Hey yall, Im making a 5g batch of orange blossom mead and having trouble getting a normal speed ferment. I brewed on 7/8/2013 with an OG of 1.088. i added some wyeast wine nutrient and 1/4 tsp of irish moss, and pitched with a smack pack of wyeast sweet mead yeast. within a week i noticed no appearent fermentation, so i pitched 1/2 a package of red star premier cuvee. i just sampled some for a taste and gravity reading today (8/13/2013) with a SG of 1.049. Its my best green mead Ive ever tasted and attribute that to the slow fermentation speed. Any ideas as to why this batch is slow slow and puttering along? Fermentation room temp is at 72 F
I'm not familiar with either irish moss or wyeast products, but I have two questions:
- Have you checked the pH?
- Did you aerate the must?
I haven't used Premier Curvee (yet.. I have a packet of it in the fridge, waiting for something I want to just liquor the hell out of), but from what I've read, it is a very robust yeast with an alcohol tolerance of 18%. It SHOULD be tearing through that bad boy like nobody's business. That's why I asked about pH and aeration.
I had a big batch (6 gal) of traditional that I used Cote Des Blancs in. I know what you mean about the taste and aroma. It was truly amazing. Made my mouth water just inhaling from the top of the carboy. The problem was that it too was an incredibly slow fermenter. Thinking about it now, I wonder if a large part of it could be that the slow fermentation gives dissolved CO
2 a chance to outgas and not build up. Regardless, it was quite promising... until it hit the 6 week mark and, although the SG was dropping constantly, it was constantly slow, and I worried about contamination. So I pitched something stronger into it and, BOOM, it was back to the usual fermentation rate and sour smell. Its now aging, and will be a fine semi-dry traditional... in a year or so.
Good luck,
Joe