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Polish Blueberry Sack Mead help

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Believenpeace

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 20, 2014
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Eugene, Oregon, USA
Hello! I have been making sack meads for almost eight years now. My blueberry recipe is 4/5 gallon honey, 1/5 gallon blueberries, 1 cup H2O for champagne yeast.

My questions are: Yeast nutrients and staggering them, what/how to do? My fermentation stopped, can I just add more blueberries and yeast after a racking?

This is the first time I have had any problems with my mead. I am not hip on gravity, ph, or other terms/processes people talk about in the forums, I have never needed to be.

Thanks in advance.

:(
 
You may be beyond the point in fermentation where commercial nutrients will really help. For you, I would say take a packet or two of bread yeast and boil it along with a handful of chopped raisins and put that in to feed the yeast and kickstart fermentation again.
 
Honeyhog has the right advice if you are past the 50% sugar break. If it's earlier in the process, you could use DAP or yeast nutrient and see if that restarts fermentation, or maybe you need to make a super starter with K1 and repitch. Do I surmise that you do not have a hydrometer? That information would be helpful. Did you use a different yeast? What yeast did you use? What about temperature, is that different than usual? Did the honey come from a reputable beekeeper, or is it possible that it might be from China and have some contaminates in it? When did you pitch the yeast and how was the fermentation leading up to the stall?

As you can see, your one question leads to lots of questions.
 
I am unsure of weight. Sorry. My graddad taught me. But I would say only a pound of blueberries, maybe 1 1/2. And I will look up the blueberry-yeast thing. Maybe why my strawberry or cherry works better. :p
 
I don't mind more questions. lol My honey is from my local farmers market. My yeast is Red Star Pasteur Champagne (yellow). No, I do not have a hydrometer. Temperature was ~70f. Pitched the yeast, honey, and blueberries all in same day.
 
I think you are right about past the point of helping it along. Especially as I racked it already. The bread yeast feeds the mead/champagne yeast? I have plenty of that, as I make my own bread.
 
Ya, when you boil the yeast it kills it, then it pukes it's guts out (autolyses) and the nutrients inside become available to the living yeast cells. Dead yeast contains the things that yeast need to live, it's kind of like composting back into your garden.
 
Something doesn't add up. Yeast will have a very tough time starting if you get above 5-5.5 pounds in a gallon (that's a bit less than 1/2 gallon). The osmotic pressure is so high they don't function normally. The only yeast I know of that can work at the levels you are describing are osmophilic yeast.

Are you mixing everything together well before you pitch the yeast? If not, the upper layer could certainly ferment (like BDC DYF). However you'd still have some very syrup results once you mixed it all up.

Either you have a monster-yeast (love to get a sample :) ) or perhaps the honey you are buying is very watery.

Sent from my THINGAMAJIG with WHATCHAMACALLIT
 
Medsen Fey said:
Something doesn't add up. Yeast will have a very tough time starting if you get above 5-5.5 pounds in a gallon (that's a bit less than 1/2 gallon). The osmotic pressure is so high they don't function normally. The only yeast I know of that can work at the levels you are describing are osmophilic yeast.

Are you mixing everything together well before you pitch the yeast? If not, the upper layer could certainly ferment (like BDC DYF). However you'd still have some very syrup results once you mixed it all up.

Either you have a monster-yeast (love to get a sample :) ) or perhaps the honey you are buying is very watery.

Sent from my THINGAMAJIG with WHATCHAMACALLIT
Click to expand...

This one has me confused too. Only one cup of water with 4/5 gallon honey? Even with the juice from the blueberries it seems like this would just create a honey syrup. :confused:

I would love to see a finished sample.
 
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