Stabilize it after you rack. Less crud in the vessel will mean less bound SO2 after you titrate your dose. It's the "free" SO 2 that remains available to ensure a lasting product.
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First batch of mead ever
- Thread starter AndrewCarrara
- Start date
Stabilize it after you rack. Less crud in the vessel will mean less bound SO2 after you titrate your dose. It's the "free" SO 2 that remains available to ensure a lasting product.
D
Devin Petry-Johnson
Guest
Guest
I’ve been following along with this thread and it’s a good feeling when I read Andrew’s question and think how I would answer it and then I read Squatchy’s answer and it’s basically what I would have said. It means I’m learning and developing my instincts! Andrew, I was in your same spot 3 months ago. Heed Squatchy’s advice, be patient with this batch, and get ready for your next one. They just get better with age and better techniques. Cheers!
Thats awesome Devin. Yea i was starting this just out of a want to try my hand at it and suddenly I'm living on gotmead, taking notes, and listening to podcasts incessantly. Cant get enough. I'm excited to see how this batch turns out in the LONG run but i cant wait to begin the next one. Glad to know I'm not the only one. Didnt even know about gotmead till a week or so ago, great to find real tried and true information with explanations on why and how they work.
Alright so I just checked my gravity twice this last week and over a 6 day period it had gone from 1.058 to 1.052. Each time I open it I mix it thoroughly and I otherwise have been swirling it at least twice a day. Does this qualify as a stalled or stalling fermentation? I have looked at the scotts labs handbook on restarting a stuck fermentation by adding the must to a starter in a separate container over time and allowing the new yeast to take over and finish the job. I unfortunately don't really have an adequate way of judging temperature or ph at this point in time. Im also not entirely certain what to use other than yeast and water and my remaining Wyeast nutrient as I'm out of funds at the moment and can't get any goferm, Reskue, or fermaid o. Just wondering if any of you have some advice or if I'm better off continuing to let it run its course though it is slowing down each day it seems.
Thanks in advance
Thanks in advance
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Devin Petry-Johnson
Guest
Guest
I'm inexperienced with stalled ferments. But it sounds like it's still going, just slowly. Maybe your yeast struggled starting out and the biomass that's left is just slowing down. If it were me I would leave it alone for a while. I don't think nutrients will help at this point and if they are not used they will be leftovers floating in your mead and may have an impact on taste. You can stir gently to keep the yeast in suspension but I wouldn't be mixing it too vigorously.
At some point the D-47 will probably hit the alcohol tolerance of the batch. Double check my math but with 1.13 starting gravity you will probably have some sugar that D-47 can't eat because of its alcohol limit. Do you want a sweet mead or a dry mead? If you want dry, maybe it's worth thinking about pitching another yeast that can handle the alcohol. And I suppose you could do that now instead of waiting. If you want some sweetness, I would just leave it alone.
At some point the D-47 will probably hit the alcohol tolerance of the batch. Double check my math but with 1.13 starting gravity you will probably have some sugar that D-47 can't eat because of its alcohol limit. Do you want a sweet mead or a dry mead? If you want dry, maybe it's worth thinking about pitching another yeast that can handle the alcohol. And I suppose you could do that now instead of waiting. If you want some sweetness, I would just leave it alone.
I wanted to clarify some things here after I came back to this and saw some comments. For the longest time, no one managed temps. When people started having success from temp control, they then started thinking lower is better. Going to low can also stress out your yeast and cause flaws and fusells. I have a temp controlled fermenter, and I can run at 5o degrees if I want to. And I have. Sometimes certain strains went to sleep on me. Others did ok. Others did really nice. But if a strain is good up to 76 degrees. That is just as good as keeping it on the lower end of their spectrum. Granted. They will produce different esters, mouthfeel, aroma and such. But it's someone close-minded to think everything needs to be on the cold end of the spectrum. If you go to California and ask the wineries there many of them ferment in the mid-seventies because they want what that temp provides.
As you get more advanced, you might like to split some must at times and do an A/B comparison doing everything the same but the temps. One at on extreme and the other at the other end of the spectrum. This will arm you with more experience. And thus. You will learn when to use a certain strain to get a specific profile a certain temp will provide. You will never know these things if you never experiment.
I'm not blowing my own horn here. I have taught many people how to make good mead. But the person who does the most experimenting. I call it "playing" learns the most the fastest and has a much broader grasp of the craft/art of managing your flavor profiles.
