Aussie Noob with Kiwi concerns

[drewishly]

Hi all,

This is my 2nd attempt at mead, so any advise is good advise at this stage.

the mead recipe was a cold mix as follows:
1.5 kg of Australian mixed blossom honey
5l of purified water
800g of kiwi fruit
1tsp of pectin enzyme remover stuff
1tsp DAP
1cup orange juice.

1st rack was after approx 2 weeks of fermentation started (bubbles from the airlock were ~1 per 30 sec) and gravity was start 1110, final 850. We then cold crashed it (with the airlock) in a fridge for 24 hrs.

the issue is now there appears to be a culture growing on the surface (very white in colour forming a ring 3 cm for the edge of the bottle) and a weird smell.

What have I done wrong and how do i fix it?? We taste tested at the 1st rack and LOVED the flavor and would really love to be able to drink is at Xmas.

 

[Fermented Fluid]

Same thing happened with my Banana Bochet. The white stuff really built up but now it's starting to subside. When I first saw the film develop I racked and did a taste test. It tasted better than when I first racked it. It does smell kinda gross, but not revolting.
You mentioned a cold mix. I didn't heat or pasteurise my bananas. It was probably on the fruit. It'll likely die if and when you stabilise your mead. I'm letting my white film run the course until its done eating whatever it eats. I'm gonna taste again after that and see if its delicious.
Anyway, you want it ready by Christmas so just add sulphite/sorbate to stabilise (you can find a lot of resources about the specifics all over) but don't worry too much. I googled that white stuff and people use it deliberately in some cases. (Sour beers, sour meads). Take another sample and see how it tastes.

If it just smells like sour milk it'll be drinkable and taste alright.

 

[drewishly]

Thanks for the advise ... will do

tried it tonight and it still tastes great.