Mead....My first

[Danml]

My first try at a mead

A recipe from Winemakers handbook for a sweet mead.

3 1/4 lb honey
7 pints of water
3 tsp malic acid
1 1/2 tsp tartaric acid
1/4 tsp tannin
3/4 tsp energizer
2 camden, crushed
1 Sauternes yeast

I doubled this recipe for 2 gals. The only thing that I am not sure of is the type of yeast I used. It is what the guy gave me and I can't remember what it was.
My question is the SG. It started at 1.110. It has been in primary for 6 days and has not dropped from this reading.
Am I being to impatient ?

 

[Javila]

Yep, fermentation should have already started. I have had same problem when making meads. I finally broke down and always make a yeast starter (for meads and fruit wines) per the instructions for Lalvin ec-1118. I warm up regular tap water 50ml to 107 degrees, make sure the yeast has been at room temperature. About 30 minutes you will see yeast foaming. What I do at this time is add about a tablespoon of mead to the hungry yeast cells, wait about 15 more minutes then add another tablespoon. When the mixture is going full blast then I slowly add to the mead. Make sure mead and mixture are close to same temperature . Njoy - Joe



Here is link for this; http://www.lalvinyeast.com/strains.asp .....page down and you will see instructions for "rehydration".

ps. You are working with 2 gallons, IMO I would just use 1/2 packet for the yeast starter, then sprinkle remaining on top of the mead at same time you add the yeast starter. This way your mead will have active yeast going and fresh yeast also at the starting gate.

 

[robie]

What's the temperature of the must? Get it up to about 75 to 78F to get it started. Use a brew belt if you have one. Once fermentation starts, it will provide its own heat. Once fermentation slows, add heat again to keep temp about 70F until it finishes.

 

[Danml]

I did not mention that it has been fermenting all along......but the SG has not droped. Sorry bout that, I did not give that info in the OP

 

[robie]

I did not mention that it has been fermenting all along......but the SG has not droped. Sorry bout that, I did not give that info in the OP

Meads can take a long, long time to complete fermentation, so the SG can drop very slowly.

If it is bubbling away and generating some of its own heat, it is fermenting. Just be patient.

 

[seth8530]

From what ive read from a very knowledgeable mead forum, the secret to a nice clean speedy fermentation is proper nutrients... Honey is pretty much sugar water, yeast needs more than sugar water to be happy.

 

[fatbloke]

Whereas, if you added all those ingredients in the first post, I'd suggest that you probably have stunned the hell out of the yeast with the campden tablets and the acid additions will have given it the pH level of battery acid.

You don't add campdens to a must unless there's a likelihood of the must needing something to prevent any wild yeast problems (with fruit etc).

Plus, honey is already acidic enough. Because it's very sweet, you don't usually taste the acid as it's masked by the sugars, but if tested, it's there. It's pretty much current technique, to only add acids after the ferment has completed, and added in tiny quantity too taste.

If you can, take a test of the pH, it will need to be above 3.2 pH, but any higher isn't a problem (where lower is). Plus, stirring the hell out of it, should help dissipate the sulphite (campden tablets).

To correct any pH issue, some calcium carbonate usually raises it, just use it a tiny amount at a time, if it's needed of course (which I'd guess that it is).

p.s. Seth's comment is also good. The terms "energiser" and "nutrient" can be a little misleading. I try to remember that energiser = DiAmmonium phosphate (a.k.a. DAP) and nutrient = FermaidK type ingredient. Plus, some excellent reading/guidance can be found here......

p.p.s. but whether it's right or not to add acids at the start, if nothing else, you have used/got, what I understand to be the best mix for meads i.e. 2 parts malic to 1 part tartaric (that's the mix recommended in Ashton & Duncans now out of print "Making Mead" book - and IMO, it works, works well)