Not me..the mead:
Just trying my first two batches of mead. Have been making wine now for a few years, so I have basic knowledge of yeast and nutrients etc.
Anyways, made up the must using honey and water..to a specific gravity of 1.082 (gonig for a dry mead that I will sweeten prior to bottling.) The yeast ( 71B) was rehydrated with the required amount of Go-Ferm and built up to a volume of about 2 cups before being added to the 20 litres of must. Temperatur eof must was about 70 F and the bucket was set in an environemnt of about 65F to satrt fermentation. After about 24 hours there was definite bubble formationa and obvious fermentation started. The SG had already dropped to 1.080. However, there is a smell coming off the must..sort of a plastic/petroleum /??? smell that is fairly strong. :confused1:
Thinking maybe I had a lack of oxygen and was seeing an anaerobic reaction I stirred the bejeeses out of the must and put the lid back on (I should mention that I stirred an poured the must prior to pitching the yeast to try to get some oxygen into the must. I should also add that I put 4 grams of FermAid into the must prior to pitching the yeast as someone told me I should make sure I have lots of nitrients in there. I don't usually add Fermaid to the wine at this satge (mostly never actually) but I was warned to do this with honey
So, can anyone tell me the most probable cause of this odour and what I should be doing to make sure it doesn't linger in the mead (or is it too late? :help:
Thanks in advance for any and all advice...
Darren
Just trying my first two batches of mead. Have been making wine now for a few years, so I have basic knowledge of yeast and nutrients etc.
Anyways, made up the must using honey and water..to a specific gravity of 1.082 (gonig for a dry mead that I will sweeten prior to bottling.) The yeast ( 71B) was rehydrated with the required amount of Go-Ferm and built up to a volume of about 2 cups before being added to the 20 litres of must. Temperatur eof must was about 70 F and the bucket was set in an environemnt of about 65F to satrt fermentation. After about 24 hours there was definite bubble formationa and obvious fermentation started. The SG had already dropped to 1.080. However, there is a smell coming off the must..sort of a plastic/petroleum /??? smell that is fairly strong. :confused1:
Thinking maybe I had a lack of oxygen and was seeing an anaerobic reaction I stirred the bejeeses out of the must and put the lid back on (I should mention that I stirred an poured the must prior to pitching the yeast to try to get some oxygen into the must. I should also add that I put 4 grams of FermAid into the must prior to pitching the yeast as someone told me I should make sure I have lots of nitrients in there. I don't usually add Fermaid to the wine at this satge (mostly never actually) but I was warned to do this with honey
So, can anyone tell me the most probable cause of this odour and what I should be doing to make sure it doesn't linger in the mead (or is it too late? :help:
Thanks in advance for any and all advice...
Darren
