Mead Help

[CrystalShip]

So I have been homebrewing for quite a few years, but have never attempted a mead. The grocery store had 3lb jugs of honey on sale for 8 bucks, so I made a one gallon batch. This is how I did it:

1. I added the honey and water together and pasteurized it.
2. Added 1/2tsp of brewcraft yeast nutrient
3. Cooled it
4. Aerated it with pure 02
5. pitched one packet of rehydrated lallemand wine yeast

It sat for a month and the airlocked bubbled slowly, but consistently. I racked it off of the yeast the other day and tasted a sample. It was terribly sweet still.

I didn't take any gravity measurements because this was a just for sh*ts and giggles thing, but why didn't this thing ferment all the way? I can taste the alcohol in the mead, but the stuff is disgustingly sweet still.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

I haven't used Brew-craft nutrients, but here's what I know. Honey has very little nutrient that yeast can use so it needs a serious bonus/ steady feed of nutrients to be healthy, where beer has plenty of nutrients from all the ingredients.

It may still be fermenting, just slower because it ran out of the other food it needs. You may want to look at "Staggered Nutrient addition" or "SNA" for future batches. But the best way to tell what this batch is doing is take hydrometer readings.

I typically use 1 tsp of my nutrients, spread out over 2 steps. Half in the beginning and the rest at the 1/3 sugar break. You also need (maybe not need to, but definately should) to aerate your must regularly, at least once a day, in the beginning of fermentation, until you hit the 1/3 break (point where 1/3 of sugars have been converted to alcohol)

 

[Arpolis]

Marshmallowblue hit the nail on the head. I use two part nutrients. 1 part strait DAP at 1tsp/gallon and yeast energizer at 1/2tsp/gallon. I load 70% of the nutrient up front and stagger the rest over 48 hours or if it is a heavy melomel just load it all up fri t because there are other nutrients in the must the yeast can snack on as it ferments.

If the yeast is not stalled you can add some more nutrient, bit it with some O2 and get the yeast trucking along but if fermentation has stopped and the gravity is too high you will need to take some differenteasures to finish this mead off.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Im not sure that a high SG would be the issue as 3# for one gallon is pretty safe. around 1.110. Something else you can try is to restart the fermentation with a stronger yeast like Red Star premerice Cuvee or Lavlin EC-1118

 

[CrystalShip]

thanks for the replies.

I added some more nutrient and some champagne yeast, then shook it up a bunch to aerate (my o2 bottle is empty) I checked it today and the airlock is very slowly bubbling again. I also have yeast energizer...do you think I should add some of that after a few days?

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

I wouldn't worry about it, the champagne yeast is a pretty tough sucker and should do the job of finishing this off without too much of an issue. It will at least get you down to where its not cloyingly sweet. If it hasn't picked up more in a couple days, maybe just a tiny tiny bit if it will ease your mind.