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Stuck mead

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exmoor_cat

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 20, 2004
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Eh up,
I've got a 5 gallon batch of ordinary mead - 4lb of honey per gallon, a starting gravity of 1.150, using Gervin yeast number 3 and some yeast nutrient. The aim was for a straight mead, as stripped down as possible form extras.

It's been left to brew for three months now, and stopped blowing bubbles about a month ago.
I sampled it and took an SG reading - 1.050 and tasting very sweet with a slight off vinegarish taste.

I threw in another round of Gervin #3, which afterall is designed for sweet wines, and also for unsticking fermentation. it blew bubles for another week, but has stopepd, with lttle movement in the SG, still registering 1.050.

Thoughts? Should I bin it or cut it with another batch? What uses are there for an 8% sickly mead?
 

Rhianni

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 13, 2006
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I am at work and dont have my conversion charts and notes but you started at 1.150 and its now at 1.050. Thats a heck of a lot more then 8% and you are probably at the alcohol tolerance level of the yeast.

Did you prepare the second pitching of yeast in any way? If you tossed it in straight from the packet then you dumped the poor yeast into a harsh enviornment that they werent ready for. They tried for a week and gave up.
 

akueck

Certified Mead Mentor
Certified Mead Mentor
Jun 26, 2006
4,958
11
0
Ithaca, NY
yeah 100 point drop is around 14% ABV. unless you have a yeast designed to go past that, it's done.

if you want it to be less sweet, try lalvin ec-1118 (prise de mousse). make a starter first and slowly mix in some must (over a few days) to let the yeast get used to the high alcohol environment. or, you can dilute it with a dry batch.
 

exmoor_cat

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 20, 2004
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Yeah, I prepped the yeast with a mix of the must and warm water/sugar, thus cutting the harshness enough to get a hold, the second yeast was bubbling away merrily before I dumped it in - initial thoughts were that it was an old yeast. Will siphon off a sample and try cutting it to see what happens.
 
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