Maybe it's me and I need a little bit of reassurance. I just made my first batch of JAOM and things were off to a great start. I followed the traditional ancient orange recipe and added raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. I'm positive that I pitched the yeast properly because i had big time bubbling action within an hour. The extreme bubbling lasted for about three days and came to a screeching halt. I used my lees stirrer twice a day and added both yeast nutrient and energizer again after the bubbling had significantly decreased. I checked the pH and it read 3.8. Should I be worried? Is this normal?
Yes, a pH of 3.8 is about average. It becomes a problem when it's below about 3.0 or less. Equally, the different types of fruit should also not be a problem.
It seemed like every youtube video I watched the bubbling would continue for another 1 to 2 weeks. I used the slap pack Wyeast #4184. Unable to check the specific gravity because I used the glass carboy instead of the bucket... stupid rookie! Any novel ideas if this isnt normal????
That particular yeast does have a reputation for being finicky as hell to use. It's got a tolerance of 11% alcohol and it does seem that you have to aim a batch to no more than about 12 or 13% ABV, so that it doesn't have a problem with osmotic shock.
If you have a hydrometer and test jar of some sort, then you can sanitise a turkey baster at the same time as sanitising the hydrometer and test jar, take the sample with the turkey baster, make the test and I still put most of the sample back into the batch (never caused me a problem so far), with a tiny amount to taste to see how it's progressing flavour-wise.
If you've used the same ratio of honey to water that's listed in the JAO recipe, then that might actually have been too high a gravity and be what's (possibly) causing the problem.
Did you take a measurement of the gravity before pitching the yeast ? As that's the best way of knowing how far it's got i.e. comparing the start gravity to the current gravity. Then the amount that it's dropped by can be calculated to a strength/% ABV.
I've learned, though problems I've had with smack packs of liquid yeast, that for meads, it's best to make a starter (more research for you to think about). Hence I use dry yeasts and rehydrate them as per the pack instructions, as they tend to have a much higher cell count.
I'd suspect that if you do take a reading, then leave it for a week or so, then take another reading, that if it doesn't change, then it's stuck, whereas if it's still going down, albeit slowly, then leave it be.
If it's stuck, it could be time to think about how to restart the fermentation. There's plenty of info about that kicking around the forums. But it's worth considering what yeast you might need to use for a restart, as it needs to be something that's quite robust - and no, despite what other threads say, I don't like using champagne yeasts unless it's absolutely necessary. I like to use the Montpelier strain (K1V-1116).
Dunno if any of that is of any help/use......