Hi,
I'm seeking advice on my one-gallon batch of mead, which was pitched 7 days ago, using 900g (2 lbs) of acacia honey and 1 gram of QA23 yeast. Having an OG of 1099, it now sits at 1092 after showing little signs of fermentation. By that I mean it has been visibly bubbling to some degree (like a bottle of Coke), with some activity in the airlock, but with little to no foam forming on the mead's surface. I've worked cleanly, and it doesn't smell foul, so I don't think my batch has been infected.
The temperature of the room it's located in is stable, around 21°C or 69-70°F.
Since Fermaid-O or K isn't readily available in my country and since this is my first batch, I've used boiled bread yeast as a substitute. Following a staggered nutrient schedule, I added 1 g BBY at pitch, another gram the day after and the third gram the day after that.
During the first couple of days, I gently stirred the carboy to introduce oxygen, but didn't pay much attention to oxygenating since my carboy has quite a lot of headspace (it's filled ⅘, 3L) and because I'd open the carboy daily for the first three days, to add the boiled yeast. As the fermentation isn't rigorous, I didn't notice much gas escaping in the first place.
Should I just be more patient? Or is this a sign my fermentation has stalled or something similar?
I'm seeking advice on my one-gallon batch of mead, which was pitched 7 days ago, using 900g (2 lbs) of acacia honey and 1 gram of QA23 yeast. Having an OG of 1099, it now sits at 1092 after showing little signs of fermentation. By that I mean it has been visibly bubbling to some degree (like a bottle of Coke), with some activity in the airlock, but with little to no foam forming on the mead's surface. I've worked cleanly, and it doesn't smell foul, so I don't think my batch has been infected.
The temperature of the room it's located in is stable, around 21°C or 69-70°F.
Since Fermaid-O or K isn't readily available in my country and since this is my first batch, I've used boiled bread yeast as a substitute. Following a staggered nutrient schedule, I added 1 g BBY at pitch, another gram the day after and the third gram the day after that.
During the first couple of days, I gently stirred the carboy to introduce oxygen, but didn't pay much attention to oxygenating since my carboy has quite a lot of headspace (it's filled ⅘, 3L) and because I'd open the carboy daily for the first three days, to add the boiled yeast. As the fermentation isn't rigorous, I didn't notice much gas escaping in the first place.
Should I just be more patient? Or is this a sign my fermentation has stalled or something similar?
