. the yeast i had been using just wasnt enough and did not do the job..

the beginning gravity was 1.12 and today it was 1.074...so we started a yeast starter with some champagne yeast and will pitch it in about a day or so...

its still very sweet and you can tell the alcohol is not where i want it.. still a good honey flavor but too sweet...im know the champagne yeast will dry it out and i may have to back sweeten a bit but at least it will get the fermentation going again..

thought id share a recent photo of it though.. stuff is SUPER clear ..

 

[andylegate]

That is one heck of a clear looking mead all right.

I've done several batchs of beer, which is fun to do as it works fast and you can be drinking your product in about 3 weeks, which is very fast as compared to meads.

On the other had, the taste of mead is like nothing else, you just really have to have the patients for it. I decided to try and do a "Quick Mead" meaning that it was only going to take 2 to 2.5 months to make, which is really fast for a mead. This recipe is for a Strawberry Mead and yelds about 1 gallon.
After about 1 week, the strawberrys had lost their color and it was time to rack the mead at that point. There was a good dose of alcohol in it already and it was sweet as all get out. At this point the mead had been not producing a lot of activity in the air lock, but I wasn't too worried about it. The recipe had me use a packet of Red Star Champaign Yeast.
Well, it also called for adding Pectin Enzyme at this point (gelitin) not much, just a little bit since this is just a gallon batch.
Man, when I did, the mead went CRAZY! It foamed up like something else, and the air lock began to gurggle away like one of my ales!
About a week later it had slowed down, but was still bubbling away. I decided to sample a taste, and was suddenly down in the dumps! The Pectin had put the champaign yeast into some sort of "overdrive" and now all the sweetness was GONE, what I tasted was a highly alcoholic flat champaign.
Point it, I wanted it SWEET. So after talking to people on here, I waited until the yeast was basically done, then added some Potassium Sorbate to stablize it, then let it sit again for a while. When I ready, I'll have to back sweeten the must with more honey or lactose.
Lesson is this: Don't get into a hurry. Meads take a long time, but the wait is worth it. More than likely when this thing I've created is ready, it won't taste near as good as a traditional mead recipe would have. There are no short cuts to a good thing.