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Stuck fermentation?

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pweis909

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 28, 2007
31
1
0
South shore of Lake Superior
I started a batch of sweet mead last month. OG was >1.140. I just checked in with the gravity and it is still 1.080. I think I was using K-1116 (might be off by a # or letter) or else D-47. Fermentation temps hovered around 60F, so maybe a little cold for whatever yeast I used.

Anyhow, I was planning to use this batch to sweeten 2 tart batches , a berry melomel and a cider. Should I still go for it, or do I really need to do something about the stuck fermentation on the sweet mead. I know a month isn't that long for meads, but was hoping to blend and bottle soon.
 

pweis909

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 28, 2007
31
1
0
South shore of Lake Superior
Details:
16-16.5 #s of wildflower honey mixed with 4 gallons of water. Original gravity was measured at ~1.140. Aerated with pure O2 for 2 minutes. 3.5 tsp of yeast energizer were mixed in. Added 4 packets of K1-V 1116, rehydrated in about a cup of sterilized water. Fermenter temperature ranged from about 58-62 F. Fermentation appeared to be going strong for about a week, based on airlock activity.

I just left it alone and checked the gravity today, thinking I might want to blend it with other the aformentioned batches of very dry cider and sour cherry/berry melomel. Those batches finished at 1.000

As for the blend, my plan was to use K-sorbate and K-metabisulfite to try to check further fermentation. If I am doing my calculations right, after mixing, the cider-mead mixture (would that be a ceyser?) would have a gravity of 1.026 and the melomel blend would be 1.022.
 

Medsen Fey

Fuselier since 2007
Premium Patron
... do I really need to do something about the stuck fermentation on the sweet mead. I know a month isn't that long for meads, but was hoping to blend and bottle soon.

You can certainly use a stalled batch to sweeten the other two. That is a workable solution, but I would suggest that you take a small glass and make a blend at that proportion, and see if you like it at that level of sweetness.

The one thing I would caution you against is bottling this quickly. It is not uncommon to have a traditional mead that is undernourished and cold keep fermenting very slowly for a long period of months, especially if it warms up a little. Even if you stabilize with sorbate and sulfite, you may want to watch your blend in a carboy for several weeks (preferably some of that time at room temp) just to make sure you will not have fermentation in the bottles. You'll want to make sure the gravity does not slowly drop which could happen even if you see no airlock activity.

I hope that helps.

Medsen
 

pweis909

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 28, 2007
31
1
0
South shore of Lake Superior
Thanks, it helps. I had planned to mix small volumes first to evaluate taste, but your advice to hold in a carboy even after stablizing to evaluate whether fermentation starts up again is what I needed to hear. I had seen a post of yours in another forum that suggested the possibility of fermentation starting up even after stablizers were added. I did not want this to happen in bottles that had 20 points of fermentable sugar in them.

My eagerness to bottle was to free up carboy space to brew a batch of beer, but clearly, I am better off buying a new carboy.
 
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