Yeast issues and perhaps temperature?

[collin8579]

So I am making a batch of lemonade/honey mead suggested by one of the other posts in here.

I used a wyeast sweet mead yeast package. It got going from what I could see, and I poured it in per directions.

However, after I poured It I noticed the temperature on my liquid was close to 80-
The yeast package had 75 as a max, and I had no real way to cool it off, but I brought it in from the garage to the house, which is 71.
15 hours later, no activity and the temperature is in mid-high 70s
The lemonade or something seems to have settled. I stirred it up before I Pitched the yeast but I guest there is just heavier elements.

Should I Pitch a different yeast? Wait it out?
I don't want to ruin my batch.

Thanks

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

So I am making a batch of lemonade/honey mead suggested by one of the other posts in here.

I used a wyeast sweet mead yeast package. It got going from what I could see, and I poured it in per directions.

However, after I poured It I noticed the temperature on my liquid was close to 80-
The yeast package had 75 as a max, and I had no real way to cool it off, but I brought it in from the garage to the house, which is 71.
15 hours later, no activity and the temperature is in mid-high 70s
The lemonade or something seems to have settled. I stirred it up before I Pitched the yeast but I guest there is just heavier elements.

Should I Pitch a different yeast? Wait it out?

I don't want to ruin my batch.

Thanks

I'm not familiar with the yeast you are using, but 80F shouldn't kill it off. I'd give it a little more time. Perhaps if in 24 hours you see no action it could be time to worry. Is this very acidic?

 

[collin8579]

Well it has 5 cans of lemonade concentrate for 5 gallons of water. 5 lb Honey and 2 lb sugar

 

[porterpounder]

Depending on how much lemon juice the yeast may not be able to accommodate the low acidity. You can dilute or adjust with salts once you know if it's too low.

 

[collin8579]

How can I tell if it's the acid issue.?

 

[DungMonster]

If you want to be ghetto and check acid/alkaline of liquid look under your fish tank for the paper water testing strips. Pull off a smidgeon of the liquid from top bottom and middle (the readings can vary due to mixing issues) test each one. It will tell you how acidic you 'water' is but don't take this as definitive just as a ghetto guide. As for the heat and your yeast... unless the mixture was boiling or too hot for you to hold your hand in you have nothing to fear. Yeast will go dormant above and below those 'ideal' temperatures. Though if you pasturize it the same will happen, pasturization happens about 161 F or 72 C dependant on altitude and a few other minor factors that are not worth listing.

edit...
after reading your post againt dont worry about the acidity being low. With 5 cans of lemon concentrate it is highly unlikely to be anywhere close to low since lemons are acidic by nature, unless you used artificially flavored fake crap. This fake stuff can also be artificially flavored which gives your yeast little to no sugars at 1 lb of honey per gallon for a sweeter yeast. So check what sweetner was in the lemondade concentrate. Also, as for fermentation ignition it can take a few days sometimes, very dependant on yeast and temperatures. So wait about 2 to 3 days before you stress anything. I generally wait longer but I am cheap and lazy.

 

[collin8579]

The lemonade used high fructose corn syrup. Honey. 2lb raw sugar. Should have enough edibles

 

[DungMonster]

Ok nothing wrong with hfcs. I feed that to my bees. People whine about it a lot saying it is the devil but it is only bad due to the actual amout consumed since it is in everything. In reality it is no worse than sugar in our bodies, neither being the best food source. I have not done any actual tests/reseach if yeast treat it exactly the same as sugar or honey but eventually I may if my bees ever die off.

 

[Arpolis]

wyeast sweet mead yeast In my experience is not the most friendly yeast to use out there. I find it stalls easily, especially in citrous melomels. Not to be all doom and gloom it is also known for many liquid yeasts to not start. Visible rapid fermentation for 48 - 72 hours after yeast pitch. My first skeeter pee attempt "wine version of what you are doing. Took approximately 50 some odd hours before I noticed airlock movement. Mixing the must twice daily to introduce oxygen into the must helps a lot.

After 72 hours I would contemplate using a different stronger yeast. For re-pitch purposes the only go to yeast for me would be Lalvin k1v-1116. Creates a great product and does well in stalled fermentations. But you would need to do a stepped starter for it. Place the dry yeast in 2 cups of water with a spoon full of honey and a pinch on nutrients or chopped raisins. Wait a couple hours. Add 1/4 cup of your must and wait another couple hours, mix and add another 1/4 cup of must. Repeat until you have 4 cups of liquid and then leave for 2 more hours. Finally pitch the yeast.

 

[collin8579]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1455944046.552101.jpg
This is what it looks like now. Is this good activity? The foam? On top wasn't there this morning

 

[Arpolis]

That looks like little to no activity. But hard to say without an initial pick of when you first pitched yeast. The color of the mead will turn more tan colored as the yeast multiply and grow in numbers. If it is obviously more tan the. The yeast colony is growing and you can just keep whipping it up daily. But if gravity does not change over day 5 then for sure it is dead.

 

[collin8579]

It's more tan and bubbling gently now, which even I can see is a good sign it's finally going. Thank you all for your help. I won't be a newbie much longer with this great community

 

[ErickJ]

It's more tan and bubbling gently now, which even I can see is a good sign it's finally going. Thank you all for your help. I won't be a newbie much longer with this great community

Where can I find your recipe? Thanks.

 

[Arpolis]

It's more tan and bubbling gently now, which even I can see is a good sign it's finally going. Thank you all for your help. I won't be a newbie much longer with this great community

Sounds good. With your yeast do not be afraid to add plenty yeast nutrients. I like to go a little more than the recommended yeast nutrient addition spread out over the first week or so of active fermentation. Keep the yeast fed and happy and they will do good things for you.

