Shot in the dark mead

[dttk0009]

So I had an extra pack of WB-06 lying around but almost no malt to ferment it with. I decided to take a shot in the dark to craft a mead-ale of sorts. I did a bit of reading online and mead recipes typically call for yeast nutrients and the like as well. Since I don't have anything of the sort at hand, my recipe was as follows:

4kg Jasmine Honey
300g Amber Malt Extract

Boiled for around 20 minutes with a couple of cinnamon sticks in 5L of water. Topped off to 20L, cooled to 28C and pitched. Fermentation temperature of 19C was hit roughly 6 hours later (I know now that I should cool before topping off, specifically to fermenting temp, ah well).

Every now and again I get delightful wafts of honey emanating from my fermentation vessel. It's been roughly 5 days and I saw no krausen and there's no sediment at the bottom. I had a hard time telling if it was fermenting at all so I took a hydrometer reading. The liquid left a big head and was slightly carbonated. It clocked in at just over 1.060 (maybe misread it), but it was incredibly sweet when I tasted it, basically just like carbonated honey water.

How can I tell if this is properly fermenting? I'm sorta thinking of dumping it as I basically just did it to use up the last of my yeast as a shot in the dark. Worth keeping around? I've read that mead can take months to condition. Should I bottle it in a week or so and store it for 4-6 months?

Edit - Forgot to mention that I'm fermenting at around 18C

 

[fatbloke]

The absence of most nutrient in honey make it likely to take a long time to ferment. Yes, nutrient content of the malt will help......

I certainly wouldn't have heated it up like that. The malt extract will already have been treated and the honey doesn't need heating, unless it was crystaline and just needed enough warmth to get it moving.

All you can really do is take frequent measurements with a hydrometer, as long as the reading is going down, it's still fermenting.

If you know the starting gravity (or brix), and can find the tech info for the yeast so you know what the alcohol tolerance is, you'll be able to work out what the strength/%ABV will be......

regards

fatbloke