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Am I doing this right?

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BHammer909

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 29, 2014
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First time making mead so I wanted to get some input to make sure my numbers look OK.

15 gal clover honey
8 lbs mixed berries (raspberry, blackberry, blueberry)
3 3/4 gal water
4 tsp bentonite
8g EC-1118 dry wine yeast

Then I started my staggered yeast nutrient:
1 tsp Fermaid-K
2 tsp DAP

Split that into 4 parts and added the first 1/4 after I pitched the yeast, then the second 24 hours later, the third at 48 hours, now I am just waiting for the sugar levels to drop about 30%.

My starting SG before pitching the yeast we at 1.110
At the 48 hour mark the SG was at 1.040

Does all this sound correct so far?

When should I throw in the last bit nutrient?

When adding the nutriment should I stir up all the stuff in the bottom also?

And when do I need to rack it into the secondary?
 
Chevette Girl

Chevette Girl

All around BAD EXAMPLE
Moderator
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Apr 27, 2010
8,447
59
48
Ottawa, ON
If you're down to 1.040 already and the must doesn't smell like rotten eggs or anything other than yeast and fermenting fruit, then I'd not bother with the rest of the nutrients, you're already down past where the nutrients will be useful for the yeast.

Read up a little more on staggered nutrient additions, you want it all in there by the time the yeast has used 1/3 of the sugar so for 1.110 you'd want to add it all by around 1.073. It's best to time it by your hydrometer, not by hours or days, the yeast doesn't have a watch and can't read a clock anyway. What I do is my lazy SNA - I mix all the nutrients and energizer I'm going to use for a batch and then give it a little every time I go in there to aerate and check the SG, so I check the SG first and then the amount I put in is based on how fast I think the ferment's going, I try to time it so that I run out of the energizer-nutrients mix by the time it's time to stop aerating (after the first third of the sugar has been consumed).

Stir it every time you add stuff (stirring it before you add stuff helps a lot with preventing what we call MEA's, Mead Eruption Accidents (think dropping mentos in diet coke). Stirring it up keeps the yeast in suspension, keeps them doing their job. Also you want to add a little oxygen in the first third of fermentation too.

Rack it when your SG gets close to 1.000 or stops changing, both of these situations indicate that fermentation is pretty well finished..

Other than that, looks good! And welcome to the forum!
 
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BHammer909

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 29, 2014
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How do I determine when the fermentation is done? My airlock is still bubbling away.
 
kudapucat

kudapucat

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 2, 2010
2,383
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Bundoora, Melbourne, Australia
First sign is the airlock stops bubbling.
Second sign is the mead will clear
Third sign is the gravity is low enough to not be a stuck ferment
Fourth sign is the gravity will not change for a week or so.
 
mannye

mannye

Administrator
Administrator
Moderator
Oct 10, 2012
4,167
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Miami Beach, FL
You forgot the fifth sign.

You're stumbling around the house drunk on mead.


Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now.
 
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