Idophore

[JohnS]

I have two batches I have been watching very closely.

My JAO which I have started on the second of last month and my blueberry maple. I am sure teh maple will soon be stuck.

Blueberry maple:

2 lb 8 oz Mable syrup.
4 lbs of frozen blueberry.
1 cinnamon stick.
2.5 g K1v
pinch of nuturent
pinch of energizer.
1/2 gal water

The delima I am having at the moment is that the JAO is stuck and I fear permently. No airlock activity in a long time and the Hydro reading is the same at 1.085

I pitched the yeast after making a starter for the maple syrup blueberry last
night. OG was about 1.21 last night and today its at about 1.11 its at with almost no airlock activity.

Both fermentations were at about 70 degrees and I used Idophore in the airlocks. Not a lot of Idophore, but just enough to have a reddish tint.

So my fear is that Idophore got into both gallon jugs and has killed off the yeast. Both patches had a gone into the airlocks which had the water-idophone mix.

Could Idophore in anyway kill have killed off the yeast in the process of a otherwise normal fermentation, and if so what can be done about it.

 

[Loadnabox]

It's possible, but I'm not sure I'd say for sure that was the cause.

For future reference, those of us who are concerned about airlock infections (seems to happen more in humid areas) use a distilled liquor in the airlock. Something like vodka, gin or white rum. Those will be alcoholic enough to stave off the infection. (Cheap booze highly recommended for this use )

 

[JohnS]

its winter (if you could call it that. Its been quite warm), here in the Midwest so its not too humid.

I also have grain alcohol. which I have used before, but It gets expensive when you have many patches laying around. Prior to this current batch, I had 7 patches on a alcohol airlocks and grain alcohol evaporates much quicker then a sanitizer solution with water. I also sanitized the airlocks before using.

 

[tycoon]

I use a solution of potassium metabisulphite, which is very cheap.

 

[Soyala_Amaya]

I also live in the Midwest and have had over 20 airlocks at one time, and a liter and a half of vodka will last me two to three months. One of those will cost me ten bucks, and a small think of iodophor will cost me 5, and I need that for my carboys and buckets a lot more than my airlocks! Vodka is MUCH more cost effective, IMO.

 

[akueck]

The little bit of iodine that might have leaked into your mead will not have killed off the yeast. Even if you filled the airlock with the undiluted stuff, a drop or two would not matter. With the diluted Iodophor, you should be able to dump the whole airlock into your mead and not see any ill effects.

Some questions:
Were the batches mixed at room temp or did you heat stuff? If you heated, what temperature was the must when you added the yeast?

Did you rehydrate the yeast first or toss it in dry?

I assume your SG readings are 1.121 and 1.111. That's a pretty high OG. Your yeast probably need more than a pinch of nutrient to get further than they have already gotten. Also some aeration would be a good idea. I would add probably 1 gram each of your nutrient and energizer, give it a good stir (gentle at first), and see if that improves things.

 

[JohnS]

for my starter, I rehydrated the yeast into 1 oz of water 107f, waited 20 minutes and added must. added another 2 oz of must, and for the final after 1 hour or so added 4 oz of must. I was stirring it all the time until there was an even consistancy. After 2 or 3 hours I pitched the starter into the jug.

Now, after adding a bit of nutrient and energizer, it appears to be bubbling well. I will be keeping a good watch on the blueberry-maple surup.

I will take another reading later tonight and add more nutrients and energizer. Akueck, if you recommend a gram of each then so be it.

Now with the JAO, I still have no idea with this one. I followed the same process for the restarter and still nothing.. However, when I shake the heck out of it there are bubble, but still the same hydrometer reading. I guess its drinkable, but I would like to see the SG go down a bit further. What could be recommended to restart the JAO? I am all oout of ideas. I pitched yeast hulls, both fried, and nuked, and nothing, Then I added nutrient and energizer, Still nothing, My final attempted I re pitched K1V thinking it would do the trick and yet nothing.

In the future I will pitch the starter in the morning instead of at night, so as to keep a closer eye on it. There was blue stuff on the table this morning and no bubbles coming from the airlock and it had me worried.

 

[Medsen Fey]

Did you make any deviations from the JAO recipe?
Can you check the pH?

 

[JohnS]

No derivations. I tried to stick as close to the recipe as possible. I did use a few extra cloves in the recipe, only because they were old. I have tasted the other batches of at the time and its not overpowering (I have made a blueberry, orange, wildflower, and clover). They all fermented out well except the clover. The clover did start to overflow in the airlock and I did take a bit out.

Also, I checked the ph after I realized it was stuck about a week ago. It was low. About 3.2 or 3.2. After that I added a bit of calcium carbonate. Then it was too high. It then was at about 4.4, so I added a capful of lemon-juice. that brought it down to about 3.6. At that time I started to get it going again by adding the fried and nuked bread yeast, followed by the steps taken below.

any recommendations or advice?

 

[Medsen Fey]

It is truely rare for JAO to stick. You might want to place it in a slightly warmer location. At 75-80F, you may get better action.

If that doesn't work, it is probably time to make an acclimated starter using Uvaferm 43 (or EC-1118 if you don't want to get the Uvaferm). You can follow Hightest's instructions.

 

[JohnS]

Well I will try a hot place (on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen. I think its the hottest place in the house), at least warmer then 72 degrees and see if that works. If it does not, then which one would be better in your opinion, the Uvaferm or the EC?

 

[Medsen Fey]

The Uvaferm 43 is the most effect restart yeast I have ever used.

 

[Chevette Girl]

I also live in the Midwest and have had over 20 airlocks at one time, and a liter and a half of vodka will last me two to three months. One of those will cost me ten bucks, and a small think of iodophor will cost me 5, and I need that for my carboys and buckets a lot more than my airlocks! Vodka is MUCH more cost effective, IMO.

Must be nice, I'd pay $20 or more for 750 ml of "cheap" vodka here. I use my metabisulphite sanitizing solution in my airlocks, but you do have to keep an eye on it as the sulphites will dissipate over time and I've had the odd one go fuzzy on me. I try to remember to clean the airlock every time I rack but laziness dictates that if it looks OK it just gets topped up. If you stick a piece of plastic wrap under the lid of either the s-type or the two-piece airlocks, it keeps it from evaporating as quickly and would probably help when you're using vodka. I don't recommend this for active fermentations as it might not let the pressure off quickly enough, but it's great for secondary and bulk aging.