Help!!!

[steve8479]

I just made my first batch of Mead, I used Ken Schramm Orange Blossom recipe. I have no fermentation at all. I think I might have pitched my yeast to long, like 30 min. When I added the pitched yeast to the must, the must was about 88F. I just have this sitting down in my basement now and the Air temp is about 62F. If you wonderful people have any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all who reply

Steve :BangHead:

 

[beninak]

How long has it been since you pitched your yeast? Sometimes it can take a couple of days to see visible signs of fermentation.

 

[steve8479]

I made the Mead on Sunday 5-27-07 and there were no visible signs of fermentation as of Friday 6-1-07. Again any help would be great.

Thanks
Steve :BangHead:

 

[Dan McFeeley]

Bringing the carboy back upstairs, putting it in a dark closet but where the ambient temperature is warmer might stir the yeasties into activity. What was the yeast strain you used?

If that doesn't work, try repitching with kv-1116 -- it's a strong vigorous yeast often used for restarting fermentations.

If you use the KV-1116 yeast, you might want to consider pitching the dry yeast, maybe even two packets worth, directly onto the surface of the must. There could be a problem with petite mutants by rehydrating the yeasts at the temperatures recommended by Lalvin and then going to the much lower ambient temperature of the honey must. Either one isn't the best way to start a honey must, it's a matter of weighing the pros and cons of each, and what might work best with your particular situation.

Critique of this suggestion by other forum members is welcomed!

 

[wayneb]

Something that I've done to prevent the cold shock effect on newly pitched yeast is a stepped addition of must into the container that holds the rehydrated yeast. Say you start out with fully rehydrated yeast at a temp of 95F. Take some of your cold must, and add just enough to bring down the temp of the yeast to just above 85F. Then you now have yeast with enough nutrient and sugar from the must to be able to stand for an additional 30 mins. Usually I find by that time the yeast-must mix is close enough to the temp of the raw must to allow pitching, but if the differential is still too great, then you can add another dose of must to bring the temp down another 9-10 degrees. Then wait a bit more. Do these steps until you're pitching a liquid that is close to the must temp, and you'll minimize the cold shock effect.

 

[Oskaar]

Here's a step by step from a Lallemand document I have:

How to Hydrate Dry Wine Yeast using “Go Ferm” (A Recommended Nutrient Regimen):

1) Using clean water (filtered or distilled is best), calculate the amount needed and heat it to 110 degrees F (43 degree C).

2) Add the required amount of “Go Ferm” to the heated water. Mix it in well so that there are no clumps, and let it stand until the temp of the mixture falls to 102 degrees F (39 degrees C).

3) Add the required amount of yeast to the mixture. Stir it to break-up any clumps and wait 15-30 minutes.

4) At this point you will want to add a portion of the must/juice into the yeast mixture that is ½ to equal the volume of the yeast starter. This helps the yeast become accustomed to the pH, TA%, brix level (sugar), and the temperature of the must they will ultimately be fermenting, and is done to avoid shocking them.

5) After a 10-15 minute wait, the yeast should now be ready introduce into the must!

This process is recommended to be done once for every difference of 15 degrees Farenheit. So if your must is 70F and your yeast is 104F you would do this twice.

Hope that helps,

Oskaar

 

[wayneb]

Now that sounds familiar!

 

[Oskaar]

Yuppers! I've been quoting that same article for a long-assed time! Except, I typo'd the post back then quoting 18 degrees instead of 15 degrees! Oh well, live and learn.

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[steve8479]

I'm trying Dan's sggestion of moving it upstairs to a dark closet. I moved it almost 2 days ago, and this morning I checked it and I what looks like water condensation on the middle tube of the airlock. I think this might be resudial must from the move. I also pushed down (very little force) on the lid and a bunch of air/gas(?) bubbled out of the airlock. Is this right? I guess if I don't see anything after a week I will try to re-pitch another batch of yeast.

Thanks for everything
Steve

 

[akueck]

Are you using a bucket for your fermenter? Bucket lids are notoriosly leaky, so the gas might be escaping from the lid without passing through the airlock. What does the mead look like?

Water condensation in the airlock is normal (at least I get it all the time). It's wet inside the fermenter.

 

[steve8479]

Yes, I am using a bucket. I don't know what the mead looks like, since I have not taken off the lid. When I push down on the lid, I can smell something. It smells like rising yeast or wort. And when I push on the lid a little of the mead goes into the air lock, and it looks golden in color and there were tiny bubbles in the mead. I hope that it is ok that when I push some goes into the airlock, just up the inside tube a little. Do I sound like a greenhorn?

Thanks again
Steve

 

[steve8479]

OK, almost one week has gone by and I moved the must out of the closet. When I moved the bucket, a bit of must bubbled up into the airlock. So I took off the lid to clean out the airlock, the must smelled very yeastie and had the color of, not to be disgusting, cloudy urine. It's been almost two week since I made the batch. Is this normal? I decided to wrap a heating blanket around the bucket to see if I get any more activity. How soon should I be moving the must into the second fermenter? I have a glass carboy for this.

Once again, many thanks

Steve

 

[Oskaar]

Dude,

You're mead is like two weeks old. Relax and let it do it's thing. Remove the heat blanket as this will cause more problems than it will remedy. Read up on the forums a little more and you'll find that waiting is what helps most mead the most.

Cheers,