Mead won't ferment - at all

[CecilyParsley]

Hi, this is my first foray into mead making - I've done elderberry wine and scuppernong port and they fermented (wild ferment for those) just fine so I'm flummoxed. I made up a must for a chai metheglin (according to the recipe in Make Mead Like a Viking) starting at 2 lb honey to 1 gal filtered water, plus a coffee mug's worth of chai tea (made myself with a cinnamon stick, a few cloves, bit of sliced ginger, and crushed nutmeg and star anise in filtered water). Mixed it up in a gallon pickle jar with cheesecloth over the top and let it sit to try to wild ferment, stirring it when I thought about it. A week went by and nothing happened so I added a handful of raisins and another half pound or so of honey and gave it a good stir. Another week went by. Still nothing. Some sediment at the bottom and a tiny bit of foam around the edges of the jar but no bubbles and it still tasted like honey water. So yesterday I admitted defeat, got some champagne yeast, stirred that into a bit of distilled water, racked the un-mead into a carboy with another half pound of honey and the yeast-water, and put the spices in with it. That was more than twelve hours ago now and it's still just sitting there doing nothing. I originally thought it might be because it's a bit chilly as we live in a really old house but the orange spice small mead (also from the Viking book) made with the same honey and a teaspoon of bread yeast that is sitting *right next* to the metheglin is going so strong that it's overflowing right through the airlock and has to sit in a roaster pan so it doesn't get the floor nasty. So it's not the temperature. What do I do now?

 

[darigoni]

Warm it up? Bread yeast does like warmer temps.

Throw it out?

 

[CecilyParsley]

No, the bread yeast one is burbling away just fine at the temperature it's at (it's not *frigid*, probably in the low 60s), it's the champagne yeast one sitting right next to it at the same temp that's not doing anything. And I don't want to throw it out unless I have to - it's not gone bad or anything, just not fermenting.

 

[darigoni]

Which "Champagne yeast" did you use?

 

[CecilyParsley]

Well okay, maybe not champagne qua champagne, it's one for 'sparkling wines'. Lalvin EC-1118, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ex-bayanus).

...I think I didn't rehydrate it correctly though, I misread the instructions and only let it sit for a few minutes before adding. Would that do it?

 

[darigoni]

EC-1118 is pretty bullet proof. Could it be old or not have been stored properly? At this point, I don't think you can go wrong by raising the temperature.
High 70's or low 80's? I had a cinnamon tea mead that I could not get started. I first tried Lalvin RC212 and when it didn't startup I tried K1V-1116 (another bullet proof yeast). When it didn't start up I dumped in some bread yeast. I was shocked when the fermentation finally started up. Of course I have no idea if it was the 1116 or the bread yeast (or both) that finally did the job. Unfortunately, it ended up tasting a little phenolic (plastic). Rather than throw it out, I let it sit in a jug for 3 years. The phenolic taste aged out and it ended up being one of my better tasting meads.

"LALVIN EC 1118 yeast should be stirred into 10:1 must/water mixture at 86 – 95 °F (30 – 35 °C), stirred again after approximately 20 minutes and then added to the must or wine. The optimum fermentation temperature is between 57.2 and 64.4 °F (14 – 18 °C). The minimum starting temperature is 53.6 °F (12 °C)."

"This strain ferments well over a very wide temperature range, from 10° to 30°C (50° to 86°F) and demonstrates high osmotic and alcohol tolerance."

 

[CecilyParsley]

I got it from Amazon so being improperly stored is not outside the realm of possibility. The expiration date is July of 2027 so we're good there. The only way to raise the temperature and keep it there without jacking up the temperature of the entire (drafty, 18th century) house would be to keep it atop my antique gas stove that leaks heat like crazy when lit. It'd be intermittent but it's good enough for proofing bread so maybe it'll work.

So. Do I try again with another packet, properly hydrated this time? (the instructions on the packet did not say to mix must with the water, that's interesting, maybe that's the ticket) Or do I just raise the temperature and hope that kick-starts it? Or do I add bread yeast and deal with mead that tastes like plastic until it ages out?

(I'm still disappointed that open fermenting didn't work. Not like I don't have a yeast-laden environment in my kitchen!)

 

[darigoni]

No advice on how to move forward. All the above? Warm it up, use more yeast and/or bread yeast. I think the plastic taste comes from the yeast being stressed during fermentation. Perhaps it fermented to fast?

Do you have a heating pad or blanket?

Also,

1. Raisins are not a nutrient.

2. Buy a hydrometer and learn how to use it. Its the only way to know what your starting sugar content is (SG), how the fermentation is doing and where it ends up (FG).

Good Luck.

 

[CecilyParsley]

Welp, none of those things can hurt, so I'll keep trying until something works. My heating pad recently died but I could get another one if I need to.

I was hoping the yeasts on the raisins would give it a push. It worked for my elderberry wine. No go here.

