Toggle sidebar

First batch, does this sound normal?

  • PATRONS: Did you know we've a chat function for you now? Look to the bottom of the screen, you can chat, set up rooms, talk to each other individually or in groups! Click 'Chat' at the right side of the chat window to open the chat up.
  • Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
  • We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
Barrel Char Wood Products
M

MJ7

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 5, 2014
173
0
0
Hi, first post, first batch of mead.

Recipe:

- 12lbs wildflower honey, local
- 4 gallons spring water
- D47 (two packets)
- Ferment K
- 1 liter fresh squeezed OJ
- 5 cinnamon sticks

I started this 4 days ago in a large 6.5 gal carboy. At first I was sitting there waiting and waiting for it to ferment, no bubbling at the airlock. It had a very nice frothy foam on the top, that I later found out was the ferment, it started out at a good 2 inches, the next day it dropped to about 1 inch, the day after to 1/4 inch, and yesterday it was placid, no foam at all. I do not have a hydrometer so I could not take SG.

It appears the fermentation cycle had complete. There was a thick sediment layer of dead yeast (lees?). So, about 1 hr ago I racked it and now it's in the clean carboy, it is still hazy. I took a taste and it tasted like very good juice, no alcohol taste at all.

Did it even ferment? I was expecting a very bad taste. During the process the batch smelled of yeast/bread, but now it just tastes like juice. I have a feeling like it fermented, but only slightly and that the abv will be very low?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
 
Could still be fermenting. You can't tell visually. If you have an airlock, it will bubble when the ferment is active, but a slow ferment might be hard to see. Having a hydrometer and having a start in reading helps figure out what's going on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Have you got a hydrometer? If not go out and get one, then take a reading and let us know.

I would expect this to go dry. I would not expect it to taste like juice after fermenting.
You really need a hydrometer to know.

I would be concerned about what preservatives may have been in the OJ. There's no real reason this shouldn't have gone off like a rocket. pH perhaps due to OJ acidity. Maybe temperature, is it especially hot or cold where you are D47 has little tolerance to extremes.

Did the airlock ever bubble?
 
kudapucat said:
Have you got a hydrometer? If not go out and get one, then take a reading and let us know.

I would expect this to go dry. I would not expect it to taste like juice after fermenting.
You really need a hydrometer to know.

I would be concerned about what preservatives may have been in the OJ. There's no real reason this shouldn't have gone off like a rocket. pH perhaps due to OJ acidity. Maybe temperature, is it especially hot or cold where you are D47 has little tolerance to extremes.

Did the airlock ever bubble?
Click to expand...

The airlock did not bubble, however the mead was only a 4 gallon batch in a 6.5 gallon carboy (if that matters?). There was a good 2 inches of frothy yeast activity foam when it started, that slowly went away over the next few days, which is why I think it already fermented, but that has yet to be smelled or tasted. I keep it around 67 in my house and D47 is rated between 58 and 69 I believe, although warmer to kick it off wouldn't have hurt. The OJ was pure orange juice nothing else. There are countless mead recipes that have oranges or OJ added and none of them had issues with fermentation. I was debating throwing in another D47? I can pick up a hydrometer tomorrow.
 
If it was fermenting even 4 gal in a 6.5 gal carboy would have the airlock going unless there is a bad seal on the bung. Like has been suggested before maybe the OJ was sulfited and/or sorbated.
 
Honeyhog said:
If it was fermenting even 4 gal in a 6.5 gal carboy would have the airlock going unless there is a bad seal on the bung. Like has been suggested before maybe the OJ was sulfited and/or sorbated.
Click to expand...

This was hipster squeezed OJ from whole foods, nothing added, just oranges squeezed into a container. No chemicals, no heating just pure raw OJ.

