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Spices & Fruit Pulp

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You don't need to watch it so much, at this point a gravity reading every day or two should be enough. Fermentation is way more vigorous at the start but as it begins to slow down you may only get a .001-.002 drop a day and that gets kinda hard to read on a hydrometer. So like I said at this point every other day should be sufficient. Like they say "a watched pot never boils".
 
Thanks TAKeyser.

It's the bacteria contamination before I get the mead bottled is what has me worried. From what I have read, the stage where fruit pulp is added is potentially the most dangerous contamination period. Hate to have to dump it.

Let me know when it's ok to rack. I'm taking notes with dates, time, etc. I should be broken in as a laid back mead maker in time for the next batch in two month's time.

Good night everybuddy.
 
I'd advise against removing the fruit and trying to stabilize and fine it at this point. It's not going to develop an infection at this sweetness level and you're probably around 10% alcohol in there already to further assist in making life difficult for bacteria. You should be fine to leave it on the fruit for a week to get the maximum extraction... and checking the SG every other day should be sufficient. Just don't make decisions based on what your airlock is doing.

And if you want to see if you can get it to go a little further, that 5 gallon batch of active must wouldn't be a bad plan. What was its initial SG and what's it at now?

The amount of time between adding a fining agent and bottling should be on the timescale of weeks, not days. This is what can happen if you bottle too soon after fining, you won't want to rebottle 116 gallons.
 
Hi Chevette Girl.

This morning on the way to Home Depot to buy a portable AC to keep the area of the fermentor a constant 75 F, I noticed the air lock had lifted considerably. At the 1:26 PM, a few minutes ago, after bringing the portable AC from Home Depot and taking measurements for partitioning the fermentor area, I was looking at the fermentor and saw the air lock let loose a stream of bubbles giving me hope the fermentation process will be able to recuperate and continue its thing.

Regarding the link to the guy who had white fluff in his mead bottles, I used Bentonite on a test batch that must be close to a year old and to this day the bottle is crystal clear and no sediment whatsoever on the bottom.

With this renewed bubbling in the air lock, I will give the must another week but I won't take anymore hydrometer reading for 3 days in order to not interrupt the CO2 build up in the tank.

I forgot to take a hydrometer reading when I pitched the 5 gallon must - again. Maybe it won't be necessary as a boost for the 116 gallon batch. Besides, I added rose and jasmine extracts to it thinking about test running a sparkling mead to bottle in champagne bottles for weddings. Sounds like a romantic combination for weddings - honey moon mead scented with rose and jasmine.

Maybe a mead with jalapeño peppers might be more to the liking for a biker's club.

Got to keep thinking about prospective markets.

BTW, good thing I kept the old screened kitchen door that was replaced because it's a perfect fit for the partion for the fermentor area. I just need to replace the screen with see-thru plastic. Waste not, want not.

Later...
 
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A few days ago, I sent an SOS email to the company that makes the sweet mead yeast I used and basically they advised me just like the experienced members of this forum who have assisted me in that:

"...If your mead is sitting at 11.5% alcohol by volume, there is very little danger of bacterial contamination since the bacteria won't be able to live in that environment. There is a good chance that the yeast is finished, but since you just added the fruit and spices you should probably let the mead sit for at least a couple of weeks to get the flavors to come out. Don't be afraid to taste a sample to see how it's coming along either; once the flavor from the fruits and spices is strong enough, then you should transfer the mead off of them and prepare to bottle. Your pH is in the right range, so as long as things aren't too sweet then fermentation may be finished. Sometimes, fast fermentation can produce fusel alcohols which make the mead taste "hot", so if that's the case then you'll need some additional aging time (months) for it to mellow out..."

From what I have noticed, the air lock let's out bubbling every 18 - 24 hours. But, then, I took TAKeyser's advice about a "watch pot..." and haven't been using my mobile phone's chronometer to time the bubbling like I did a couple of days ago.

Again, thank you all for giving me advice.
 
Hi Chevette Girl. I have been busy having the "meadery" divided into two parts each one with its own AC so I can keep the room temp at 75 F.

In an hour or two, I am going to open the fermentor and take the first hydrometer readings in quite a few days and will, probably, remove the fruit pulp. I need to decide if tomorrow, Sunday, I will transfer the mead into a holding tank while I clean out the fermentor and santize it so I can pump the mead back into it to clarify with Bentonite for couple of days before bottling.

Later, and thanx to everybuddy for their feedback...
 
At around 3:30 PM today, I took hydrometer readings and they remain exactly the same as when last taken on May 27th. I boiled water, dunked the strainer, sanitized it with Cleanpro SDH and skimmed off most of the Passion Fruit pulp and seeds that were floating at the top of the fermentor.

