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Will not start after four days??

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rtudor

rtudor

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 27, 2003
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My first batch of mead will not start after four days. Any suggestions?
 
I think I got it going. I added yeast nutrient and a little heat from a heating pad.

My recipe was 16 lbs honey, 4 gal water, black tea, lemopn and white labs sweet mead yeast wlp720.

Thanks for the help
 
You should try making a starter culture a day or two in advance next time. haveing a must sit around for days without signs of active fermentation is a dangerous gamble. i've had batches that have violently exploded into fermentaion in about three hours with the use of a good heavy starter!
 
I think I got it going. I added yeast nutrient and a little heat from a heating pad.

My recipe was 16 lbs honey, 4 gal water, black tea, lemopn and white labs sweet mead yeast wlp720.

Thanks for the help
Click to expand...

Better keep an eye on this one. Four pounds of honey per gallon is a bit steep. Did you take a hydrometer reading of the starter gravity? How was the lemon added? Juice? If you can check the pH of the must, do so. It might be too acidic.


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Dan McFeeley
 
My first batch of mead will not start after four days. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

The same thing happened with my first batch. The recipe called for potassium metabisulphite, yeast nutrient, and acid blend with a little over 14 lbs of honey topped up to 5 gallons with water. All this 24h before tossing in dry yeast (Lalvin EC-1118). I have no idea what amount of chemicals I put in because it all came pre-measured in a kit my homebrew shop put together.

Anyway, the thing didn't show any signs of life at all for seven days! I was more than a little worried. The brew guys told me that sometimes the sulphite can stun the yeast a little and that they would more or less hibernate untill the chemicals dissipate to a level they are happy with. Told me not to worry much about bacteria because if the sulphite was too much for the yeast, it would be too much for anything else as well--and then once the yeast does kick in, it's agressive enough to hold its own for the first stretch.

I don't know if that is really what was going on, but other than the late start it hasn't done anything unexpected. It's still merrily fermenting away in the primary bucket so it will be quite a while before I know how it turns out. I'm not worried though. If it has suffered any, then the damage is already done. Nothing to do now but wait and see:)
 
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