Hello all!
So I have a tiny bit of an issue, I was making one of my first batches of mead, after reading the compleat meadmaker by schramm, and I was starting out with a small one gallon batch. I know five gallons is standard but I have yet to get the supplies for that large of a batch and wanted to start small. I pasteurized the honey, simply because I don’t feel confident enough for the natural way yet.
So I used bout 4 lbs of honey and one gallon of water, 1 teaspoon of nutrient (as stated by directions on packet) and my yeast was Lalvin Wine Yeast EC-1118, I followed directions on back of packet about placing yeast in 100 degree f water for 15 minutes and such. I heated my honey, put it in my sterilized 1 gallon container and let it cool to below 80, then pitched the activated yeast. I gave the honey water a good hard stirring before pitching to oxygenate it; however it’s been about a week and im seeing very little activity in my fermentation lock. I was wondering if this is because of the batch size, only a gallon, or due to lack of oxygen or nutrient. My big question is, should I, or rather would it hurt my mead to shake it up and get a bit more oxygen into it after a week with the yeast? Or maybe add a lil more nutrient? Or am I just hosed and should start over, :BangHead:
Thanks for any help and advice, I have been reading around and am find lots of good info!
cheers! :cheers:
So I have a tiny bit of an issue, I was making one of my first batches of mead, after reading the compleat meadmaker by schramm, and I was starting out with a small one gallon batch. I know five gallons is standard but I have yet to get the supplies for that large of a batch and wanted to start small. I pasteurized the honey, simply because I don’t feel confident enough for the natural way yet.
So I used bout 4 lbs of honey and one gallon of water, 1 teaspoon of nutrient (as stated by directions on packet) and my yeast was Lalvin Wine Yeast EC-1118, I followed directions on back of packet about placing yeast in 100 degree f water for 15 minutes and such. I heated my honey, put it in my sterilized 1 gallon container and let it cool to below 80, then pitched the activated yeast. I gave the honey water a good hard stirring before pitching to oxygenate it; however it’s been about a week and im seeing very little activity in my fermentation lock. I was wondering if this is because of the batch size, only a gallon, or due to lack of oxygen or nutrient. My big question is, should I, or rather would it hurt my mead to shake it up and get a bit more oxygen into it after a week with the yeast? Or maybe add a lil more nutrient? Or am I just hosed and should start over, :BangHead:
Thanks for any help and advice, I have been reading around and am find lots of good info!
cheers! :cheers:
