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Bizzare Recipe?

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Numbers for today

Checked everything again today and the SG is down, but the pH is still reading the same. The new SG is 1.072. Yesterday I added a tsp of potassium bicarbonate to the must and gently stirred it in. I added another 2 tsp today and stirred. I'll check again tomorrow and see where everything is at.
 
How much does a tsp of the carbonate weigh? I've only had one experience so far with too-low pH in my yeast test batches. (curiously all 4 experienced the same low pH, must be must-based vs. yeast-based.) I added 1/2 g of carbonate to slightly less than 1 gal of mead and that helped fix the stall at about 1.025. My initial pH reading using the paper strips was 3.0, I never did measure the final pH though....
 
Carbonate

I am not sure how much the stuff weighs as I don't have a scale right now.

On another note, my airlock is bubbling away around 1/sec. I know that it isn't the best way to check on fermentation rates, but it is a little reassuring to see drastically more activity in the airlock. Before I was getting a bip every 10-15 seconds.
 
Good signs for this today. The pH is reading around 3.3 to 3.4 and the gravity is 1.056ish. I noticed that after spinning the hydrometer in a couple seconds it starts to rise so I have been taking readings as soon as it stops spinning and I can see the numbers.

My question is this: Should I dose it with another round of carbonate? It seems to be fermenting well, but I am not sure if the pH is still too low.
 
My daily check showed no change in pH and a SG reading of 1.048. The rocket fuel taste is increasing though. The way this thread is going it is starting to look more like a brew log than anything else.
 
You'll notice the alcohol flavors more and more as the sugar is depleted. I wouldn't worry about it much right now, you're still in the fermentation stage and those flavors will mellow over time.
 
Today's SG reading is 1.003, so it looks like this one is fairly close to being ready to rack into the secondary. This stuff smells like straight grain alcohol right now, is this something that should be expected given the troubles this batch has had so far?
 
Several points of observation:

1) As Pete pointed out, it's going to be bone dry with just 1 gallon of honey to a 5 gal batch and the 1116.

2) daily hydrometer checks, while perhaps not entirely necessary, ARE very helpful in immediately noticing any problems with that fermentation. Observant sanitation practices will eliminate any possible iinfections. It's good practice, at any rate.

3) You'll get better mazers with honey attitude than vinegar attitude. I've got a sh*t attitude and see where it got me!:D Wade's been doing this for how many years now? His suggestions should be at the least, acknowledged as the voice of experience.

That's MY .02 worth!

DD
 
SG readings have stayed at 1.001 for the last couple days so I figured most of the fermentation has happened and racked it into a glass carboy for bulk aging. I will check on the airlock weekly to make sure it isn't dry. The mead itself I will do a taste test on Halloween. The sample I had today was better than expected. It does have the burn of hard alcohol, but not the kind that shreds your throat. I also picked up a hint of lemon in there.
 
This is looking better now. It is clearing fairly well, I can see through it with although there is still some blurring. As soon as it clears I plan on racking again (mostly because there is too much head space in the carboy and to get rid of the yeast caught in the surface tension.) I am going to get a 3 gallon carboy and another gallon jug, my JOA finished up last weekend and it is now sitting bottled in the closet. I was thinking of adding some fruit to one of the gallons, but I don't want it to start fermenting again. Should I sulfite/sorbate this before I rack for bulk aging?
 
Displaced Hick said:
... my JOA finished up last weekend and it is now sitting bottled in the closet. I was thinking of adding some fruit to one of the gallons, but I don't want it to start fermenting again. Should I sulfite/sorbate this before I rack for bulk aging?
Click to expand...

I think you best best would be to go ahead and add the fruit, let any extra fermentation happen, and then sulfite/sorbate after the fermentation is done. It's always easier to backsweeten after the s&s than to try to hit it by stopping and then adding fruit.

Remember, sulfite and sorbate don't actually "kill" the yeast. It mostly stops it from reproducing and breeding new yeasties and lets the existing yeast either die naturally or go dormant. I'm not sure about what the extra nutrients from fresh fruit would do to it afterwards, I've never tried it. So let your yeast do it's thing and adjust sweetness/acidity afterwards. That IS a proven technique.

But then again, if you do s&s and add fruit, let us know how it turns out! We're all about exploration here. Please report your findings though!

:cheers:
Wade
 
Yesterday I racked this out of the 5 gallon secondary into other containers. I decided not to sulfite/sorbate at this time. In the 3 gallon carboy there is now 4 lbs of fresh strawberries (cleaned and cut into quarters. ), a gallon jug with 1.5 pounds dried cherries re-hydrated in preservative free apple juice, and a gallon jug with nothing added. I also added 1.5 tsp pectic enzyme to the 3 gallon carboy and .5 tsp to the gallon jug. All 3 are stashed out in the garage chilling out at around 50 F. I also took a sample to check SG and it is down to 0.999. I lucked out in this as with the fruits all 3 were filled to about .5 inches below the airlock stoppers.

I was kind of surprised at how quickly the strawberries changed the color of the mead. I was grabbing something else out of the garage and glanced over to see 3 gallons of pink mead. Today it is getting to the point where I would call it red rather than pink.
 
Gave all three of my recently racked meads a taste test today, and the results are promising. For the strawberry the first taste that hits the tongue is a mildly tart/tangy taste followed closely by the strawberries. This one will need to be racked to another container in a few days time, I read in a post that you want to rack off the strawberries once all the color in them is gone to avoid getting a rotted fruit taste.

In the gallon batches that same tart/tangy taste is at the fore. The dried cherries added a nice mild fruit taste to the mead, not as intense as with the strawberries but I like it anyways.

I have noticed as the mead has leeched the flavors and colors from the two fruits is that for every piece of strawberry that sinks one of the cherries has floated to the top.

In the two carboys that I can see the bottoms of, I can see no sediment what-so-ever. This is encouraging especially since the gallon of straight mead was the last to be racked off and I had to tip the 5 gallon carboy to get enough to fill the gallon to the neck. Thought for sure some of the lees would have transferred then.
 
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