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Can you all help me get it right?

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Really should be fine, when I added in my last servings of nutrients at the 1/3rd break I aerated it for a good 5 minutes


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I was supposed to aerate it at the break too? I just put in some nutrient like an hour ago


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You're fine. Don't worry. You can aerate again tomorrow.


Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now. G
 
To aerate, or not to aerate, that is the question..

My readings have said it's a good idea to aerate if you have a large percentage of the batch as honey (#%? not sure) and if it's a particularly high starting OG (say, over 1.150 or more). So, why aerate? It makes the yeast happy, at first, and they need a good amount of oxygen during the first third of the fermentation process. I'm not sure how it coincides with step feeding though. Also, I can say it's a definite must (no pun intended) to aerate if you boiled your starting batch. Nothing drives off beneficial oxygen quicker than boiling.

So, I'm starting to see the benefits of aerating. I use a stainless steel stirring spoon, one of those big ones, with lots of tiny holes in it. Bought it at Wal-Mart, I think. But I really stir vigorously and keep it up for about 5 minutes. Others will say to stir multiple times a day at the beginning, so I tried that this go round with my cyser, and it fermented efficiently. I only aerated 4 times the first day, I believe it was. I would probably aerate more with a more traditional mead, probably daily, that contains mostly honey. I think it would help.
 
Okay so you would only aerate in the first third and you would do it multiple times a day. But after that it's bad for the mead to have oxygen right? And if I don't do that, will my batch be significantly worse?


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I would aerate several times before pitching yeast on the first day, say four times for good aeration. You can also "cheat" and get an aquarium pump and air-stone, but I haven't tried that yet, only read about it. It's faster. From what I've read, I want to say some folks recommend aerating daily. Not sure if it was multiple times on the following days, but me personally, I think I would aerate once daily. Maybe some long-time mazers can elaborate on their findings. I would think daily aeration would be enough for my likes, because I wouldn't want to take the chance of contaminating my mead.

I only have experience with thick cysers, and how they respond to aeration and such, so my experience with meads is only what I've read and research I've done into it, so take that with a grain of salt. Cysers are similar in nature, but significantly different from meads.

In answer to whether it will be significantly worse... I think it mainly has to do with how well it ferments and goes to completion. Insufficient oxygen at the start will cause slow starts, possibly stuck fermentations at some midway point, etc. It just causes problems, or it can cause significantly increased fermentation times and more frustration for the mazer.
 
Okay. I did do a lot of shaking and shaking and shaking before I pitched the yeast. It started just fine and it still seems to be fermenting happily :) so maybe it will be fine and I can start aerating on the next batch!


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Just make sure that you gently degas the mead before you shake the jug to aerate during active fermentation or you will have an MEA of Old Faithful sized proportions.
 
moridin said:
It's actually pretty cool, until you realiZe that you've lost liquid gold :)


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Click to expand...

You ain't kidding. With the price of honey, preventing an MEA isn't just good sanitary practice, it's good economics! Plus who wants all that hard work blowing out an airlock?

Best way to prevent MEA? Primary in a bucket. Especially if you're using fruit.

Best place to get free buckets? Your local cake/cupcake gourmet shop. The icing comes in food grade buckets.


Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now. G
 
Oh that's a clever idea! I'll have to go find a cake shop...

So if I am adding honey before it is done fermenting, how do I mix it? Cause I don't want to oxidize it


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Very little danger of oxidizing an active fermentation. I guess if you really tried hard you could but trust me, it takes work to do it.

I don't know what the best way to add honey is, but I just pour it in straight. I get a nice thin pour going and stir it in. If some gets on the bottom don't sweat it. The yeast will find it and eat it.

Others will say to mix with water first, but I guess it depends on what you're trying to do.


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So I tasted a sample and it doesn't taste very much like the mead I had before. It isn't very good at all... I don't know what could be wrong with it except that maybe there are lots of fusels. Can you describe that taste to me more? Everybody just says "hot" but that doesn't seem too helpful...


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The article didn't speak to the taste very much. My girlfriend said it tastes a little bitter


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Okay so I added a little bit of honey because my girlfriend wants it to be sweet. So it was at a SG of 1.032 and now it is at 1.050. I put it in a secondary and added a little DAP because it was at the 2/3 break and then put the honey in. But now it doesn't seem to be doing anything. Do I need to repitch the yeast or will it be fine and keep fermenting happily?


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First, you didn't have to move it, but you did so that's done. Second, if you recall, the D47 was going to make a mead that would take up to one year of aging to be good. The best way I can describe young mead is sharp, bitter and yeasty. Fusel tastes like turpentine to me and certain yeasts can also develop sulphur like flavors and odors. Most of these are said to age out.

Maybe someone with more experience with d-47 can chime in here. I don't have any beyond having aome in my fridge I was going to use for a JAOM but then didn't because it would take a year to age out.

What you need to do with that batch is let it finish (don't rack it until you have added all the honey and the fermentation is over) then rack it off the lees into a proper secondary, put an airlock on it and forget about it for 6 months then taste it.

While you wait, make a BOMM.


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