Toggle sidebar

Help please - second batch not behaving

  • 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
W

wdavec3

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 26, 2015
5
0
0
Hi all,
Very new to mead making. I am one batch in(first batch was oranges/raisens in a one gallon water jug).

For my second batch I decided I wanted to get all fancy and this is what I went with based on 1 gallon size.

4lbs. Honey (from a local beekeeper who uses our ranch, pretty sure a mix of alfalfa and wild mustard)
2lbs. Black plums
Approx 1 pint black tea
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Pectic enzyme (before fermentation)
Alcotec 48hr. turbo yeast

The problem is I can see zero noticeable fermentation. When I try to take a gravity my hydrometer floats so high I cant get a reading.
I tried to attach some pics but was unable.

Thank you for your help in advance,
Warren
 
Assuming you managed to get one full gallon of liquid in the jug along with 2 lbs of plums, you'd be sitting at a gravity of ~1.153 (1.144 from just the honey + 0.09 from the plums). Most yeast starts to have trouble starting after 1.140, and I'm sure some have trouble before that, depending on their strength and the amount of yeast pitched.

Realistically, after accounting for the volume of plums and for headspace, there's probably somewhere between 0.75 and 0.8 gal of liquid in there at the most, which would put your gravity somewhere between 1.190 and 1.200 (probably why the hydrometer is floating so high).

I'd say your best bet is to get two more pounds of plums and split your batch in two (add water to bring it up to volume, of course). That'd give you two batches sitting between 1.090 and 1.100 (~11.8% - 13.2%)

In the future, 2.5 - 3 lbs of honey is a pretty good starting point for one gallon batches.
 
Last edited:
Thank you for your response! I should clarify that the two pounds was approximate starting weight, I cut the pits out of them and squeezed the juice from the remaining flesh on the pits into the batch.

I have very little headroom in my jug.

I really appreciate your input and will split the batch tonight when I get home from work and see if anything changes. Thank you very much!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ah, ok, that makes sense. If that's the case, make sure you get a good hydrometer reading when splitting the batch, and feel free to add some more honey to bring it up to your desired gravity after splitting. Most meads I've made (and seen others make) are in the 1.090 - 1.120 range.
 
I second this advice :) I try to keep honey additions under 3-3.5 lb per gallon (less if fruit is involved), for future batches if you want something sweeter or more potent at the finish, look up "step feeding" and you should get some tips on how to do that... as you have now noticed, starting with too high of a SG is really hard on your yeast.

And as you gain more experience, you might want to experiment with other yeasts, I don't know that particular one but anything that claims to be "turbo" is probably a grand idea for step-feeding to get as high an alcohol content as you can but may well be so vigorous (like EC-1118 is said to be) that it might blow off some of the more delicate honey and fruit flavours. If you're starting a little more conservative, there are other yeasts that might help bring out the fruit flavours a little better than something designed to blast through all your sugars so quickly.
 
I appreciate the feedback, I have a bunch of different yeasts/recipes planned for the future and ALOT of learning to do!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The other thing is that all wines - including mead - are at their heart a balance between alcohol level and flavor and sweetness and so the more sugar you are fermenting per gallon (the higher the specific gravity or density) the more unbalanced the mead is likely to be. Turbo yeasts are typically (I think) used for fermentation that will end up as a distillate. Better would be to use wine (or even ale yeasts). Those yeasts are cultivated to play nice with the fermentable sugars and impart and highlight subtle flavors and aromas. The turbo yeast is like a muscle car. It is simply designed (I think) to produce alcohol - flavor and aroma be damned.
 
I kind of figured it would turn out rough, and when I was putting everything together I was going to originally go with RC-212.

I don't know why I changed my mind, I think just raw curiosity. I'm sure this mead would taste a hell of allot better with something other than the turbo yeast but as a guy who prefers my scotch and whisky straight I figured I'd probably make something that would knock my socks off.

I'll probably run this recipe again with a more suitable yeast (I bought about 8 lbs of the plums, they are amazingly juicy and taste delicious).

Thank you for your input, I appreciate it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Barrel Char Wood Products

Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns

Top Bottom