I do have a hydrometer. I just haven't quite understood it yet. Can do some research if it comes to it.

Thanks for your help! It's been much appreciated.

 

[Squatchy]

That book is worthless if you want to learn how to make mead. If you go to the Gotmead podcast and start on 9/5/17. You will learn how to make great mead right from the first step. And it teaches you the most modern way of making mead, step by step.

You have messed up a good bit all along the way. But. That yeast you pitched is such a strong fermenter. If you give it a day or two, I would be surprised if it doesn't go off for you.
Lastly, it would be best to buy more yeast from the same strain. And for now on. It would be best to always have a pouch of "backup yeast" on hand if you fail to "get off" with your pitch. Otherwise, you might get stuck and have to wait a long time to get some more. So it's just good practice always to have a little more, just in case.

Once you learn from the podcast, you will never have a failed start again in your life.

Get some paper and a pen to take notes. https://gotmead.com/blog/gotmead-live/9-5-17-ryan-carlson-modern-mead-making-yeast/

 

[CecilyParsley]

RATS. I already threw in the towel and added bread yeast when the *second* pouch I added didn't make it go either. Oh well, my bees did good this year and if what I made turns out just awful I can make more, and what's being a newbie for but to make all the mistakes at the beginning so I won't make them later?

I didn't know there was a podcast, I found this place by chance during a Google search. Cool! Thanks so much for the tips!

As for messing up, I confess I'm inclined towards more "folk" methods, just because people have been doing this for thousands of years and it makes no sense that in the last century it is suddenly become impossible to do it any other way than the approved "scientific" method. But I do like that if the "folk" method doesn't work there's a guaranteed success with the laboratory approach, and either way there's still a lot to learn.

Thanks again! I will check out the podcast.

 

[CecilyParsley]

Even the bread yeast didn't take and I think I've figured it out. Turns out cinnamon, and some of the other spices, are antifungal...which would explain why there's no activity and a dead yeast debris at the bottom of the carboy. Maybe if I remove the spices and rack into a clean vessel it'll finally take hold.

 

[darigoni]

Could explain why my cinnamon tea mead was so stubborn to take off. I wonder if a yeast starter would work? Get the yeast going, in a water and honey environment, and then slowly introduce it to the chai environment…..

 

[Sky Bell]

That book is worthless if you want to learn how to make mead.

Now that’s not even fair! Clearly people have and do make mead by that method.
Consider those who build boats with only hand tools or for that matter people who build boats inside of a bottle. Why? Because there is a certain pride in reaching a desired goal with unconventional approaches, and even silly practices.

I recognize there are faster, more reliable, predictable, scientific, modern, etc… ways to make mead. I also recognize that you are a yeast Bible thumper, but please respect that other approaches exist and we all take pride in what we do.

If you say the book is “worthless” you need to be more clear on what you mean. What you really should have said was “to learn modern mead making techniques”.

I would also like to point out THAT. book (Make mead like a Viking) is very popular. It has a much far higher rating on Amazon than even the mead book that is second in the running. The image of a Viking drinking out of a horn, wearing skins with mead running down his beard is appealing!!

THAT book has drawn a lot of people into mead making. And we should be thankful for that! Do you think these people are going to be happy with a lab coat, test tubes and a scientific approach?

I’m not dissing your approach. I have great respect for your determination and success. I have also not read that book.

However, please be open minded and respectful to other people’s desires and adventurous spirits. It takes all kinds to build a community. Argh!

 

[Squatchy]

Ok. So, I spoke too plainly. I am sorry. I just am not good at needing to be politically correct, as it infringes on everyone's methods of speech. In a way, it is a working precursor to manipulating people toward losing their freedoms.

Anyway. If mead hadn't had such a massive amount of interest in Hollywood, And if we hadn't been able to watch fantastic movie series about Vikings. They wouldn't have been the rage for the last 20 years. Nowadays, even Mexicans want to be Vikings. However. If we had been making movies for 20 years about Mexicans. Then, all the rage would be about Mexicans. Vikings didn't invent making mead. And I'm sure their very best stuff would be a far cry close to the substandard things people make these days. So please understand this. If I cared for you, I could lead you toward modern medicine, especially if you were reading books about amputations done in the Civil War. I feel that that would be important to me and beneficial to you.

, I have zero problems sawing off people's legs with a tree saw and cleaning up the mess with a red hot pocket knife and some whiskey. You are right. You could have a great sense of accomplishment. So, I was wrong in saying that it is worthless. It would indeed teach you to make mead like the Vikings. Do we even have any real-life records of methods written down in Viking somewhere? Most everyone thinks all Vikings were warriors. The truth is most were farmers..

I Suppose you want to practice a never-repeatable protocol, judging by the results. I want to take the chance of having stalls, flavors, and just garbage mead. Then so be it. I want to make great mead in the best way I can. So I should have said that the book would be worthless for what I wanted to do.