Is it possible that sediment might settle on the floating raisins in my JAO??

[Cargirl]

My very first mead, a JAO made according to the recipe as follows, hits the one-month mark tomorrow. It smells mildly sweet and fruity, vaguely like Juicy Fruit gum. Its down to two bubbles per minute in the airlock. The sediment layer at the bottom is gradually increasing in size and the must is gradually clearing from the top down.

Other than keeping an eye on the level of fluid in the airlock, I really haven't checked it much in the last two weeks until today. When I did look closely at it, I got a real shock. I actually pulled it out into the sunlight so I could get a good look.

There appears to be a little layer of sediment on the raisins floating at the top of my must! At least, I most certainly hope this is sediment!

It looks exactly like the sediment at the bottom--same color, same consistency. It is only on the top of the raisins and not the sides or underneath, and its not on any of the other fruit or the cinnamon except for one piece of orange that somehow got turned over rind-side down so that it became cup-shaped. You could say that the raisins and that one orange piece look 'dusted' with sediment.

Somebody help me! Is this in fact sediment, or is my JAO now DOA?

3 lb bottle of clover honey
½ lb tupelo honey
about 2/3 gallon Deer Park water
1 largish Valencia orange
1 whole The Spice Hunter clove
25 nice fresh Piggly Wiggly raisins
1 stick of Don Enrique cinnamon
the tiniest The Trader’s Choice whole allspice I have
ever seen
approximately 1/3 tsp freshly ground Spice Garden
nutmeg
1 tsp Fleischmann's bread machine yeast


I'm going to be slightly ill until someone puts me out of my misery. It won't hurt my feelings in the slightest if I've rurnt it (Alabama dialect--my family has been in Alabama for 200 years, so I'm allowed :laughing4: ) because I'll just start another batch, but somebody help me! :tard:

 

[Oskaar]

Re: Is it possible that sediment might settle on the floating raisins in my JAO?

I wouldn't be too worried CG! Yeast has a way of making designs in the top of the must, and gathering around floating bodies in the mead as well.

I have a sack mead that looks like it's growing surface colonies of yeast and such. Blotches, swirls and such all over it, but from experience I know that it's just this specific yeast (D47) doing it's thing.

It's not uncommon for raisins to get all floaty and covered with CO2, yeast and other stuff in a batch of mead. Now if you start getting any off aromas, or see trailers coming off the raisins that's a different story.

Hope that helps,

Oskaar

 

[MeadFan]

The same happened to me. I fished one out and licked it, and sure enough it was just a thick collection of sediment. I fished out the rest just as the mead began clearing in case disturbing the raisins would cloud the must when I siphoned. Didn't want to take chances.

Nice name for raisins, Piggly Wiggly. :snorting:

 

[Cargirl]

Re: Is it possible that sediment might settle on the floating raisins in my JAO?

I wouldn't be too worried CG!...Now if you start getting any off aromas, or see trailers coming off the raisins that's a different story.

Hope that helps,

Oskaar

Oh thank you so much! No trailer things, and it smells nice and fragrant. :icon_thumleft:

 

[Cargirl]

Re: Is it possible that sediment might settle on the floating raisins in my JAO?

The same happened to me....in case disturbing the raisins would cloud the must when I siphoned. Didn't want to take chances.

Nice name for raisins, Piggly Wiggly. :snorting:

Funny you should say that! For a fleeting moment, I wondered if I should shake it to see if it would fall off the raisins, but then I realized it would stir up the sediment at the bottom so I didn't.

Piggly Wiggly is a Southern grocery store chain. We've got one not too far from the house. :snorting: :snorting: :snorting:

 

[Recluse]

Re: Is it possible that sediment might settle on the floating raisins in my JAO?

I was afraid that my 2 day old JAO had the oranges growing mold, but it was just yeast that was covering the oranges from the sprinkled tsp of Fleischmann's at pitching. The jug is green glass (from Morebeer.com), so it looked like a greenish covering...but so does all the froth and foam. I just hope I will be able to tell when it is clearing through the green glass.

Still bubbling away like crazy...

Recluse

 

[akueck]

Re: Is it possible that sediment might settle on the floating raisins in my JAO?

They have Piggly Wiggly in the midwest too. Though my favorite was always Kohls...before they sold off the supermarkets and went national with the department store. There was even one that was both, way before Monstro-Walmart or Giganto-Target.

 

[Cargirl]

Re: Is it possible that sediment might settle on the floating raisins in my JAO?

I was afraid that my 2 day old JAO had the oranges growing mold, but it was just yeast that was covering the oranges from the sprinkled tsp of Fleischmann's at pitching. The jug is green glass (from Morebeer.com), so it looked like a greenish covering...but so does all the froth and foam. I just hope I will be able to tell when it is clearing through the green glass.

Still bubbling away like crazy...

Recluse

Oh man--green glass! As paranoid as I am, I probably would have fallen over this morning and given out completely if I had seen green sediment on my poor raisins. Nevermind the why's and wherefore's! :laughing4:

My smiley avatar has an aluminum foil deflector beanie for a reason... :hiding:

 

[Strix_Varia]

Re: Is it possible that sediment might settle on the floating raisins in my JAO?

I use a food-grade HDPE 6 gal. pail with top and airlock as my primary. So I can't see a thing (I do stir 2x daily for first 5 days following pitch) until I do my first racking into the carboy. Ignorance is bliss. :icon_cyclops: