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Help, I'm stuck

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ILikeSound

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 25, 2007
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I am sorry but I don't have my exact recipe. I was just kind of throwing things together.
What I am making is just a basic mead using orange blossem honey and lavlin d-47 yeast. I added some acid blend, yeast nutrient and yeast energizer. My starting gravity was 1.107. It got down to 1.05 then stopped. I have tried reracking, adding more nutrient, adding raisins, and I have repitched the yeast twice (once with more d-47 and once with ec-1118) and I can't get it to start. Any ideas what I screwed up here?

Thanks
~Will
 
Hello ILikeSound,

It would really help if you can provide more details on your ingredients and processes. Without knowing amounts, and whether you aerated it or not, and what temperature you are fermenting at, and so forth, it pretty much becomes a guessing game.

With that said, I'll share a few thoughts.

1. Check the pH - in a traditional mead, the pH often may drop down to a level where the yeast stall (usually below 3.0). If you don't have a pH meter, borrow one and check it. If the pH is less than 3.4, consider adding some potassium bicarbonate to get the pH up to 3.6. Sometimes this will allow the yeast to get going again. In a traditional mead it is usually not a good idea to add acid until the fermentation is finished - but I know a lot of recipes still include this bad habit.

2. Yeast hulls - add 1 gram per gallon of yeast hulls (yeast ghosts). This can bind toxic substances that will allow the yeast to start again.

3. Temperature - I'm not sure what temp you are fermenting at, but if it is below 70F you might want to raise it up to about 72F to see if that will crank it up a bit.

4. Check out Hightest's instruction for restarting a stuck fermentation. Recognize that if you try to add more yeast, you need to acclimate them to the alcohol level of the must.

5. If all else fails, consider developing a taste for dessert-sweet mead or save it for blending with batches that are too dry later.

Endeavor to Persevere!
Medsen
 
Thanks for the tips Medsen. I will get a ph meter and check it out. If all else fails, I have a batch of clover mead that came out a little stronger than I wanted and I will mix the two together.

~Will
 
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