Mead not showing any activity after 24 hours

[Aki]

Hi. I used a simple recipe of around 400gms of honey with 1.8litre water. Added yeast , DAP and lemon juice.
After fermentation , within 6-7 hours there was a little foam on top of the mead. But it all disappeared and now there is no activity in 24 hrs. How do I know if the fermentation process is still happening?

 

[darigoni]

Use your hydrometer and measure the change in specific gravity.

 

[Aki]

Yup. Will do that. I was just worried to not agitate the yeast or aerate the mead by opening the work to check specific gravity.

I have another question please- since I am making a hydromel, can I bottle it already after a week of fermentation without going through a second fermentation process? As per the recipe, I can bottle it after a week. But will it have a lot of byproducts to cause any stomach problems?
Thanks for the advice!

 

[EricHartman]

bottling early will generally lead to bottle dusting. Not the end of the world but expect a yeasty flavor. Also you will have to leave it without any residual sugar or your fermentation can kick back up and start building pressure in your bottles.

 

[stmcw]

Yup. Will do that. I was just worried to not agitate the yeast or aerate the mead by opening the work to check specific gravity.

I have another question please- since I am making a hydromel, can I bottle it already after a week of fermentation without going through a second fermentation process? As per the recipe, I can bottle it after a week. But will it have a lot of byproducts to cause any stomach problems?
Thanks for the advice!

When to bottle depends on the following and not necessarily time based:
1) Is it done fermenting? This is measuring gravity and not seeing any changes in a few days in a row.
2) We do not want any yeast settling out in the bottles, so we let ours sit in primary to allow yeast to finish up and begin to settle out. (usually another week)
3) We always rack to a secondary , stabilize and clarify as want a clear wine. About 1 week, but could be more depending on clarity, alcohol warmth etc.. We are in no hurry for good wine.