My new mead

[Dend78]

2 gallons welches white grape juice
1 gallon ~12lbs honey
water up to just over 5 gallons
yeast nutrient
yeast energizer
pectic enzyme
wyeast sweet mead yeast

last night when i got this set up it was sitting around 1.100 i will check again tonight before i pitch yeast. This is going to be a pretty plain sweet mead.




1.102 was starting sg, pitched yeast last night 5/28/2013

 

[Dend78]

uh oh how long do you wait for ferm to start? at around 630pm i will be on 48hrs

 

[saramc]

Not uncommon for signs, such as fine bubbles on surface/along edge of container or surface foam, to take 72-96hrs, 70F. Do you see any of those signs, hear a fine pop/sizzle? Are you stirring 1-2x/day for about 2 minutes, airlock off or on? But, always use hydrometer to confirm.

Sweet mead yeast, I hate it...did you pitch two of them?

 

[Dend78]

i just pitched one, its been sitting anywhere from 70F - 80F, bubbles are not showing yet last batch took off like a rocket within 24hrs this one is a bit slower, after last stir SG is still the same. I think i will run by the shop again tonight and have another pack on hand just in case nothing happens.

 

[saramc]

I suspect it is stressing due to high gravity. The two times I used sweet mead yeast it was a super slow, almost invisible fermentation.

 

[Dend78]

yeah i was wondering about that after i pitched im like hmm i probably should have saved back a gallon of the juice to step in later on, that's crazy my strawberry mead took off great just like i was using EC-1118 gravity wasn't as high though

 

[Dend78]

its alive! came down to bubbles/foaming on top this morning

 

[fatbloke]

its alive! came down to bubbles/foaming on top this morning

Lucky you......I won't use that yeast. 3 times I've tried it and 3 times I had problems with it.......

A finicky PITA, IMO.

 

[Dend78]

so far im 2 for 2, we will see how this one finishes out i have another pouch of it ready in case i need to pitch again

 

[Dend78]

last check was night before last it was clipping along nicely sitting around 1.074

 

[Dend78]

i have racked this for the second time now last week and i did back sweeten some with white grape frozen concentrate you can taste the grape in there but it still needs some solid aging and then some more back sweetening.

 

[wineforfun]

Keep us posted. I am curious to hear how this turns out as it was very light on the honey............if you were going for a sweeter mead.

 

[Dend78]

yeah but the sugar from the juice really shot the IG up there pretty well so it didnt kill all flavor i added in 3 tubes of the frozen concentrate, i plan to toss in probably 2 more of those and some more honey to give me a good white grape sweet mead.

 

[Dend78]

took a swig of this last night, good grape flavor but it needs some more age and a little bit of honey to finish out back sweetening it, this one seems to be clearing slowly

 

[Dend78]

this has been bulk aging about to degas again and get some superkleer cause its still not clearing

 

[saramc]

Have you tried Joe Mattioli's Quick Grape Mead? It actually is a quick drinker, classic concord taste but kissed with honey.

 

[Dend78]

no i have not tried this ima have to look into it this is my second mead, its nice and clear now im about ready to rack again and give it a taste to see where im at.

 

[BernardSmith]

I know many folk look askance at me when I say I use 71B to ferment my meads but I have two that are clearing quite nicely and quickly. One (3 gallons) is only a few weeks old and is clear enough to read through while the other (also 3 gallons) which I made with a variety of hops is almost clear after 2.5 months

 

[GreginND]

What's wrong with 71b?

 

[BernardSmith]

What's wrong with 71b?

Mazers, - those 'maze -ing folk who make mead -argue that 71B creates off aromas and tastes when or if you allow the wine to stand on lees for any length of time. But they then often seem to use lager and beer yeasts to ferment their honey and they aim for starting gravities that are astronomical IMO... like 1.150 +/-