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Weird Growth in Cranberry Mead

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hagantx

hagantx

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 2, 2011
10
0
0
45
Texas
Hi Gotmead experts.

I started 2 seperate gallons of mead at the same time with the same type of yeast (Montrachey) and a tablet of campden in each. One is doing just fine, while the other went about 10 days without a problem. But, around day 10 a small growth started that in two days pretty much overtook 1/3 - 1/2 of the gallon.

It's a gross looking thing that kind of just suspends in the middle.

The ingredients of the mead with the infection are rehydrated dried cranberries and candied ginger that were pureed. I then strained out the liquid.

I syphoned out half of it and just tossed the rest. But the half that I have still had some "growth", so I put it in the freezer thinking it would settle.

Not sure if this is a loss cause or if there is some way to save it. Any advice would be great. Thanks.
 
It actually doesn't smell bad at all. And, it definately does not look like a "vinager mother". Gross.

If I had to describe it, I would say it looks as if you pulled the lint out of the lint trap in your dryer and suspended it in the middle of the mead.
 
Did you use any pectinase? It could be pectin from the cranberries... or it might be suspended ginger fibres that just wanna hang in the middle for no good reason... any way you can get a photo of it?
 
Yeah I wouldn't throw it away unless you confirm it is spoiled. Lots of things can cause "stuff" to lump together that is perfectly harmless.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I didn't use any pectanese. I'll see if I can get a picture tomorrow. Stay tuned, and get excited for some mead growth!
 
Here's the picture.

Mead.jpg
 
Did you use sparkalloid or something like that? The first time I used it and saw exactly what you've got pictured I freaked out too.
 
Yeah, I've seen that kind of fluffiness before too... looks like something flocculating out.

I think you can stand down from your red alert, unless it starts to smell funny.

Just curious, was this mead always as clear as it appears above the cloudiness and this started to grow up into a clear mead, or has been slowly growing as the mead at the top becomes more clear?
 
Thanks for the feedback. It started getting clearer as the fluffiness grew, and it still smell just fine. I'll try to rack it off.
 
I'd leave it until it settles more, but that's up to you. It'll just mean a little more sediment in the next aging vessel. Either way, no big deal. Yeast just looks a little funny when it's settling out. :)
 
I've seen that sort of cloudiness on some cider I've made before. I wouldn't worry, but consider cold crashing if you are having problems getting that to settle out.
 
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