First time mead maker -- little yeast activity
- Thread starter joec
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ICV-D47 is produced by Lalvin (Lallemande) and is a dry yeast and is available at most LHBS. Montrachet is a good yeast, but doesn't really like starting at a gravity as high as 1.120, and the low pH probably impaired them. D47 can tolerate the higher gravity start and will go to 14% ABV which will leave it semi-sweet to sweet.
You can use malt for a starter, but it is not necessary. If you rehydrate the yeast properly, and then after 20 minutes add an equal portion of your must, then wait until it starts bubbling. Then you pitch it in and aerate well. That should get it going.
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You can use malt for a starter, but it is not necessary. If you rehydrate the yeast properly, and then after 20 minutes add an equal portion of your must, then wait until it starts bubbling. Then you pitch it in and aerate well. That should get it going.
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What's the temperature?
Also, can you verify the pH and the gravity again?
To get it done you may have to build it up from a starter, but in this case. You'll need a heavy-duty yeast like EC-1118 (premier cuvee), DV-10, or Uvaferm 43. To do this you rehydrate a couple of packets of yeast, and make a small starter (you can use a little malt extract if you like) and put this in another fermentation bucket or carboy. Then start doubling the volume by adding amounts of your must, waiting for the bubbling to pick up before each new addition. You keep doubling the volume until you have all the must in the new fermenter. It is a bit of work, but it rarely fails.
If, for some reason, it still isn't moving, there are still some other steps you can take including pasteurizing the whole batch. You can also start an entirely new large batch and when it is going strong, you can mix in your old batch a portion at a time until it is all finished. So though this may be a bit frustrating, Endeavor to Persevere.
Medsen
Also, can you verify the pH and the gravity again?
To get it done you may have to build it up from a starter, but in this case. You'll need a heavy-duty yeast like EC-1118 (premier cuvee), DV-10, or Uvaferm 43. To do this you rehydrate a couple of packets of yeast, and make a small starter (you can use a little malt extract if you like) and put this in another fermentation bucket or carboy. Then start doubling the volume by adding amounts of your must, waiting for the bubbling to pick up before each new addition. You keep doubling the volume until you have all the must in the new fermenter. It is a bit of work, but it rarely fails.
If, for some reason, it still isn't moving, there are still some other steps you can take including pasteurizing the whole batch. You can also start an entirely new large batch and when it is going strong, you can mix in your old batch a portion at a time until it is all finished. So though this may be a bit frustrating, Endeavor to Persevere.
Medsen
Okay, I am extremely perplexed. My pH is at 4.2 to 4.3 according to the color strips that I'm using for testing. My gravity reading however, is 1.010. Before I added the new yeast with the starter, it was 1.120. I never saw any bubbling in the airlock in the primary fermenter though. I really don't think that that reading would have changed that quickly. Could I really be going insane?
Probably not insane. Probably. 
There are a few reasons why you might not see airlock activity though the gravity is starting to drop... Sometimes the stopper/airlock has a slow leak that won't hold a lot of pressure, and if the yeast is going slow enough it escapes through the seal instead of bubbling through the airlock ... stealth yeasties!
But the good news is you've got a drop in SG!! It's going!! Can you see bubbles coming up the side of the carboy/hear fizzing through the wall of your bucket?
There are a few reasons why you might not see airlock activity though the gravity is starting to drop... Sometimes the stopper/airlock has a slow leak that won't hold a lot of pressure, and if the yeast is going slow enough it escapes through the seal instead of bubbling through the airlock ... stealth yeasties!
But the good news is you've got a drop in SG!! It's going!! Can you see bubbles coming up the side of the carboy/hear fizzing through the wall of your bucket?
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Yeah, any bubbles usually means the yeast are doing something, unless you just shook the beans out of it.
Congratulations, your mead is almost done!
Meads often don't show a lot of surface activity and airlocks and buckets are notoriously leaky which is why we always recommend judging activity based on the gravity.
Meads often don't show a lot of surface activity and airlocks and buckets are notoriously leaky which is why we always recommend judging activity based on the gravity.
I'm not sure if your yeast have enough strength left to carbonate (though you could test it with one PET plastic soda bottle).
I'd just plan on bottling it still, but make certain the gravity is stable.
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I'd just plan on bottling it still, but make certain the gravity is stable.
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No, it is much more like a wine but wines can be carbonated.
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