Beginner questions - stalled fermentation?

[DDDD123]

Hi all, a little concerned with one of my first batches.

Primary recipe:
1 Gallon batch
3LB orange blossom honey
1/4 cup chopped raisins
1 vanilla bean cut in half
chamomile tea in lieu of just water to neckline of jug
Red star premier classique wine yeast

No activity first day, minimal activity days 2-3 then it stopped. Gravity reading of 1.130 on day 5. I made a starter with some of the must + water and half a packet of the same yeast and pitched it along with 1.4 grams of fermaid-O. Since then, minimal bubbling in jug & airlock bubbles once every 5-7 seconds. I took another gravity reading today (2 days after first reading) and it's still 1.130. I don't know what else I can do to save this batch or get it to ferment like it should or why the gravity reading is so high.

I have a second traditional with basically the same ingredients, 3LB honey and water instead of tea that is bubbling away with a gravity reading of 1.090 that seems well on its way. I don't understand why one is working amazingly and the other seems unrevivable. Any help is appreciated!! Thank you!

 

[pdhirsch]

Are you sure you weighed the honey accurately? 3 pounds of honey to one gallon should yield SG of about 1.105. Your 1.130 reading seems awfully high. If desperate, maybe consider adding water to dilute it down to a lower gravity, and then pitch more yeast? (Just a thought, not sure that's the right thing to do but maybe worth thinking about.)

 

[videojunkie1208]

I'm guessing that the chamomile is the issue. based on some quick google searches (I'm not an herb expert) chamomile seems to have some anti fungal and yeast inhibitor functions, especially when brewed like a tea. If you want the chamomile flavor, you are probably best making a tincture of chamomile and adding it after fermentation is complete.

 

[CKuhns]

You probably can get past the Camomile inhibiting the yeast. Check your pH if less than 3.5 bump it up to betweem 3.5 and 4.3 with potassium bicarbonate. Pitch some new yeast in a starter. Let it go for 24 to 48 hours stirring it whenever you think about it. Add it and aerate the dickens out of it.

Good luck