Well first off I would like to say hello to everyone as I just joined the forums. After lurking around the website for a few months I finally decided to get my equipment together and try a go at mead making.
After a recent trip to a brew supply store about 45 minutes from my home (The Beverage People) I came back with all the basic mead making equipment and for my first time try decided to buy a sparkling mead kit with directions and some more honey/ingredients to try another batch later. On a side note I should have started off with the Ancient Orange recipe but I actually didn’t stumble upon it until Monday (doh!) Anyways, I digress.
I started around 3pm on Sunday the 4th
5 gallons water
9 lbs. Clover Honey
2 oz Beverage People yeast nutrient
4 Tablespoons Tartaric Acid
2 Tablespoons Malic Acid
½ Teaspoon Irish moss
10 grams Prise de Mousse- (Epernay) low foaming yeast
Unknown SG (didn’t have a hydrometer until yesterday) Though original Brix is supposed to be 18-21.
I sanitized everything like mad before bringing the five gallons to about 185F and then poured in the 9 lbs of honey. From there I brought it to a boil adding the Irish moss and continuing the boil for 15 minutes removing the scum from the top.
I turned off the heat and moved the pot (non-reactive steel of course) to the counter where I let it cool. The directions on my kit said to add the acids and nutrients while cooling so I added them while it was around 90F a few hours after I removed it from the burners. After it cooled to 75F I emptied it into a sterile 5 gallon bucket with a sterile air lock, dehydrated the yeast in 80F warmish water and poured it into the bucket and then eight hours later stirred it with a sanitized spoon. Upon first putting the yeast in I noticed no reaction and there was none when I stirred eight hours later. So last night (the 6th) I added another rehydrated 10 grams of the yeast and noticed an instant bubbling that lead to me not worrying about my possible mead….until 10 minutes later when I noticed it was again doing nothing. Yesterday my Complete Meadmaker by Ken Schramm arrived in the mail and after blazing through it I decided to try and get some more oxygen to it by giving it a nice long stir with a sanitized spoon which seemed to have done it a little good at the time
Now four days later I don’t see a thing going on with the airlock, in fact the airlock hasn’t budged.
Am I doomed? Anyway to save it? Should I not be worried at all?
Sorry if this could simply be dealt with or I left any knowledge you might require out. I did a long search on the site and couldn’t quite find an answer so I decided to post
Happy to be a part of the forums!
~Carole
After a recent trip to a brew supply store about 45 minutes from my home (The Beverage People) I came back with all the basic mead making equipment and for my first time try decided to buy a sparkling mead kit with directions and some more honey/ingredients to try another batch later. On a side note I should have started off with the Ancient Orange recipe but I actually didn’t stumble upon it until Monday (doh!) Anyways, I digress.
I started around 3pm on Sunday the 4th
5 gallons water
9 lbs. Clover Honey
2 oz Beverage People yeast nutrient
4 Tablespoons Tartaric Acid
2 Tablespoons Malic Acid
½ Teaspoon Irish moss
10 grams Prise de Mousse- (Epernay) low foaming yeast
Unknown SG (didn’t have a hydrometer until yesterday) Though original Brix is supposed to be 18-21.
I sanitized everything like mad before bringing the five gallons to about 185F and then poured in the 9 lbs of honey. From there I brought it to a boil adding the Irish moss and continuing the boil for 15 minutes removing the scum from the top.
I turned off the heat and moved the pot (non-reactive steel of course) to the counter where I let it cool. The directions on my kit said to add the acids and nutrients while cooling so I added them while it was around 90F a few hours after I removed it from the burners. After it cooled to 75F I emptied it into a sterile 5 gallon bucket with a sterile air lock, dehydrated the yeast in 80F warmish water and poured it into the bucket and then eight hours later stirred it with a sanitized spoon. Upon first putting the yeast in I noticed no reaction and there was none when I stirred eight hours later. So last night (the 6th) I added another rehydrated 10 grams of the yeast and noticed an instant bubbling that lead to me not worrying about my possible mead….until 10 minutes later when I noticed it was again doing nothing. Yesterday my Complete Meadmaker by Ken Schramm arrived in the mail and after blazing through it I decided to try and get some more oxygen to it by giving it a nice long stir with a sanitized spoon which seemed to have done it a little good at the time
Now four days later I don’t see a thing going on with the airlock, in fact the airlock hasn’t budged.
Am I doomed? Anyway to save it? Should I not be worried at all?
Sorry if this could simply be dealt with or I left any knowledge you might require out. I did a long search on the site and couldn’t quite find an answer so I decided to post
Happy to be a part of the forums!
~Carole