It tastes sweet, the Passion Fruit fragrance is strong but, definitely, needs to age - big time. The Rosemary and Cardamom fragrances aren't that apparent maybe with ageing, they will emerge from all the harshness. I was hoping to hit the 14% alcohol content but 11% is what I have to deal with. I thought the more honey used, the higher alcohol content produced. I wonder if the alcohol content will differ with the next batch of must to which I will add the fruit pulp and spices tea three days into the initial fermentation process instead of so late into the fermentation process as with this first batch.

I will rack it on Monday to add the Bentonite clarifier. Too much excitement for one day. I took an Alkazelter for the butterflies in my gut this afternoon before the opening the fermentor.

Good nite, everybuddy. Later...
 
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HowardVic said:
I was hoping to hit the 14% alcohol content but 11% is what I have to deal with. I thought the more honey used, the higher alcohol content produced. I wonder if the alcohol content will differ with the next batch of must to which I will add the fruit pulp and spices tea three days into the initial fermentation process instead of so late into the fermentation process as with this first batch.
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I regularly hit 14% abv with 3 lbs of honey per gallon and 16% with 3.5 lbs. It all depends on proper yeast for the job and proper yeast management. Using the White Labs yeast strain you chose you got close to what I've seen others get out of it, especially in the harsh environment you introduced it into (5+ lbs of honey per gallon is a ton for that yeast).

I think the issue was the amount of honey and your yeast selection and not when you introduced the fruit and tea, many here add it much later than you did. I'd suggest that when you revamp the recipe for the next batch you post it first and see if anyone has any comments to make on it.

best of luck with the meadmaking.
 
Hi TAKeyser.

Much to my surprise, I saw the air lock bubble this morning, therefore, I am considering waiting until Wednesday to rack and clarify. Today is the 31st full day of fermentation. Any suggestions on how much longer to wait before racking, clarifying and bottling?

I have read about 2nd and 3rd racking along with 2nd and 3rd fermentations. Considering the extreme slow rate of air lock activity which indicates the end of the fermentation is very near, I should just rack, stabilize, clarify and bottle.

The reason I chose that liquid yeast was because it is specifically for sweet mead. I made a dry mead long ago when I was experimenting with different proportions of honey to water and I don't like it. After tasting the mead yesterday, which was very sweet, I think I will lessen the amount of honey in the future, especially, with what you said about reaching the 14% alcohol with less honey.

What yeast is best for hitting the 14% alcohol content mark for a sweet mead along with lowering the amount of honey?

I am looking forward to bottling and taking a month or two to relax before starting the next batch. I have a lot of researching to do. Good thing there's plenty of info in these forums that will be of great assistance to me.

Thank you, TAKeyser. Later...
 
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HowardVic said:
Hi TAKeyser.

Much to my surprise, I saw the air lock bubble this morning, therefore, I am considering waiting until Wednesday to rack and clarify. Today is the 31st full day of fermentation. Any suggestions on how much longer to wait before racking, clarifying and bottling?
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Again you need to stop watching for airlock activity. Temperature changes, atmospheric changes, degassing, etc can all cause bubbles in the airlock and do not indicate fermentation. The hydrometer is the only reliable indicator.



HowardVic said:
The reason I chose that liquid yeast was because it is specifically for sweet mead. I made a dry mead long ago when I was experimenting with different proportions of honey to water and I don't like it. After tasting the mead yesterday, which was very sweet, I think I will lessen the amount of honey in the future, especially, with what you said about reaching the 14% alcohol with less honey.

What yeast is best for hitting the 14% alcohol content mark for a sweet mead along with lowering the amount of honey?
Click to expand...

Any mead is capable of producing a sweet mead if the recipe has been formulated correctly and the yeast is managed correctly. It is a matter of figuring out the various conditions that are contributing to what you are trying to accomplish. Some yeasts are not going to do well in your locale, some yeasts can help a melomel by helping to retain color, some yeasts are known for increasing mouthfeel which can help a lower alcohol traditional and some yeasts are known for contributing certain flavors or aromas which can compliment the ingredients in your mead. So it is all a matter of trying to figure out what you are trying to create.

I really prefer Lalvin yeasts, they are inexpensive, easy to use and come in a wide range of strains. A good source on the wide range of Lalvin yeast is the MoreWine catalog it explains tolerances and temperature ranges as well as what characteristics it may contribute.
 
Hi TAKeyser.

Since the hydrometer readings have remained unchanged over a week's span of time, it's safe to assume the fermentation is over and I should rack, stabilize, clarify and bottle at any time?

Thanks for the valuable info on the wide variety of Lalvin yeasts at the MoreWine catalog, I will check it out tomorrow.

