This past Saturday I pitched my first large batch. So far I have had 3 1 gallon batches, all came out quite well. I got my hands on some sourwood honey, and looking at several plain, simple recipes came up with the following:
9 lb Sourwood honey
2.5 gallon spring water
1 pkt Lalvin D47
3 tsp yeast nutrient (generic version from my local home brew store)
I brought 1 gallon of the water almost to a boil, and added all the honey, and mixed well. I transferred the must to a fermentation bucket, and stirred in the nutrient. Added the previously re-hydrated yeast, and stirred the heck out of it. OG was 1.100. I have stirred every day since. My problem is that there seems to be no activity whatsoever with the yeast. There were bubbles on top of the must Sunday and Monday, but as of this morning no bubbles, and no activity at all during the entire time in the airlock. The must smells yeast-y and alcohol-y - if that makes sense. It just does not have any movement. My gut is telling me that I used too little yeast, and should have used 2 pkts. The recipe I was working from as a reference was for 6 gallons, and since i was only making 3 gallons, I cut the yeast quantity in half.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated, as the thought of tossing all that honey is heartbreaking.
Thanks!
Lisa
9 lb Sourwood honey
2.5 gallon spring water
1 pkt Lalvin D47
3 tsp yeast nutrient (generic version from my local home brew store)
I brought 1 gallon of the water almost to a boil, and added all the honey, and mixed well. I transferred the must to a fermentation bucket, and stirred in the nutrient. Added the previously re-hydrated yeast, and stirred the heck out of it. OG was 1.100. I have stirred every day since. My problem is that there seems to be no activity whatsoever with the yeast. There were bubbles on top of the must Sunday and Monday, but as of this morning no bubbles, and no activity at all during the entire time in the airlock. The must smells yeast-y and alcohol-y - if that makes sense. It just does not have any movement. My gut is telling me that I used too little yeast, and should have used 2 pkts. The recipe I was working from as a reference was for 6 gallons, and since i was only making 3 gallons, I cut the yeast quantity in half.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated, as the thought of tossing all that honey is heartbreaking.
Thanks!
Lisa