Mead stopped bublbling tons after 3 days

[essence3d]

Hey guys.. Id love a little help if you could..
I started with 1 gal of orange blossom honey
Mixed with some 1.5 gal of apple cider and .5 gal of peach nectar juice.
3 cinamon sticks, 5 cloves. I put in the recomended amount of yeast energizer after bringing all of it to a simmer when it was cool. I got my yeast starter going in a bowl with a bit of energizer and premier cuvee yeast and it was frothing nicely. No bubbles at all til 24 hours later then it started bubbling about 2-3 times a second. Now its day 3 and Im only getting 1 bubble every 10 seconds.
MY gravity reading right now is about .999 and its ph is about 3.2. Im a little stuck on what to do or if I can do anything at this point. At the rate its slowing down I dont think It will be bubbling at all tommorow. What do you think? Thanks in advance and thank you guys a ton for an awesome board.

 

[wayneb]

We'll need a little more information. How much water did you add, and what was the original specific gravity before you pitched yeast?

 

[essence3d]

2.5 gals of water and me being the lame newbie didnt take a starting grav reading.. sigh. I'm kicking myself in the butt right now.

 

[Medsen Fey]

If your reading of the current gravity is accurate (0.999), the reason you are seeing it slow down is because it is almost done. It might drop a few more gravity points over several days, but it is in the home stretch.

Congratulations!

 

[essence3d]

Done fermenting in 3 days?? Wow thats pretty quick. Why is it I read that some people mead bubble for like a month? Ill recheck my gravity tomorrow.. I have the little glass tube kinda and It is at the .998-1 mark.. I guess I shoudl still leave it in there for 3 more weeks before putting in a carboy? Im still shocked 3 days to ferment.

 

[essence3d]

I guess my big question is , is it typical for mead to ferment this fast? Does it affect the quality of it in the long run if it doesnt bubble for a month? Are there typical ferment times I should aim for in future batches to make the quality better and overall, should I do anything different to aim for a longer fermentation? Thanks again guys.

 

[Medsen Fey]

It is possible to see very rapid fermentations with apple and other fruit juices, and in your case the gravity was not extremely high to begin with. The fermentations that do go rapidly may turn out just fine. Does your batch still smell and taste okay?

Once it is done (which sounds like about now) it is okay to rack it to secondary and keep it under airlock. When the fermentation is not active, you lose protection against oxidation as the CO2 production and activity of the yeast are much lower.