I was meandering around the info available in the forums and found the following comment you made last March:

“...I usually start checking the things I have**aging*at around month 8 and about 75% of my meads seem to be ready for bottling somewhere between month 8 and 12. I'm personally not a big fan of super high**alcohol*meads which seem to take longer to age and I like my meads at around semi-sweet (1.010-1.015 range) so those may be the reasons that a majority of my stuff seems to be ready to bottle withing a year. Occasionally I do get that stubborn**mead*though.

After I bottle I usually let them sit for another two or three months to get over any bottle shock...”

Thanks, again. Have I got a lot to learn...

Later. Good night.
 
If the SG has stabilized, it's probably time to rack it, you can stabilize at this point if you want, check the SG for another week and make sure it hasn't changed, then if it's still stable, backsweeten if you need to, and then you can add the clarifying agent. I'd allow at least a few weeks between adding your clarifying agent(s) and bottling it. Also, the first clarifier you try might not be the one that works, so you may well need to allow for another week or two for another type of clarifier.

A good indication is whether you can see the beam of a flashlight through the must, if you can still see the beam, it's not clear enough to bottle because it will just keep dropping sediment. Don't rush it, let it do its thing...
 
Based on everything in this thread I think it is safe to say that your mead has finished. I think it's safe to rack and stabilize and then let it clear and age.

As for the time line I have the option of letting it take it's time, since you are doing it commercially I don't know if you have that freedom especially with these early batches.
 
TAKeyser said:
Even though I think your yeast is done, with the amount of residual sugars left in your batch I would definitely stabilize this batch.
Click to expand...

sorry, I'm currently running on nowhere near enough sleep to properly express myself. The "if you want" part was intended to refer to timing, not whether or not to do it, it definitely needs to be stabilized. You could rack it and stabilize now, or you could rack it and stabilize it in a month or a year. just do it before you backsweeten, and backsweeten before you clarify (although if you're not backsweetening it after all, you can clarify it before or after stabilizing it). :p
 
With a Gravity of 1.085 there is no need to even consider back-sweetening. Stabilizing this batch is to prevent bottle bombs just in case the yeast kicks back up at some later date (sometimes months later).

Even though you got up to 11.5% abv you still have a ton of residual sugars, so I definitely say play it safe. Stabilize, age, clarify if need be and then bottle.
 
Greetings Chevette Girl and TAKeyser.

The reason I am so keen on racking and stabilizing at this time is because I don't want to chance a bacterial contamination, although, from what was said earlier in this thread, due to the alcohol content and high sugar level, bacteria isn't likely to be a threat.

All those bits of Passion Fruit pulp and seeds that are still floating and, probably lying on the bottom of the fermenter along with the all dead yeast cells, keep me thinking about possible contamination if racking is not done soon.

Therefore, it is safe to allow the mead to sit a while longer before racking, maybe, an additional week in the fermenter, then rack it, clarify it and bottle and, lastly, age it for a minimum of six months.

I have read people saying they rack several times before bottling but doesn't racking so many times expose the mead repeatedly to oxygen and outside contamination getting in? If the purpose of racking is to clarify the mead, then, why not just rack it once, add a clarifier and bottle it before any contamination has the opportunity to ruin all the time, work and investment?

From all I remember reading on mead making, you ferment the must, rack it on cessation of fermentation, clarify it, bottle it and age it once it is bottled. Therefore, I am curious as to why TAKeyser racks, stabilizes, clarifies, ages and then bottles. In what do you age your mead, TAKeyser?

Again, thanks to Chevette Girl and TAKeyeser for their coontinued advice.

Good night, everybuddy. 8)
 
You are safe to rack it now and get it off of any remaining fruit and seeds. I will usually rack twice. The first time after fermentation has ended, a second time a couple months later since usually you will still have yeasts and proteins falling out of suspension and than I bulk age in this tertiary container. If it hasn't fully cleared while in tertiary I will hit it with the clarifying agent.

I choose to age in bulk instead of in bottles because the mead is less effected by temperature changes when it is in bulk and it gives the flavours in the mead more time to meld together making for more consistency between bottles.
 
I also usually rack at least twice, because not everything will have dropped out at the first racking and I'm a total klutz and always end up stirring up the crud on the bottom if I bottle when there's any sediment in the carboy so I often rack a week or two before I bottle, especially if I used a fining agent to clear it up. I also prefer to bulk age in carboys rather than bottles because one five-gallon carboy takes up less room than two cases plus a few bottles. I also prefer bulk aging over carboy aging because the whole batch ages the same and as TAKeyeser said, a carboy is less sensitive to temperature changes.
 
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