jesse2205 said:
i just made my first JOA mead. I followed the directions perfectly. I used red star bread yeast instead of the other kind tho...snip
Beeeeeeep, please play again! You altered one of the pivotal ingredients, even after being bidden not to do so
here.
OK, can you tell us what type of Red Star you used? Is it the quick rise or the regular baking yeast? Here's a couple of things to do, let this sit for 24 hours and see what kind of activity you see in the airlock after that. If it is the same then I'd suggest heading out to the store and getting some real wine yeast, or even the Fleishmann's yeast that is called for in the Recipe and rehydrate the yeast in some bottled water at 104oF for fifteen minutes and then pitch and stir it in well with a sterilized stirring rod of some kind.
Odds are that letting it sit for a day will do the trick. Sometimes the yeast just comes out of the gate slowly, you as mentioned above patience is the watchword.
Also, I hope you'll take us seriously next time when we say that you shouldn't alter this recipe. It's put together this way for a reason, and that is that it has been tested by the guy who created the recipe, Ancient Joe Himself! Change any part of it and all bets are off.
Hope that helps,
Oskaar