Mead not totaly fermented.

[ssgmooney]

I have two 5 Gallon batches of Mead. They are very sweat and have low alcohol content when I measure it. Both batches have been in secondary for about a month now and are totally cleared up. I only did one addition of yeast nutrients at the start of fermentation. Can I repitch the yeast again?

Mead Recipe #1
3lbs Mesquite Honey (Trader Joes)
5 lbs Mtn. Wildflower Honey ( Grocery Store)
3oz DAP
3oz FerM K
Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast ( made yeast starter)
Notes: strong fermentation for a week

Mead Recipe #2
3lbs Blackberry Honey (Local )
3lbs Mesquite Honey ( Trader Joes )
5lbs Wild Mountain Honey Grocery Store )
Epernay II wine yeast ( made starter )
2oz yeast nutrient
2oz Tartaric Acid


Thank you

 

[Vance G]

Much more information would be helpful before anyone would be able to help you much. Please post your recipe/amount of ingredients and kind of yeast you used. Termperature of the fermentation would be good. Hopefully you have a hydrometer and can give the Original starting specific gravity and the meads current specific gravity. GO to the how to section on this site and all these things are explained in detail. Welcome, and people here are all about helping, but you need to do your part too.

 

[Medsen Fey]

We definitely need gravity numbers.
Can you check the pH as well?

 

[Pewter_of_Deodar]

Your Nottingham Ale Yeast may have reached it's alcohol tolerance limit and quit. I see it listed at 7 percent some places while others mention getting to 12 percent. I am guessing the higher ABV values may have been the result of step feeding or some special method to boost the yeast beyond the normal ABV.

 

[Medsen Fey]

I've done the Notty with a couple of meads and 1 big beer, and it will get to 12% reliably for me.

 

[Mikeymu]

When I began my latest batch of traditional mead I'd read that after a couple of days the ph can sink below the tolerance of the yeast so that the fermentation 'stalls'.

I found that this indeed was the case (though I've no idea how the other batches I've made managed to ferment out!?) and the fermentation seemed to have stopped when it had been apparently going very well and on measuring using litmus paper I found the ph had sunk to below 3.

After adjusting with calcium carbonate (I couldn't get potassium carbonate) the ferment got going again, although I had to add bit at a time to ensure I didn't put too much in - you cannot take it out afterwards - to get back to around 3.5.

I'm a bit of a newbee but there are plenty of more exbeerienced members who probably will beesily tell you more than I can about this possibeelity! (sorry)

 

[ssgmooney]

Gravity for the Mead :

#1 is FG 1.26 Brix is 11%

#2 is FG 1.00 Brix 4.8%. Thinking this mead is done.

My heater broke in my house and was out of for a couple of weeks. The temp in the house was a warm 60 F on a normal basis. Its fixed now and my mead is finally starting to warm up. There is still lots of little bubbles on the side of a glass.

Thanks again

 

[fatbloke]

Gravity for the Mead :

#1 is FG 1.26 Brix is 11%

#2 is FG 1.00 Brix 4.8%. Thinking this mead is done.

------snip-----

Please check your numbers - gravity numbers are always quoted to 3 decimal places and 1.26 would be 1.260 and pretty much unfermentable, certainly not 11%

The second one, allowing for 11lb of honey in 5 gallons would be a lot higher than 4.8% ABV, probably, if it's at 1.000, about 10% or so. Plus, isn't epernay a champagne yeast ? even if not, given the amount of honey in a 5 gallon batch, I'd have thought it would get to at least 0.990, maybe a touch lower.....

 

[ssgmooney]

Sorry forgot the other 0 on gravity reading . Yep you are right. Ya thats what I was thinking about the alcohol % too. Letting the batch warm up a bit more so I can get a more accurate reading. Stuff was like around 55 degrees when I too hydrometer reading. Iam cranking that heater up in my house to warm it up now that it is working