is this possible???

[aran]

Apologies for dumb qs:

I have two 5 gallon buckets of mead going.

Bucket 1:
15lbs honey
4.5gallon water
1.5 packs of d47 yeast and 1 of RC118 yeast ( dont ask newb error!)
1 tsp yeast energizer
2 tsp DAP

This mead was set on 10/13/17 and had initial ETOH potential of 12-15% ( had trouble reading the hydrometer without my glasses)
-> has been bubbling away vigorously this past week but has all but stopped bubbling so i checked it today:

SG 1.000
Alcohol ( ETOH) potential 0
pH 3.74

Is it feasible that its done fermenting already?

And if thats not weird enough... bucket two is worse!!!

15lbs honey
4.5gallons water
1 tsp energizer
2 tsp dap
2.5 packets D47 yeast

-initial ETOH potential 15%
-really no bubbling at all to speak of since it was set on 10/22/17
-> now today while i was checking bucket 1 i decided to check bucket 2:

-> smells lovely just like bucket 1
-pH 3.76
SG 1.000
ETOH potential zero.
-> how can this have completed fermenting already??!??!

They are both in my basement at 69F.

What do i do now? rack them this early or leave them both another 2-3 weeks?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Squatchy]

Only your hydrometer knows for sure. So you will have to judge that for yourself After all zero is zero the world around. I find it very common to finish an 1120 gravity mead for the most part in 14 days and another week to finish off the last few points. Your temps were a little too high , which will speed up a ferment some. So yes. It's pretty easy to imagine that they are both done.

You didn't ask but your YAN source choice would improve your final product a good bit if you changed up some. Using Goferm to rehydrate and fermaid O for your YAN, along with staggered feedings would make a huge improvement. And if you could control your temps at a little lower (something you should do is rouse your yeast into suspension every day) would help to cool down your batches a little bit. When 69 is your ambient temps your must temps could be 5 degrees more. This pushed the D47 over the range that works best, as that strain doesn't do well above 65. The gotmead podcast recently started a new series about 6-8 weeks ago that goes through everything step by step, and the newbee guide will help you a good bit. Check out this as well. http://www.meadmaderight.com/http://www.meadmaderight.com/

 

[aran]

thanks mate ill look at that for sure.

 

[Stasis]

...When 69 is your ambient temps your must temps could be 5 degrees more. This pushed the D47 over the range that works best, as that strain doesn't do well above 65.

I agree, you should aim for a lower temp range. Ideally aim for the lower end of the yeast's tolerance.
I think the use of dap allowed for the slightly faster ferment. This is not always desireable, especially if you have temp control issues. However, I think the problem might not be how fast it fermented, but the fermentation and temp spike dap creates. (P.s Give enough dap and higher temps and you can finish the ferment in 3 days. But don't do it, your stuff will need YEARS to age out the defects. If they ever age out at all)

[Optional story]
However, this year I tried D47 yeast alongside 71b for a melomel. These were placed in a fermentation chamber and because of various reasons the D47 yeast fermented for a great deal of the time even at 69F ambient temp and in the centre of the must it was even recorded at ~71.5F. I wasn't getting the 5 degree temp difference even though this was a very large batch. This is probably because I was stirring the must multiple times a day especially when the temp problems were noted. I could also monitor the temps very closely thanks to a digital temp controller and probe.
I have since racked these melomels and did (sometimes blind) taste tests. The D47 yeast fermented just fine without fusels and at this point in time I prefer it over 71b which was surely fermented at a more comfortable temp for that yeast since it can tolerate higher temps. However, my nutrient source was organic which means that the ferment was at a much more constant temp. Dap creates fermentation and temp spikes.
[Optional Story End]

Lesson 1: Temps should be lower.
But if the core temp goes slightly above the recommended figure *I think* it should be ok given that you're VERY careful in all other aspects. I think, and this is just my theory, that yeast companies allow for a little leeway because they know that a lot of vintners will not even consider that core temps might be higher.
Lesson 2: The more careful you are, the more you can get away with little mishaps. However, if you make many small mistakes they might just add up.
Lesson 3: You need a way to accurately measure your gravity SG. If a problem arises you don't want to be second guessing your reading rather than finding the problem.

If your mead tastes harsh don't fret. Give it time (a year, two..) and it usually ages out. Some of my harshest batches turned out the best somehow

 

[Foothiller]

Lots of good advice above. What I can add is that I have had FG as low as 0.996, although I start at lower OG than yours. Time will tell whether yours is finished. Whether or not your FG will still decrease, give it some time for conditioning, with an air lock in place.

 

[Shelley]

Give them a taste and see if they're sweet enough for what you wanted to brew. If they're not, you'll need to adjust. (Keep in mind that at this stage they might taste "hot" from the young fermentation, so don't think your final mead will taste quite like this.)

With 4.5 gallons of water added to 15 pounds of honey, you might find it's not quite sweet enough (depending on your taste, of course).