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For what it's worth, with Lavlin 71-B, I successfully fermented a 1.145 SG down to about 1.018 on my first try...almost 17% alcohol when I believe the limit on that strain is supposedly 14%. Use staggered nutrient additions and degas THOROUGHLY and you can power right through an SG like that...

I strongly recommend adding fruit in the primary. Having tried the two methods, I simply don't find that you lose much intensity of flavor. The fruit just isn't as much at the forefront, but instead tastes more integrated with the honey flavor, which is a very good thing. The only thing you lose...

It's worth mentioning that you'd almost always be better off picking up bulk honey locally...here near Boston I got 60 lbs of raw wildflower for $135 ($2.25/lb) directly from the source. Check out www.honeylocator.com to find honey locally.

Ok, sounds like I shouldn't be worrying at all yet. I'll thief some around Christmas and see how it's progressing.

Yes I actually used Michael Fairbrother's exact staggered nutrient schedule. Once I got the cranberries out of the must and got the pH up a bit with calcium carbonate, the fermentation took off and is now (3 weeks later) down to 1.035 and it tastes magnificent already. We'll see how it ages out...

Batch 1: 1 gallon batch 3.2 lbs wildflower honey (scaled down from 16 lbs in 5 gal batch) OG = 1.127 FG = 1.000 Lavlin 71b, staggered GoFerm/Fermaid K additions Batch 2: 1 gallon batch 2.6 lbs wildflower honey (scaled down from 12 lbs in 5 gal batch) OG = 1.095 FG = 0.995 Lavlin...

Thanks a lot guys, I was considering getting the Yeast book as my next read and now it looks like I will. Thanks again!

Does anyone have any old reading materials on how to harvest yeast / developing your own yeast strains? I imagine this is very advanced stuff but I think it would be cool to read about. Whether it be a whole book in the subject, a section f a book, or a lecture I can get to online, I'd love to...

Update: This mead started bubbling like all hell after I took the above actions (pseudo-starter from other fermenting must, diluted, raised pH with very small amount of calcium carbonate). The OG is down from about 1.155 to about 1.040 (still bubbling every 10 seconds or so), meaning I've...

Is this for yeast nutrition? I'm relatively new to the mead game and, while I've heard of raisins being used as a yeast nutrient of sorts, I'm not as familiar with dolomite, azomite, and potassium being added like this. Could someone please explain? Also...1 year int he promary? I know people...

I realize this thread is old but want to make a vanilla chai recipe and like the sound of this one a lot. Question: It sounds like you add spices (ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, nutmeg allspice, vanilla bean) up front...I've never heard or read that this is a good idea....don't you lose...

I'd take gravity readings at about 8 and 12 days and see if there is any discernible change. If not, rack away.

Good thing I'm here to swoop in and save the day!

Why is nobody suggesting he buy some? Hey, buy some. Making some and waiting a month is backwards to me.

I used about 250mL of an actively reproducing must as a starter in the problematic cranberry must last night, removed the cranberries (which I stupidly hadnt done yet), and when I woke up it was bubbling like craaaazy. Took a grav reading and it's down to 1.125 already (taking into account some...

How about using about 150mL of another batch that has healthy, active yeast working right now? Maybe those brave soldiers would have a chance.

Question about that... I already rehydrated the yeast in 20g of GoFerm and have done 3 nutrient additions....so would repitching with even more GoFerm make this batch taste like vitamins? Probably. I think I may be out of luck if this thing doesn't get going today...

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated. I added a very small amount (1/4 teaspoon) of sodium carbonate before reading this and got the ph from about 3.6 to 3.9. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Hopefully the excessive gravity doesn't prove too much for the yeast. I'm degassing a couple times a day...

Hmm...Perhaps you're right but I'll tell you why I thought 1.160 was fine......Michael Fairbrother of Moonligh Meadery gave a recipe in a podcast I listened to calling for 18 lbs of honey and 3.5 gallons of cider, which...calculate it out...should result in about 1.155 to 1.165 depending on...

I called my LHBS and they said to use some Potassium Bicarbonate to up the pH....so I guess I'll try that and see if I can make the yeast happy again. The starting gravity was actually fine at 1.160. That's about where it should be for a cyser. Does anyone know if it's true that yeast...