 

[collin8579]

Where can I find your recipe? Thanks.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=128099

I think that's the thread I started with. Although I changed some stuff.
I started with 5lb honey and 4 cans lemonade. Then two lbs of raw sugar. I didn't have corn sugar and was too lazy to go to my homebrew store. My og was less than desirable at about 1.65 or so. So I added another can of lemonade to the mix, and some agave nectar? I think it's called. It upped my gravity to close to 1.8.
I'm also using wyeast sweet mead yeast.
I am basically looking for a hard lemonade with honey tones. So we shall see. And, I'm experimenting. It's a great hobby

 

[collin8579]

Sounds good. With your yeast do not be afraid to add plenty yeast nutrients. I like to go a little more than the recommended yeast nutrient addition spread out over the first week or so of active fermentation. Keep the yeast fed and happy and they will do good things for you.

It seems to be happy now. Tan and bubbly. I'm not afraid to add more nutrients in the coming days. Is there too much I can add?

 

[Arpolis]

Sure there is a thing as too much but I think that is only if you are getting to the 2.5-3 tsp per gallon mark. Some yeast are fine with less or more than the normal 1tsp per gallon. I would average out something closer to about 2tsp per gallon for your brew spread out over 3 additions within the first week. Just watch the gravity and if it drops less one check then it did the prior but still has plenty fermentables then add a little more nutrients. If dropping gravity fast add a little less. You got to learn to let the brew talk to you and tell you what she needs.

 

[collin8579]

So its been going for a few days and now it has slowed to a veritable standstill. The Gravity is about 1.5, and there are little to no bubbles going on
Yesterday morning I added 1 tsp nutrient but nothing has changed since then. I'm going to add a few more tsp tonight, maybe 2-4 which will push my total nutrient to 2tsp per gallon total (if I do 4)
or should I just add 2 today and 2 in a day or two

Thanks

 

[Arpolis]

Looks like there are lots of fermentables and it should not slow down too much at this step. I would add probably the 4 and make sure to degas the mead as much as possible. A wine whip on a drill works best. I have even made one out of a coat hanger that was bent at odd places and whipped it up to reduce that level of dissolved CO2. You want to push this yeast to get to at the very least 1.030. That will be the high end of sweet gravitys.

 

[collin8579]

Degassing really helps? I have a hand blender with whisk attachment. Will that work?

 

[Arpolis]

Degassing can help a good bit. Dissolved cos is carbonic acid. The more there is the more osmotic pressure the yeast have and the lower the PH. All stress points for yeast.

 

[collin8579]

So I degassed the crap out of it, and 36 hours later it still has no real movement in SG, nor many bubbles.
It has a few tiny ones in the center, but nothing significant, doesn't even cause airlock movement in an hour or two
I added 3 more tsp of yeast nutrient as well


Either way, I'm not going to use that liquid wyeast again, it seems to cause so many problems.

Should I add a different type of yeast to nom on the remaining sugars? Thanks

 

[Arpolis]

Dry Lalvin ec-1118 is almost a sure fire yeast for any stuck fermentation. That yeast is like a freight train. Lalvin k1v-1116 is also very good as well if you can't find 1118. Red star Pasteur Champagne is also a very good yeast for something like this. I would recommend any of those.

 

[collin8579]

Thank you I'll use one of those

 

[collin8579]

Dry Lalvin ec-1118 is almost a sure fire yeast for any stuck fermentation. That yeast is like a freight train. Lalvin k1v-1116 is also very good as well if you can't find 1118. Red star Pasteur Champagne is also a very good yeast for something like this. I would recommend any of those.

So I used the ec1118 and stepped it up before putting it into the mead. Next day it was rolling nicely and I thought all was well. I checked the sg today and it only went down .75 from last check before I put the new yeast in, and it's back to baby bubbles. I checked the acidity and that's fine. Any other thoughts?

 

[On-target]

By any chance was there any potasium sorbate in the concentrate that you used?

 

[collin8579]

No. No sorbate. I checked my ingredients before I purchase for such.

 

[Masbustelo]

I'm thinking you have pH problems. Try a tablespoon of Calcium Carbonate. Or unflavored Tums. I'm assuming you have no way of verifying your pH.

 

[Arpolis]

So I used the ec1118 and stepped it up before putting it into the mead. Next day it was rolling nicely and I thought all was well. I checked the sg today and it only went down .75 from last check before I put the new yeast in, and it's back to baby bubbles. I checked the acidity and that's fine. Any other thoughts?

So wait. Your gravity was at 1.080 "because 1.8 is unheard of", and it dropped .075? Leaving you at about 1.005ish? That is about perfect. Should need to do nothing but let it clear. Once clear, rack and stabilize with Sorbate and Camden. After 24 hours add additional honey to about 1.010 - 1.020 depending on how sweet you want it.

 

[collin8579]

Sorry, had my numbers mixed up as you noticed
no, its sitting at about 1.04 right now, and was between 1.08 and 1.1 when it started
Even after I added the ec-118 and let it sit,, its "gently bubbling",, you can kind of see it in the picture above
My acid level is good, or was good, and I even added calcium carbonate to try and change it, to see what would happen, to no avail

 

[Undead8]

Did you aerate the must at least once a day in the initial stages of fermentation (the first 1/3)?

I'm using the same yeast right now. I aerate twice a day. I pitched 60 hours ago and the airlock has 1 bubble / sec. I saw fermentation activity in the first 24 hours.

I hope it does not get stuck. Other people had good result with that yeast.