JAO Question

[GrantLee63]

Anybody NOT have the fruit fall to the bottom if you waited long enough? I made a 5 gallon batch on 02/21/2006 and it has clarified nicely. I followed the directions to the 'T'. However, I do not have even a single raisin that fell to the bottom. I would like to wait untill ALL the fruit has fallen before bottling, but I'm wondering if it ever will.

Again, has anybody NOT have the fruit fall?

Thanks in advance .....

 

[Dan McFeeley]

Anybody NOT have the fruit fall to the bottom if you waited long enough? I made a 5 gallon batch on 02/21/2006 and it has clarified nicely. I followed the directions to the 'T'. However, I do not have even a single raisin that fell to the bottom. I would like to wait untill ALL the fruit has fallen before bottling, but I'm wondering if it ever will.

Again, has anybody NOT have the fruit fall?

Thanks in advance .....

I don't think I've *ever* had the fruit fall to the bottom for a JAO. ;D

My last batch of JAO was a bit cloudy so, since I'd started with two one gallon carboys, I racked from the middle of both of them and transferred as much of the good stuff as I could to another one gallon jar along with a few more 12 ounce bottles.

 

[Oskaar]

I don't remember having any of my melomels where the fruit all fell to the bottom. My cyser with cherries and blueberries went about 80 percent to the bottom but still had floaties. I guess they were just having a good old time and wanted to party up top for a while longer.

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[--SEmper]

I used fresh yeast. It finished fermenting after about a month, and it was cleared up completely 2 weeks later, and 1 weeek later all the fruit was down. So nicely done under two months ;D

 

[Fwee]

You probably don't have the facilities to refrigerate your 5-gallon batch, but that would definitely work.

If you could stick it in the fridge, the raisins would start to fall within an hour, and your oranges would start to fall later on in the day. By the next day, most, if not all of your fruit, would be sitting on the bottom.

Just don't ask me why this works. It just does. I'm going to also try this on my cherry batch once I think it's ready.

 

[GrantLee63]

Thanks everyone, and you're right Fwee, I do not have a refridgerator that would accomodate the 6 1/2 gallong carboy it is currently in.

Interestingly enough, this batch IS STILL FERMENTING! I noticed this morning there are still very fine bubbles running through it. I initially made this batch on 02/21/2006, so it is a week or so away from being 3 months old. I'm estimating that it releases a bubble through the airlock about every 2 minutes, so it is very slow, but nonetheless, it is definitely still 'cooking'.

Which leads me to another question: Has anyone had a batch of JAO that was still fermenting 3 months after making it? I want to reiterate that it is indeed clearing very nicely.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Fwee]

Has anyone had a batch of JAO that was still fermenting 3 months after making it?

I wasn't even interested in making mead three months ago, let alone having a batch fermenting that long.

However (please don't beat me, Oskaar :'( ), I mistakingly assumed that my very first batch of mead (JAO, btw) was finished fermenting. I didn't see any bubbles, and my balloon (which is what I use for an airlock) started to get sucked back into my carboy.

I stuck the batch in the refrigerator for about three days prior to bottling. Everything settled down to the bottom rather nicely and it even cleared up quite a bit during the refrigeration. Then, when I went to bottle it, I filled a half gallon jug, four small (Kahlua Mudslide) bottles and two glasses that my son and I enjoyed.

Within less than twenty-four hours, my half gallon jug exploded. Apparently, it wasn't done fermenting.

I lost most of my first batch of mead.

I do have two other one-gallon batches fermenting now. I have a tea and lemon batch, and a cherry batch.

Strangely enough, I started my cherry batch one week after I started the tea and lemon one, and my cherry batch fermented for about two weeks and it seems to have stopped. My tea and lemon batch is still going though.

I don't know what's going on. I just hope it (the cherry batch) tastes okay.

 

[meadmonster]

I started mine on 3/14 and it is still bubbling quite a bit(and testing my patience)

 

[Oskaar]

Fwee,

I'm glad no one was hurt. Exploding bottles are serious business and this is a good opportunity for you to note and improve your batch management skills. We keep preaching the use of a hydrometer here and this is a classic example of why. Airlocks and "naked eye" observation are often not enough, there has to be some kind of empirical measurment ensuring that fermentation has completely ceased. This loss of mead, and thankfully harmless to life and limb incident is the best example I can think of for getting a hydrometer and using it to measure your fermentation.

I'm sorry you lost most of that first batch, that sucks. I'm glad no one was injured and there is something to be learned from this.

Remember,

Take a chance . . . Custer did!

Oskaar

 

[Fwee]

You're right, Oskaar, nobody was hurt. Ticked off - but not hurt. The batch blew on our bedroom carpet. I had the jug sitting in the corner with the other two batches that are fermenting. I was just getting ready to leave for work when my wife asked me if I had been drinking. I said, "No. Why?", then she said, "'Cause I smell beer, or somethin'." So, immediately I went to check on my bottles. Sure enough, there it was... The side of the bottle blew out and most of the top of the jug was laying next to it. It was a mess. Luckily, once we cleaned it up, it doesn't stink anymore.

You mentioned getting a hydrometer in order to determine whether or not the ferment is done. Myself, I was thinking along the lines of getting some campden tables to make sure that no further fermenting could take place. After all, I was quite happy with the flavor at the time. It needed to mellow out a bit, but I didn't exactly want anymore alcohol in it. What do you think? Is it okay to use campden to be on the super safe side?

 

[Fwee]

I started mine on 3/14 and it is still bubbling quite a bit(and testing my patience)

I can understand why you'd be ticked off a bit. After all, yesterday was the eight-week mark for your batch. According to the recipe, it should have been done and cleared by now. That is, IF you followed the recipe properly.

I started a batch of cherry, and it fermented for about two weeks and stopped. I used three pounds of honey and one pound of cherries. I expected this one to perk right along for at least a month.

 

[Oskaar]

I don't use campden tablets as a general rule. But, when I do use sulfites I use K Meta-bisulfite in powdered form see here and mix it into some bottled water for addition to my mead. But, you'll need to use K-Sorbate see here in order to keep the yeast from restarting fermentation.

Contrary to popular beleif, K meta doesn't keep fermentation from starting up again, but K sorbate will. Neither will stop an active fermentation, but you can slow it down if you can refrigerate your batch for a couple of weeks to put the yeasties into a deep sleep. Then use the combination of K meta and K sorbate to prevent fermentation from recurring.

B3 actually has some pretty good information in the description of each product, including how to use both of them properly. It would be a good idea to read up on them to get an idea of how they work together.

Hope that helps,

Oskaar