If you listen to the podcast, you can learn to make "clean ferments" in very little time. It's pretty easy. The more I do this. The more I learn. The more I judge, and the more I drink meads from all over the country. And to a much smaller extent, the world. I have come to a very certain conclusion. ANd that is making great mead. Verses "ok" mead come down to a single issue.( Providing we can assume you have a proper protocol in hand to make clean ferments.) And that my friends, is getting the proper balance of all the fractions of your finished profile. Maed can be made all over the map. And in virtually as many different directions and styles as your imagination limits you. And yet can still be fabulous if done correctly. And the determining factor every time is the balance.
ANd I'm not even trying to say that balance is every piece equal to each other. We're not trying to solve math equations. But I'm talking about how each piece sits in relationship to the next. Think of it this way. In a movie, you usually have one or two people that the entire move surrounds itself with. And then you have "supporting actors" And then just cameo appearances and lastly walk-ons. In a band, you have a frontman or woman. You have an exceptional musician that adds colors and compliments the lead person with harmonies, fills, call and answer. And of course, you have other instruments in the band. One song might have a solid base/drum rhythm section laying down a driving grove with lots of stride. On other songs, they may sit so far back in the pocket supporting a different feel for a song you hardly notice them. Unless they we gone. And then you would notice a great deal.You might have a whaling/crying guitar solo in one song. And a fingerpicking banjo in another. Sometimes the drummer brushes his snare and rim taps with almost nothing more. Other times he might be slamming his double bass and pounding his entire kit as hard as he can hit the skins. All of these differences can be exactly what is needed to create "balance" for each particular song.
My friends. Mead is the same way. Some are very delicate with very subtle nuances. Others can be almost a single element type. A "one horse" rodeo. Showcasing a single component. Like a traditional. And others can be a four-piece rock band like a fruit and spice melomel or a 12 piece jazz ensemble. Such as a Metheglin. All the way up to a philharmonic orchestra. Such as what you might expect to find in the open category.
My point is this. You can go in so many directions and make great mead. But none of it is indeed "great" unless all the parts come together in a way that nothing is there by accident, and nothing takes away from the whole.
And then. The difference between a "great" mead. And a world-class, blow your mind/best of show mead is so minuscule. That not once iota of something is missing. Or, another iota of something in excess is involved.
So hopefully you can see that this doesn't "just happen" by accident. Except maybe one in a thousand. And to make great mead takes a good deal of experience. Most of which comes from hard work. And doing tons of side by side comparisons. Until you gain enough understanding of the whole picture that you can sit down and "build" a mead from scratch on a piece of paper. And select each component with intention. So that nothing is left to chance. ANd needless to say. You probably won't get all of the colors of the rainbow in perfect harmony the very first time. You might expect to make the same mead over several times to finally get all of the fractions harmonizing perfectly.
So now. Hopefully, you can realize what steps you need to do to sharpen your game. So eventually you consistently make delicious mead a great deal of the time. And in doing so. You should then expect to totally "nail it" more and more as time goes by.
So I want to encourage all of us. To do the hard stuff. Make every batch you make with the purpose of expanding your working understanding of this beautiful thing we all strive to become better at. Make mead. Make lots of mead. Drink lots of mead. Do all of this with awareness and intention. And don't forget to have fun doing this. If you genuinely have been bitten. This is something we will do the rest of our lives. Or until there are no more bees to make honey. Or no more plants that blossom.
As you get more advanced, you might like to split some must at times and do an A/B comparison doing everything the same but the temps. One at on extreme and the other at the other end of the spectrum. This will arm you with more experience. And thus. You will learn when to use a certain strain to get a specific profile a certain temp will provide. You will never know these things if you never experiment.
I'm not blowing my own horn here. I have taught many people how to make good mead. But the person who does the most experimenting. I call it "playing" learns the most the fastest and has a much broader grasp of the craft/art of managing your flavor profiles.
If you listen to the podcast, you can learn to make "clean ferments" in very little time. It's pretty easy. The more I do this. The more I learn. The more I judge, and the more I drink meads from all over the country. And to a much smaller extent, the world. I have come to a very certain conclusion. ANd that is making great mead. Verses "ok" mead come down to a single issue.( Providing we can assume you have a proper protocol in hand to make clean ferments.) And that my friends, is getting the proper balance of all the fractions of your finished profile. Maed can be made all over the map. And in virtually as many different directions and styles as your imagination limits you. And yet can still be fabulous if done correctly. And the determining factor every time is the balance.