I have chatted with a few colleagues that brew and they stated sometimes it can take a few pitches before it's off and bubbling. Is it possible to over aerate? I shook that bad boy up like crazy when I did it. One friend suggest that I pitch the yeast on top and just let it sit on top and not do anything to it. I could easily try this tonight, but I'm sure most the yeast I had it from the beginning died, huge sediment pile (as if they had reproduced and were happy for a bit and then just dropped off at some point).

Right now it's just sitting there placid, no bubbling no foaming, nothing. Should I wait until tomorrow, pick up some pH strips, calcium carbonate (if I need to bring the pH back up to 3.8), and a hydrometer to take SG before I pitch yeast?
 
MJ7 said:
Right now it's just sitting there placid, no bubbling no foaming, nothing. Should I wait until tomorrow, pick up some pH strips, calcium carbonate (if I need to bring the pH back up to 3.8), and a hydrometer to take SG before I pitch yeast?
Click to expand...


Yes, yes, yes and yes.
We need data. So do you if you don't want to just keep using up yeast.
Best bet when you do repitch is to make a starter and acclimatise it to the must.
D47's pretty robust, just don't let it get hot.
 
NOW you are on the right track with getting a hydrometer, some potassium (or calcium) carbonate, some means of testing pH..... The hydrometer is an essential tool for meadmaking. If it "tastes like juice" still, there is probably still a lot of sugar in the must. I would also concur with the posting that said you have an air leak in your fermenter, which would explain the lack of airlock activity. Just let it sit until you can get us some information to help you.

Right now, it's like saying "I turned the oven on, and put it in, but it's not done!" ...without supplying info about what temp the oven was, how long it was in there, and how bit the roast beast was.
 
Thanks everyone.

I just took a pH reading and a hydrometer reading.

pH is at 4, so no problems there.

Hydrometer = 1.073, can someone link me to a chart or a page that discusses this for mead, please?

I just pitched one more packet of D47 yeast.

I aerated it before pitching, should I aerate it again?
 
You might try a couple teaspoons of DAP and a couple of nutrient.....i think your guys may be hungry

Sent from Arthur Dent's towel smothering a volume of Vogon poetry, some of which just leaked out.
 
GntlKnigt1 said:
You might try a couple teaspoons of DAP and a couple of nutrient.....i think your guys may be hungry

Sent from Arthur Dent's towel smothering a volume of Vogon poetry, some of which just leaked out.
Click to expand...


I threw in some Ferment K. I will be taking another hydrometer in a few, will post back later.
 
Hydrometer reading

Hydrometer was 1.069, a drop albeit a slow drop. The fermentation is looking like it is going to be picking up some steam, the top is simmering, but still no airlock activity or fermentation foam. The smell and taste have a slight alcohol taste now.

I will be starting another batch tomorrow with the following recipe:

- 4 gallons spring water
- 15 lbs clover honey
- D47, one packet
- Ferment K

I want this one to be a straight medium mead, so I have a baseline for the future.
 
kudapucat said:
If you can see bubbles, but no airlock activity, then your fermentation vessel DEFINITELY has a leak.
Click to expand...

These are very tiny bubbles, something similar to carbonation in San Pellegrino, small air bubbles, like a simmer. There are no large air bubbles on the top of the must. This is in a 6.5 gallon carboy, glass, no damage to it and brand new. It has a straight airlock (which I changed out from an S-type thinking there may be a leak) and a rubber stopper placed on snug. I highly doubt there is an air leak. I will test this when I rack it next.

It seems to be going at a slower fermentation, as indicated by the hydrometer. I would say this is probably due to the temperatures. It has been below 0 for the past few days here, even though I keep inside around 70 F. I do not mind a slow fermentation, as they tend to keep the flavors and aromas in the must rather than expelling them in the CO2 off gas.
 
If I shake or agitate my carboy the bottle foams up quickly and the airlock starts to bubble. After that it just dies out, to no bubbles and flat surface. Does this mean I need to aerate the carboy more?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Barrel Char Wood Products

Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns

Top Bottom