So I've had my first batch of mead ferming for about 10 days now and gravity has only dropped .15 (from 1.100 to 1.085ish)
Recipe:
13.5 lbs honey from LHBS
4 Gallons water (3 spring, 1 distilled)
1 capsule servomyces at pitch and 1 capsule at the 24 hour mark
2 smack packs of Wyeast sweet mead pitched at room temp
20 drops of cinnamon essential oil
10 drops of wild orange essential oil
5 drops of clove essential oil
I've been opening airlock and swirling the hell out of it usually once a day, the other day i forgot to do it so it went 2 days without aerating. Usually when I aerate it foams up but has never threatened to overflow until yesterday when it started to creep up the neck and look like it was going to foam over the opening but i quickly placed the palm of my clean hand over the opening which stopped it from overflowing, then just in case i sprayed starsan down the opening onto the foam that touched my hand =)
Could the essential oils be the factor why this is taking so long? the oils I used are super pure and theraputic grade and I've read cinnamon oil is highly anti-microbial and anti-bacterial (I would assume wild orange would be too)
Also, im not really worried about this but my last batches of beer were brett clones. I've sanitized the hell out of everything which is why im not really worried (plus I love bretty beers) but assuming some brett did find its way in whats the dead giveaway? Both beers were the Brett Claussenii strain so it doesnt have that barnyard wet horse character to it, more like a sweet pineapple flavor of brett.
I have noticed large waxy looking bubbles forming on the top, but figured that to be proteins from the honey and not a brett infection.
Recipe:
13.5 lbs honey from LHBS
4 Gallons water (3 spring, 1 distilled)
1 capsule servomyces at pitch and 1 capsule at the 24 hour mark
2 smack packs of Wyeast sweet mead pitched at room temp
20 drops of cinnamon essential oil
10 drops of wild orange essential oil
5 drops of clove essential oil
I've been opening airlock and swirling the hell out of it usually once a day, the other day i forgot to do it so it went 2 days without aerating. Usually when I aerate it foams up but has never threatened to overflow until yesterday when it started to creep up the neck and look like it was going to foam over the opening but i quickly placed the palm of my clean hand over the opening which stopped it from overflowing, then just in case i sprayed starsan down the opening onto the foam that touched my hand =)
Could the essential oils be the factor why this is taking so long? the oils I used are super pure and theraputic grade and I've read cinnamon oil is highly anti-microbial and anti-bacterial (I would assume wild orange would be too)
Also, im not really worried about this but my last batches of beer were brett clones. I've sanitized the hell out of everything which is why im not really worried (plus I love bretty beers) but assuming some brett did find its way in whats the dead giveaway? Both beers were the Brett Claussenii strain so it doesnt have that barnyard wet horse character to it, more like a sweet pineapple flavor of brett.
I have noticed large waxy looking bubbles forming on the top, but figured that to be proteins from the honey and not a brett infection.