ANd I'm not even trying to say that balance is every piece equal to each other. We're not trying to solve math equations. But I'm talking about how each piece sits in relationship to the next. Think of it this way. In a movie, you usually have one or two people that the entire move surrounds itself with. And then you have "supporting actors" And then just cameo appearances and lastly walk-ons. In a band, you have a frontman or woman. You have an exceptional musician that adds colors and compliments the lead person with harmonies, fills, call and answer. And of course, you have other instruments in the band. One song might have a solid base/drum rhythm section laying down a driving grove with lots of stride. On other songs, they may sit so far back in the pocket supporting a different feel for a song you hardly notice them. Unless they we gone. And then you would notice a great deal.You might have a whaling/crying guitar solo in one song. And a fingerpicking banjo in another. Sometimes the drummer brushes his snare and rim taps with almost nothing more. Other times he might be slamming his double bass and pounding his entire kit as hard as he can hit the skins. All of these differences can be exactly what is needed to create "balance" for each particular song.
My friends. Mead is the same way. Some are very delicate with very subtle nuances. Others can be almost a single element type. A "one horse" rodeo. Showcasing a single component. Like a traditional. And others can be a four-piece rock band like a fruit and spice melomel or a 12 piece jazz ensemble. Such as a Metheglin. All the way up to a philharmonic orchestra. Such as what you might expect to find in the open category.
My point is this. You can go in so many directions and make great mead. But none of it is indeed "great" unless all the parts come together in a way that nothing is there by accident, and nothing takes away from the whole.
And then. The difference between a "great" mead. And a world-class, blow your mind/best of show mead is so minuscule. That not once iota of something is missing. Or, another iota of something in excess is involved.
So hopefully you can see that this doesn't "just happen" by accident. Except maybe one in a thousand. And to make great mead takes a good deal of experience. Most of which comes from hard work. And doing tons of side by side comparisons. Until you gain enough understanding of the whole picture that you can sit down and "build" a mead from scratch on a piece of paper. And select each component with intention. So that nothing is left to chance. ANd needless to say. You probably won't get all of the colors of the rainbow in perfect harmony the very first time. You might expect to make the same mead over several times to finally get all of the fractions harmonizing perfectly.
So now. Hopefully, you can realize what steps you need to do to sharpen your game. So eventually you consistently make delicious mead a great deal of the time. And in doing so. You should then expect to totally "nail it" more and more as time goes by.
So I want to encourage all of us. To do the hard stuff. Make every batch you make with the purpose of expanding your working understanding of this beautiful thing we all strive to become better at. Make mead. Make lots of mead. Drink lots of mead. Do all of this with awareness and intention. And don't forget to have fun doing this. If you genuinely have been bitten. This is something we will do the rest of our lives. Or until there are no more bees to make honey. Or no more plants that blossom.
Thanks Devin,
I basically decided ill just let it be until it fully stalls, I put it back up on that shelf to raise the temp about 2 degrees and see if I get a little more action while I keep an eye on swirling and sulfur smells. I would stir more regularly but my sanitizer is the kind you have to mix a gallon or more of each time you use it so until I get some starsan I'm limiting my spoon usage. My plan initially was to just to let the yeast do its thing which, as Squatchy said earlier on in this thread could run it dry if done properly. Considering the amazing amount of things that were done improperly I'm just hoping it gets to its stated ABV tolerance.
Squatchy, for those of us who are "bitten" by the honey bug I think I can speak for most us in saying that the wealth of information shared by you and others on GotMead is really invaluable. There is so much information out there that is confusing and/or wrong but as a newbee we are completely in the dark on those things. To have done all this research and to share it all so willingly is amazing and I really appreciate it. Personally I can't wait to start the next batch, and the one after that and I already have ideas written down on tests I'd love to do to compare and enhance as I go. Never thought Id enjoy myself so much learning about yeast haha.
I basically decided ill just let it be until it fully stalls, I put it back up on that shelf to raise the temp about 2 degrees and see if I get a little more action while I keep an eye on swirling and sulfur smells. I would stir more regularly but my sanitizer is the kind you have to mix a gallon or more of each time you use it so until I get some starsan I'm limiting my spoon usage. My plan initially was to just to let the yeast do its thing which, as Squatchy said earlier on in this thread could run it dry if done properly. Considering the amazing amount of things that were done improperly I'm just hoping it gets to its stated ABV tolerance.
Squatchy, for those of us who are "bitten" by the honey bug I think I can speak for most us in saying that the wealth of information shared by you and others on GotMead is really invaluable. There is so much information out there that is confusing and/or wrong but as a newbee we are completely in the dark on those things. To have done all this research and to share it all so willingly is amazing and I really appreciate it. Personally I can't wait to start the next batch, and the one after that and I already have ideas written down on tests I'd love to do to compare and enhance as I go. Never thought Id enjoy myself so much learning about yeast haha.
Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you have found usefull some of the things I post here. I'm sure as you add more head knoldge and combine it with experience your mead will grow leaps and bounds. 40 months ago. I didn't even know what mead was.
