Lalvin D-47 the killer yeast ?

Now that I have your attention :
Im/we are moving to a new location, I have 2 batches of mead going with, batch #1 is the batch in question,

Pitched September 3rd 2005
Lalvin D-47 to must 1.131

Racked to secondary October 14th 2005
gravity 1.008

Racked again tonight
gravity 1.004 17.25% abv

I racked tonight for a few reasons,
havent seen any airlock action for a long time,
1/2" of yeast sediment, and clinging to sides of carboy,
this 5 gallon carboy has about 1 gallon headspace and I am trying to keep c02 on the brew as much as posible.

We are moving December 1st, and I am unsure what would be my best solution with this mead, Im pretty sure I dont want to be sloshing it around 2 weeks from now.

Top off with some fresh must and let fermentation slowly resume?
Top it up from Batch #2 same yeast gravity 1.018 and still active (OG was 1.020)?
Cold condition for 2 weeks, bottle forget about it for a year and pour carefully?
Any ideas?

I didnt think I would like a dry mead and intended this batch be medium sweet, the test sample tasted wicked hot/bitter, I poured the sample into a wine glass and put it in the fridge (open) for 30 mins, and wow what a differance, I think this first batch will be awesome after it ages a while, thanks folks, Cheers...John

Re: Lalvin D-47 the killer yeast

Wrathwilde said:

I'd Top it off with fresh must. More mead when your finished. ;D
Wrathwilde

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Hi Wrath, I was thinking the same but wasnt sure how much longer this would drag out the ferment/aging time, and I have read where some mead makers claim "feeding" a mead may have a bad effect on the finish product/flavor, or maybe this wouldnt be the same as feeding since the one gallon addition wouldnt increase the overall abv?

Heya Oskaar, sorry I forgot the ingredients were as follows,

#1 batch (5 gallons)
16-17 lbs honey
2.5 tsp DAP
1 tsp biotin
Water
2 packets Lalvin D-47 (no starter)

OG 1.131
last gravity test November 17th 2005 1.004

I didnt heat anything, I pitched the yeast to 3 gallons of must (80f) and tossed the carboy out on the deck (must temp was 68f by morning), the next day I ran 2 gallons of must through the blender and topped off, during the strong ferment (about 2 weeks) the must temps were from 66-68f.
The clarity of this mead is simular to the D-47 test batch pic Oskaar posted up http://207.5.69.177/omsoftnet/D47_20050117.jpg maybe slightly clearer.

BTW Thank You Oskaar (the yeast tests are great for a n00b like me), I have learned a lot from you and others in this forum!!!

#2 batch (5 gallons)
Honey (didnt measure) OG 1.120
Same as #1 with one gallon LalvinD-47 starter (sediment)(starter wort OG 1.062 oops)
I topped this carboy right to the neck, about 3 inches headspace, it was a little messy but not bad (used blowoff tube for first 10 days).

These meads were kind of my paranoid adaptation of the show mead recipes in the book "the complete meadmaker", I have read so much about stalled batches I think I may have become over concerned, and after seeing these two meads take off I am more than willing to try a natural mead ;D

I took the remainder of that 1 gallon starter OG 1.062 (clear), steeped 12oz of crystal 60, 1 cup Light DME, 6 grams Mt hood hops, and boiled for 60 minutes, cooled, then added honey to bring gravity to 1.048,added the wort to the mead and left it alone for 3 weeks Heh this stuff turned out great

Hi CosmicCharlie, and welcome, I have never worried to much about headspace with my beers (im new to mead), but then I never had to worry about hauling the full carboys across town either, lol, if my kegging stuff was ready (still need regulator) I might have just kegged the mead and relaxed a bit.

I did notice a lot of c02 coming out of this mead after racking so I feel Im ok so far, got to admit topping off and restarting fermentation would sure reduce some stress (on me), let me know what ya all think, thanks for getting me this far ;D
Cheers...John

Re: Lalvin D-47 the killer yeast

Thanks so much for the help Wrathwilde,

I sat and stared into that carboy (batch #1) for several minutes, and I saw several tough lookin little yeasties wearing leather jackets and Jack Daniels tee-shirts, I think I even saw a Hells Angels clubhouse go floating by.

Not a doubt in my mind this carboy will be rockin in a couple days ;D

Sorry for all the questions, but maybe just one more

If I added a one gallon must with a gravity of 1.080 and it stalled then in theory I would end up with 16 points (residual honey sweetness) per gallon leaving the mead with a combined fg of 1.020 (perfect semi-sweet mead I am told),
would this be a bad approach other than the fact only the mead gods would know for sure what the yeasties are going to do(I know I wouldnt dream of watering down a beer),might it have a negative effect on the finished mead ?

At anyrate thank you so much folks, Im going to go ahead and plan on making 3 gallons of 1.031 must, top off the carboy, and make some Joe's Ancient Orange with the procedes, Cheers...John

I didnt get around to topping this mead off till last night, I was all set, took the towel off the carboy and noticed 5 , 3/8" diameter white daisy shaped white colored things floating on the surface, each flower has a very small clear spot in the center.

I recall hearing of something called flower of wine or something, is it posible I have an infected batch of mead?

I searched this forum and googled with very little result, Cheers...John

Hey Im sure not going to miss this oppurtunity, after searching the web and finding nothing (no images).
I phoned my wife, she is picking up the sulfite agent and tracking down our daughter who has our digital camera :

Once I sulfite the mead should I go ahead and chill it as well?

Man I sure appreciate your help, Cheers...John

Hmmm, my fist attempt uploading an image to this forum, it appears I will need to host the pic myself.

I will upload and link a pic soon, but may not have the time this afternoon (have to work).
Thanks for the help,
Oskaar, I racked into 4 one gallon jugs so Im hoping atleast the first 3 will be ok, I could see 3 layers beneath the surface, and the layers were a creamy white color and took up a total of one inch depth.

Unfortunately my daughter had our Camera, so I bought a disposable, took 30 pics, had it put on a cd, installed photo shop on my laptop, Oh did I mention I had to bottle yesterday, and worked last night too? ;D

Cheers

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Im Baaack,


I have 30 pics to dig through, I think I should be able to find a closer view hopefully with adequate quality.

Oskaar, 3 of the gallons are filled to the neck and have a fine ring of tiny bubbles around the rim, maybe from the sulfite?
Cheers...John

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