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Ken2029

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 26, 2015
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Recipe:

17.5 pounds honey
4.5 pounds blackberries
5 cinnamon sticks
125 raisins, chopped
5 pinches nutmeg
1 teaspoon yeast
water to 5 gallons

Water was not warmed at all. everything was very thoroughly stirred. Storage temperature is 72 degrees.

After twelve hours, not a single bubble. Any ideas?
 
I forgot to mention that this is my fourth batch. All previous batches begin to bubble within an hour.

The starting gravity was 1.32, which seems high.
 
There's a huge chance the gravity is too high for the yeast to get off. I would try taking out some of your must and water it down some. Then pitch again and wait until it gets going. Then slowly over time add some of your must to the new started batch. DO this over a day or two so as to keep the gravity lower in your new vessel. Your going to end up super sweet with that much OG. It would be way to sweet for anyone I know. Would you just want to water down the entire batch and then repitch??? Without finding the recipe I'm betting it would read to add 5 gallons of water and then add the honey. That would put the OG at a more yeast friendly level.
 
Perhaps that's it. Do you think that there may be too much fruit? I forgot to mention that I mashed it.

Regardless, I will take another specific gravity reading, in case I mis-read it the first time. My carboy will hold 6 gallons, so I still have room to dilute.

Thanks for the advice!!
 
I think the fruit should be fine. That's not really very much in the overall scheme of things.
 
Your recipe calculates to about 5 lb. of honey per gallon of water. That is sky high and the most likely cause of your batch failing to start. As Squatchy said, dilute the must and repitch your yeast.
 
Well, I am an idiot that can't read a hydrometer. I mis-read it. I did not realize it until after I added a quart of water. The end result is 1.013. Hope I did not contaminate it with all the extra activity.

We'll find out in a few months.
 
It just keeps getting better: I noticed a lot of foam on top of the must and still no bubbles. I thought: That's impossible. I shoved the stopper in a little deeper and instantly got a stream of bubbles.
 
Last edited:
Ken2029 said:
Well, I am an idiot that can't read a hydrometer. I mis-read it. I did not realize it until after I added a quart of water. The end result is 1.013. Hope I did not contaminate it with all the extra activity.

We'll find out in a few months.
Click to expand...

As long as you practice good sanitation you'll be fine.
 
Squatchy said:
There's a huge chance the gravity is too high for the yeast to get off. I would try taking out some of your must and water it down some. Then pitch again and wait until it gets going. Then slowly over time add some of your must to the new started batch. DO this over a day or two so as to keep the gravity lower in your new vessel. Your going to end up super sweet with that much OG. It would be way to sweet for anyone I know. Would you just want to water down the entire batch and then repitch??? Without finding the recipe I'm betting it would read to add 5 gallons of water and then add the honey. That would put the OG at a more yeast friendly level.
Click to expand...

DX Always so quick with the answers, you beat me to it every time! Kudos though :p

But yes, the S.G. was too high, although I doubt it was really 1.320. That's an absurdly high number and is that even on the scale at all? Maybe you misread it and it was like 1.132? That's a pretty common S.G. which might indeed be a rough start for yeast if it's not been given a proper starter.
 
Swordnut said:
DX Always so quick with the answers, you beat me to it every time! Kudos though :p

But yes, the S.G. was too high, although I doubt it was really 1.320. That's an absurdly high number and is that even on the scale at all? Maybe you misread it and it was like 1.132? That's a pretty common S.G. which might indeed be a rough start for yeast if it's not been given a proper starter.
Click to expand...

Correct. 1.32 is not even on the hydrometer. It was actually 1.013. It's moving right along, now.
 
According to my calculations, your OG should have been right around 1.136. Which equates to about 3.5 pounds of honey per gallon. A little on the sweet side, but certainly not overboard. Your slow startup may be the high SG, but I really don't think you did anything wrong here, except misreading your hydrometer. 😆
 
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