Re-fermenting mead

[KZmerollin]

hey guys, so here's the thing. I just finished fermenting my mead and was about to bottle but when I check the alcohol percentage was pretty low and the mead tasted overly sweet so I was thinking of re-fermenting the mead and wanted to know whether it was possible to do so.

 

[Miraculix]

hey guys, so here's the thing. I just finished fermenting my mead and was about to bottle but when I check the alcohol percentage was pretty low and the mead tasted overly sweet so I was thinking of re-fermenting the mead and wanted to know whether it was possible to do so.

Depends on your alcohol levels. What was your og, what is your current gravity and how did you measure alcohol? What was the recipe?

 

[bernardsmith]

and of course it depends on whether you stabilized the mead before bottling. Did you add K-sorbate and K-meta? If you did you may have a problem getting any yeast to live in the mead.

 

[SKBugs]

If you re-pitch new yeast will the preciously added stabilizers still affect fermentation?

 

[Miraculix]

If you re-pitch new yeast will the preciously added stabilizers still affect fermentation?

Yes, of course.

 

[Wanne]

I've run into this same problem. Did another 3 gallon batch of blueberry last month. Used 10lbs honey and 1 1/2pks 71B. Had some blow back and a lot of foam the next day. Original OG was 1.110. I racked last week and gravity was 1.040 which = 9.1875ABV. Not pleased so I hydrated and repitched another pack of 71B and added about 24oz of Knudson blueberry juice (to fill up carboy) to try and get the ABV up in the 12-13 range. Still no activity...and repitched. Nothing. So I hydrated and pitched a pack of K1-V116 yesterday...and still nothing. Was told I screwed up my first repitch because I added fermax when rehydrating. So.....so far I've added 2 packs of 71B with no results...and just added K1-V1116 yesterday. And no...no stabilizers were added.

I'm going to assume I won't get another "full bubble" going and the repitched yeast will just do their thing silently? Anybody have any insights on what I have going on here and if I took the right steps to repitch? Or what steps I should be taking (ie: adding another 1/2 tsp fermax next week). Thanks in advance.

 

[Maylar]

I can't say what went wrong, but yeast can't use nutrients after about 9% alcohol, so don't add any.

 

[A-man]

I've run into this same problem. Did another 3 gallon batch of blueberry last month. Used 10lbs honey and 1 1/2pks 71B. Had some blow back and a lot of foam the next day. Original OG was 1.110. I racked last week and gravity was 1.040 which = 9.1875ABV. Not pleased so I hydrated and repitched another pack of 71B and added about 24oz of Knudson blueberry juice (to fill up carboy) to try and get the ABV up in the 12-13 range. Still no activity...and repitched. Nothing. So I hydrated and pitched a pack of K1-V116 yesterday...and still nothing. Was told I screwed up my first repitch because I added fermax when rehydrating. So.....so far I've added 2 packs of 71B with no results...and just added K1-V1116 yesterday. And no...no stabilizers were added.

I'm going to assume I won't get another "full bubble" going and the repitched yeast will just do their thing silently? Anybody have any insights on what I have going on here and if I took the right steps to repitch? Or what steps I should be taking (ie: adding another 1/2 tsp fermax next week). Thanks in advance.

I'm assuming you can't check pH - I don't have a pH meter myself but it's one of those things you check when you get a jacked up fermentation. Does it smell off?

You might try cold crashing it and racking it off all the stuff that's in it now, or even just a quart/liter sample of it, and start a separate yeast starter with GoFerm and some honey (or sugar) to make sure that yeast is alive and kicking then pitch it into the must with a little K2HCO3 to see if restarts. Then you'll know at least if the must has become compromised in some way.

 

[Wanne]

I'm assuming you can't check pH - I don't have a pH meter myself but it's one of those things you check when you get a jacked up fermentation. Does it smell off?

You might try cold crashing it and racking it off all the stuff that's in it now, or even just a quart/liter sample of it, and start a separate yeast starter with GoFerm and some honey (or sugar) to make sure that yeast is alive and kicking then pitch it into the must with a little K2HCO3 to see if restarts. Then you'll know at least if the must has become compromised in some way.

No...I don't have one or know how. Another guy asked me if I checked the pH. I'll probably have to wait a few days/week since I just stirred it up to try and get anything I pitched off the bottom. Was wondering if I should take the airlock off to give it some oxygen?

I think I'll give this suggestion you just gave me a try....why not? At this point I'm just hoping I didn't give it a bunch of off flavors. I mean 9.1875 ain't the end of the world...just not the area code I like living in. Thanks for the input!

 

[A-man]

No...I don't have one or know how. Another guy asked me if I checked the pH. I'll probably have to wait a few days/week since I just stirred it up to try and get anything I pitched off the bottom. Was wondering if I should take the airlock off to give it some oxygen?

I think I'll give this suggestion you just gave me a try....why not? At this point I'm just hoping I didn't give it a bunch of off flavors. I mean 9.1875 ain't the end of the world...just not the area code I like living in. Thanks for the input!

Yeah if it's drinkable it doesn't really matter.

The oxygenation is a good point though. If you're fermenter is full that's going to be difficult without splitting the batch anyway.

 

[dwhite60]

I have had mead stick before due to acidity.

Have you, OP, or Wanne, degassed your mead? The CO2 in solution adds acidity and will stop the yeast. Be careful, it will foam like crazy and possibly overflow.

First time I did this it wasn't long before it was bubbling again. Should do this twice a day for the first three to five days.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[bernardsmith]

I'm assuming you can't check pH - I don't have a pH meter myself but it's one of those things you check when you get a jacked up fermentation. Does it smell off?

You might try cold crashing it and racking it off all the stuff that's in it now, or even just a quart/liter sample of it, and start a separate yeast starter with GoFerm and some honey (or sugar) to make sure that yeast is alive and kicking then pitch it into the must with a little K2HCO3 to see if restarts. Then you'll know at least if the must has become compromised in some way.

Pitching good yeast into a possible problem batch is - in my opinion - a recipe for failure. You add small amounts of the problem batch to the starter and stop adding if the stalled batch does not begin to ferment And as long as the relatively small batches are activated you keep on adding to the starter until everything that was in the stalled batch is now in the starter and it's fermenting away happily.

 

[A-man]

Pitching good yeast into a possible problem batch is - in my opinion - a recipe for failure. You add small amounts of the problem batch to the starter and stop adding if the stalled batch does not begin to ferment And as long as the relatively small batches are activated you keep on adding to the starter until everything that was in the stalled batch is now in the starter and it's fermenting away happily.

Should work essentially the same. You're still pitching good yeast into a possible problem batch.

 

[dwhite60]

Should work essentially the same. You're still pitching good yeast into a possible problem batch.

Yes but, if your problem is acidity it won't take off either.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[A-man]

Yes but, if your problem is acidity it won't take off either.

All the Best,
D. White

That's right but if you are unable to test for pH you need a workaround to try for a restart thus the recent discussion.

 

[Seamonkey84]

If you didn’t stabilize already. Add 1/4 tsp per gallon of potassium carbonate or bicarbonate to buffer the ph (it’s used in the BOMM recipes regardless of starting ph) and degas it some. I would be careful and not mix in oxygen at this point. If you already racked off your original yeast cake/lees, use ec-1118 and make a small starter or step feed some of your mead into it for A day before pitching.