A
Ardissa
Guest
Guest
Hey y'all, this is my first time posting and I'm worried about my ancient orange mead!
I started my one gallon batch lastnight and followed Joe's directions and ingredients to the letter and left it in my cabinet overnight. It's about 66 degrees in here.
This morning, when I checked, there was no airlock activity...it didn't even look like anything had foamed up into the 3 inches of airspace I allowed.
So today, about 14 hours after I first pitched the yeast, I added some more yeast (1 tsp)...this time I rehydrated it first (ah! don't beat me!) in some warm water (didn't measure the temp) and a little of the must...waited till it was all foamy and dumped it into my gallon jug.
Immediately I noticed airlock activity, but now it seems a bit slow...it's bubbling at about one bubble every 20 seconds. It's on top of the heater right now at about 70 degrees and covered with a towel to keep out light.
My questions are:
-Should I have waited bit longer to add some more yeast? Since it was cold...would it have just taken longer to start bubbling? I remember reading in the directions to wait at least 3 hours before panicking...so after 14 I got a little panicked...
-I can't keep the temperature of the must constant...it's gone from 66-75ish, how will this affect the fermentation, taste, etc...? I can have it constant at 66 degrees by leaving it in my cabinet...is that too cold?
-Shouldn't my airlock be working overtime pumping out bubbles? It seems slow compared to the posts I've read about this ancient orange taking off at lighning speed.
Thanks to anyone who can give me some thoughts!
I started my one gallon batch lastnight and followed Joe's directions and ingredients to the letter and left it in my cabinet overnight. It's about 66 degrees in here.
This morning, when I checked, there was no airlock activity...it didn't even look like anything had foamed up into the 3 inches of airspace I allowed.
So today, about 14 hours after I first pitched the yeast, I added some more yeast (1 tsp)...this time I rehydrated it first (ah! don't beat me!) in some warm water (didn't measure the temp) and a little of the must...waited till it was all foamy and dumped it into my gallon jug.
Immediately I noticed airlock activity, but now it seems a bit slow...it's bubbling at about one bubble every 20 seconds. It's on top of the heater right now at about 70 degrees and covered with a towel to keep out light.
My questions are:
-Should I have waited bit longer to add some more yeast? Since it was cold...would it have just taken longer to start bubbling? I remember reading in the directions to wait at least 3 hours before panicking...so after 14 I got a little panicked...
-I can't keep the temperature of the must constant...it's gone from 66-75ish, how will this affect the fermentation, taste, etc...? I can have it constant at 66 degrees by leaving it in my cabinet...is that too cold?
-Shouldn't my airlock be working overtime pumping out bubbles? It seems slow compared to the posts I've read about this ancient orange taking off at lighning speed.
Thanks to anyone who can give me some thoughts!