Toggle sidebar

No bubbling....

  • PATRONS: Did you know we've a chat function for you now? Look to the bottom of the screen, you can chat, set up rooms, talk to each other individually or in groups! Click 'Chat' at the right side of the chat window to open the chat up.
  • Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
  • We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
Barrel Char Wood Products
J

Juliemac

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 9, 2010
22
0
0
Amsterdam NY
I started a 5 gallon batch of blueberry mead yesterday.

10 lbs honey
1 gallon of blue berries
3 Oz ginger
2 lemons
2 limes.
3 teaspoons of yeast activator.
RedStar Cote des blanc yeast

I sanitized the equipment/bucket with One Step.
I simmered the honey in water (2 gallons), diced and added the ginger, boiled for 10 minutes.
I added the blue berries, lemons, limes and yeast activator and transferred to the bucket.
Added water and aerated the batch for 5 minutes or more.
I stated the yeast with a teaspoon of sugar, waited till it started frothing and then added it to the batch.
Covered and added the bubbler.

Simple really, but not one bubble, it does not lift the cap. Nothing...

What did I do wrong? What can I do to get it started?
 
Had the must cooled down before you pitched the yeast.
What is the ph of your must?
 
I would wait foe another day and see what happens. You sound like you probably thermal shocked your yeast. If nothing happens in a day of so you might want to re-pitch some more yeast. This time you might want to aclimatize you yeast to within 10 degrees of the must temperature prior to pitching.

With the lemon,lime, and blueberry you might have a fairly acid must as honey is very poorly buffered. If you have can get some pH strips or a meter this would definitely be worth checking.
If the must is very acid. Less than 3.2pH you should consider adding some carbonate or bicarbonate as the pH will continue to drop during fermentation.

Things to consider but just give it another day before you get too worked up.
 
I've had a few batches with a 2-3 day lag phase.

Take farmboyc's advice and check ph levels.

Also, bubbles don't really mean much, my current 20 litre batch isn't bubbling at all, that's because it's not quite air tight. I knows it fermenting because of gravity readings
 
In future recipes you might want to cut the lemons and limes because of ph problems. Adding lemons is an old practice which the vast majority of mazers shy away from nowadays
Boiling the must is debatable. Most mazers seem to prefer the no boil method but I suspect boiling could make better mead at least in some cases. If you're boiling for sanitation reasons I think 10 mins is overkill if I remember correctly. I sometimes heat the must on a very low flame for a few minutes to hopefully pasteurize the must just to avoid using too much chemicals. I hit the mead with metabisulphite after fermentation though
 
Last edited:
I agrree, too early to worry just yet. If it doesn't start up soon I would add some carbonate and repitch. Make sure to attemperate. Temp shock could kill off half the yeast right off the bat and leave the other ones mutants.
 
Squatchy said:
Temp shock could kill off half the yeast right off the bat and leave the other ones mutants.
Click to expand...

I could understand heat just killing yeast, but how can heat cause mutation like that? What happens if you have a big population of mutant yeast instead of normal strain?
 
It wasn't a roll boil, but enough to make bubbles along the edge of the pot. I threw in the skins of the lemons and limes to get the oils from the skin.
It started bubbling after driving to the zymurgist for the PH strips. Missed by 5 minutes... Had a great dinner with my daughter, then on return found the batch bubbling!
 
I cut my teeth boiling, having evolved into meadmaking from home brewing. Then I took on Ken Schramm's no boil pasteurization method for a while. For the last several years though, it's been no heat at all for me.

Have to say, I've had some spectacular meads come out of all the methods.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Barrel Char Wood Products

Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns

Top Bottom