Alright GotMead,
I'm a fledgling to the world of brewing. I currently have 5 gallons of metheglin in a fermentor as my first batch of anything alcohol. Being unfamiliar with the usual signs of a healthy fermentation, I thought the yeast was going at it in full force! There's crazy bubbling and carbonation going on in there, but, my SG readings are disconcerting. Here's the recipe that I used for my must:
11 pounds of raw, organic honey
zest of 3 limes + 1 navel orange
2 cups ginger
2 tbsp juniper berries
1 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp aniseed
7 dried cloves
5 tbsp golden pu'erh (black tea)
2 tbsp yabukita sens (green tea)
~5 gallons of water
OG - 1.060
The yeast I used was a single rehydrated packet of lalvin EC-1118. Everything has been at room temperature, so that most likely isn't the cause of my dilemma. I feel that it's also worth mentioning that I do in fact sanitize everything that touches my mead.
So, I took a hydrometer reading this past Friday on its 1-week anniversary after having barely touched my mead in its 10-gallon fermenting bucket, and was dismayed to find that it's only at 1.038. I took a hydrometer reading tonight aswell, 2 days later, and it's at around the same point, if not 1.034-1.036. I'm at a total loss at to what I should do next. Currently getting some pH test strips to rule out acidity. If that yields no important information, does anyone have any ideas as to what I should do? It would be such a same to abort this batch entirely. If I have to, though, it would be nice to know exactly why it didn't work out.
Thanks in advance, guys.
I'm a fledgling to the world of brewing. I currently have 5 gallons of metheglin in a fermentor as my first batch of anything alcohol. Being unfamiliar with the usual signs of a healthy fermentation, I thought the yeast was going at it in full force! There's crazy bubbling and carbonation going on in there, but, my SG readings are disconcerting. Here's the recipe that I used for my must:
11 pounds of raw, organic honey
zest of 3 limes + 1 navel orange
2 cups ginger
2 tbsp juniper berries
1 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp aniseed
7 dried cloves
5 tbsp golden pu'erh (black tea)
2 tbsp yabukita sens (green tea)
~5 gallons of water
OG - 1.060
The yeast I used was a single rehydrated packet of lalvin EC-1118. Everything has been at room temperature, so that most likely isn't the cause of my dilemma. I feel that it's also worth mentioning that I do in fact sanitize everything that touches my mead.
So, I took a hydrometer reading this past Friday on its 1-week anniversary after having barely touched my mead in its 10-gallon fermenting bucket, and was dismayed to find that it's only at 1.038. I took a hydrometer reading tonight aswell, 2 days later, and it's at around the same point, if not 1.034-1.036. I'm at a total loss at to what I should do next. Currently getting some pH test strips to rule out acidity. If that yields no important information, does anyone have any ideas as to what I should do? It would be such a same to abort this batch entirely. If I have to, though, it would be nice to know exactly why it didn't work out.
Thanks in advance, guys.
