Hello All!
This is my first batch of mead and I think there may be a problem. We began on 8/11/07, following Schramm's recipe for orange blossom mead. We started off boiling one gallon of water, removed it from heat, added the honey...then decided not to boil after all. Followed the rest of the recipe. The must was at 82 o F when we added the yeast. Initial Gravity was 1.11. When we sealed the primary bucket, I went to attach the fermentation lock, and proceeded to pop the rubber seal through the lid and into the must. I scrubbed my hands and arms and fished the little bugger out. Valuable lesson, that one.
We are keeping the fermenters in the bedroom at about 75o F. Saw glugging in the airlock begin that night. 16 days later (8/27/07) we racked into glass carboy. Fermentation had slowed, unfortunately I hadn't been counting bubbles per minute. Gravity reading at 1.01 I tasted the mead, and hoo boy! That was interesting. I'm not sure how to describe it.
Bubbles resumed that day, but one week later on 9/3/07 I noted that the vodka in the airlock is sitting differently, as seen in second picture, and there haven't been any bubbles. I had turned the airlock in the stopper so I could see it from where I was sitting. Later in the day, I noted that the level had moved down a little, but today it is back where it shows in the picture. The first picture is from 8/27/07, the day we racked it.
The level in the carboy is a bit low, should I be concerned? And clarity?
I'm hoping this undertaking teaches me a bit about patience. I'm really looking forward to tasting our first experiment.
Holly
This is my first batch of mead and I think there may be a problem. We began on 8/11/07, following Schramm's recipe for orange blossom mead. We started off boiling one gallon of water, removed it from heat, added the honey...then decided not to boil after all. Followed the rest of the recipe. The must was at 82 o F when we added the yeast. Initial Gravity was 1.11. When we sealed the primary bucket, I went to attach the fermentation lock, and proceeded to pop the rubber seal through the lid and into the must. I scrubbed my hands and arms and fished the little bugger out. Valuable lesson, that one.
We are keeping the fermenters in the bedroom at about 75o F. Saw glugging in the airlock begin that night. 16 days later (8/27/07) we racked into glass carboy. Fermentation had slowed, unfortunately I hadn't been counting bubbles per minute. Gravity reading at 1.01 I tasted the mead, and hoo boy! That was interesting. I'm not sure how to describe it.
Bubbles resumed that day, but one week later on 9/3/07 I noted that the vodka in the airlock is sitting differently, as seen in second picture, and there haven't been any bubbles. I had turned the airlock in the stopper so I could see it from where I was sitting. Later in the day, I noted that the level had moved down a little, but today it is back where it shows in the picture. The first picture is from 8/27/07, the day we racked it.
The level in the carboy is a bit low, should I be concerned? And clarity?
I'm hoping this undertaking teaches me a bit about patience. I'm really looking forward to tasting our first experiment.
Holly