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I think I $%&* up!

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Poobah58

Poobah58

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 14, 2008
105
0
0
68
New Milford, CT
Man, did I screw up. I was making a cherry cyser yesterday. Putting honey into a juice container, shaking the hell out of it to get a good mix, then dumping into the fermenter.

I then decide to rack my 2 month old Blueberry Mead off the berries. I racked to another carboy and was a little short so I decided to top off with a honey/juice mixture. So what do I do? :mad: Yep, I add some honey to my blueberry juice, shook the snot out of it, then topped off!!!! It didn't dawn on me until several hours later that I just added oxygen to my precious mead! Is there any hope? Am I doomed? Anything I can do?
 
First, relax, don't panic, and have a glass of mead.

While you did introduce some oxygen into your finished mead, it wasn't as bad as it could have been since you only shook up the topping off liquid.

Now, a question for you -- had the yeast reached its nominal ethanol tolerance and did the blueberry mead finish slightly sweet, or did it ferment to dryness? If it went dry, then the addition of more fermentable sugar with your topping off liquid might prompt the yeast to begin fermenting again, which will produce more CO2 and should drive off some of that added oxygen before it can do too much damage.

Did you do irreparable harm -- probably not. Did you reduce the shelf life of your finished mead -- yeah, probably. But depending on how you planned to age it (or not), you might not notice! ;)
 
Thanks WayneB, But I can't have any mead because none of it's ready yet! ;D;
The yeast (Lalvin EC-1118 ) fermented from 1.110 to 0.991. I had to add about 18-20 oz of juice to replace the 3# of Blueberries (3-gal batch), that's why I added a lb of honey. This one is going to be dry and I knew the yeast could handle a little more fermentables. I plan on bulk aging this batch for 9-12 months. Might not last long enough to worry about shelf life anyway!:rolleyes:
 
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I'd thought I'd read in some other thread regarding blueberries that their antioxidant properties acting as a buffer? Or is that in regards to the must while it is still fermenting, not after it's been dormant for a decent length of time?
 
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