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Other sugar breaks

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Soyala_Amaya

Soyala_Amaya

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 21, 2011
991
6
0
Missouri
Ok, I understand 1/3, how to calculate it, what do do there, but I've seen a few other times the phrase "1/3, 1/2, 2/3" mentioned when talking about sugar breaks in general. I've tried every search I can think of and I can only find people talking about the breaks existing, not what to do when you hit them. Just took a reading and realized I hit my 1/2 sugar break today and...I don't know if I need to do anything besides stare at it.
 
The breaks are like snapshots into the lives of the yeast and, if you're using staggered nutrients, indicate when and what you feed the mead. Up to the 1/3 break, for example, you'd add Fermaid K and DAP because the yeast can use those nutrients at that point. I'm pretty sure the Newbee Guide covers it, and if not, run a search on staggered nutrients or SNA.
 
Usually it's more about what not to do past those points than anything else. 1/3 break is the standard time to stop aerating and stop feeding nutrients containing DAP, but the yeast aren't on a tight schedule, so any time up to the 1/2 is really ok, after that you generally will want to stop. 2/3 mark sometimes people will add something like yeast hulls, boiled yeast, or other nutrients that don't contain DAP (just to help finish the ferment, it's often not necessary). But the 2/3 is just an arbitrary time to do this, getting close to the end but not too close.
 
Thanks ATOE, that's what I was looking for. There's a hundred posts about what to do during the 1/3 sugar break, but after that it all got fuzzy.

@Wildoats, I re-read the newbee guide, it does talk a bit about staggering nutrients, but in that part it keeps referencing hydrometer bubbling, not sg/brix readings. It gives day limits, as in after 3 days stop aerating, not at the 1/3 sugar break. And the words 'sugar break' aren't in it as far as I saw. I think that's part of what confused me as well, but I think I got it under control!

I'm at my 1/2 break, and now, as I said before, I get to stare at it. Sigh, so hard not to screw with it. It smells so good and I want it to be doooone!
 
Yep, time to start another, fer shure. My daughter and I were talking that we need to git some mead goin', 'cause while we have lots of beer in progress, most of our mead is either youngish (the chocolate is almost half a year) or bottled already. We only have one batch that is ready to bottle, okay, maybe after one more racking. :)

All we need is the honey!
 
I don't think mom appreciates the smell of fermenting mead. I commented on how my shoes still smell like must after my funnel coughing on them when I switched to the carboy, and her comments on the strength of scent in the basement were not...appreciative. Anything I can do keep my deliciousness safe from angry parental wrath? (I think it smells awesome and wish I could make it into an air freshener, but there's no accounting for taste.) I can do air fresheners, I have an electric air filter, or maybe a fan blowing towards the back of the basement?
 
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