Ginger Mead - Slow fermentation?

meadiac · Mar 25, 2010

Ginger Mead (1 gallon)
2.6 lbs clover honey
1/8 Tsp tannin
1 large thumb fresh thinly sliced ginger (in hops bag)
1 tsp nutrient
24 raisins
lalvin K1V-1116 yeast
OG 1.101 (13.6 potential abv)

Stired honey in quart of hot water, added tannin, cooled a bit then added 1/8 Tsp meta. Covered, let sit 24 hrs then pitched rehydrated (yeast) after nutrient, rasins, ginger, and shaking must for 5 minutes.

Fermentation started fine, about 12 hr's after pitching and has remained pretty steady. But after 7 days SG is only down to 1.044 putting it at about 7.5%. I don't know, seems slow to me. Star cuvee yeast gets me about 10-11% abv in 7 days. I know that one week is a bit soon to worry but I'm used to higher ABV's in shorter times with the cuvee yeast. So is lalvin 1116 just a slower yeast? Or do you I may have a problem?

Thanks!

AToE · Mar 25, 2010

Welcome to gotmead?!

I'm running a test right now with 9 different yeasts, and yes, K1V was one of the 2 or 3 slowest for me.

What temp is this being fermented at? As long as it doesn't stall you should be good I would think. A couple in my test were still not finished after 3 weeks, but I hit them with pretty cool temperatures for the first 80% of fermentation (I usually ferment fully within a week).

meadiac · Mar 25, 2010

Hi,

temps have been a steady 64-68 degrees for the entire week. although i've now read that the 1116 and cuvee are very similar, i've done at least 4 wines and two meads with cuvee and each time the fermentation was more 'furious' looking than with this 1116. but again, i'm probably just used to the more vigorous look. one week may be a bit soon to gripe about 7.6% abv. my other mead using cuvee was at 14.8 % at 17 days.

Medsen Fey · Mar 26, 2010

Welcome to GotMead Meadiac!

Getting a steady drop in gravity of about 8 points per day is pretty good. Cooler temps do slow things down a bit, but that's actually a good thing. I expect this will turn out fine, and I really like what K1V does with meads.

Medsen

meadiac · Mar 27, 2010

thanks for the replies!

the mead done with the cuvee has cleared about 36 hr's after adding k meta and sorbate. it's about 14.9 abv. going to rack it in about a week i guess. man is it dry and hot! will take quite a bit of backsweetening i suspect! i may dump this on some strawberries and let it hang out a while!

oh - but back to the main topic - (sorry!) the mead with the 1116 is still bubbling, about every 9 seconds at this point (3:00 am 27th = 9th day ). no idea how many bubbles for the first week as i had it covered with a cloth to allow some air in the jug! anyway, i think it is fine, it still tastes good, and the ginger is beginning to come though a bit. if it get's to 10% i'll be happy! then i'll add more ginger to freshen it up a bit! ah yes... found some buckwheat honey at a great price with very low shipping price - going for that grape pyment next!

fatbloke · Mar 27, 2010

meadiac said:
-----%<-----
oh - but back to the main topic - (sorry!) the mead with the 1116 is still bubbling, about every 9 seconds at this point (3:00 am 27th = 9th day ). no idea how many bubbles for the first week as i had it covered with a cloth to allow some air in the jug! anyway, i think it is fine, it still tastes good, and the ginger is beginning to come though a bit. if it get's to 10% i'll be happy! then i'll add more ginger to freshen it up a bit!
-----%<-----

Hum? I read your thread the other day, but didn't really have any input.

Though I notice you mention 64-68 degrees F.

So I don't really know if it's of any real importance, but I don't bother worrying about specific temperature - unless a ferment seems to be at the "dead slow or stop" stage.

I usually just keep it all at room temperature and with the appropriate amounts of nutrient and (in the early stages) aeration, 1116 seems to ferment well - quite fast some times.

And no, in relative terms, energy is more expensive here than in the US so we don't tend to have it above 70F/21C.

It sort of stresses me out a bit when people are trying to control fermentation in an excessively scientific way (I like the casual approach to life etc and hate when anything is too "anal") - so as the others have said, as long as it's still dropping gravity points or brix etc, just let it do it's thing.

It might be worth looking into how ginger flavouring/essence is normally extracted. Because if it's done with alcohol, then you won't taste much ginger flavour for a while (until the ferment has made enough to start pulling the ginger flavour out). If it's normally done with water (possibly steam???) then you might get a better idea as to whether you'd need to add a little more or not.

Dunno if any of that helps or gives you "food for thought" or not........ Good luck with the ginger recipe though. It's one of my favourite spice flavours......

regards

fatbloke

AToE · Mar 27, 2010

I don't know if I'd consider temp control to be an "overly scientific" way of controlling fermentation - differing temps have been used in different wines and beers for ages, and seem to be pretty important to the different styles.

My 2 cents for as a newbie.

meadiac · Mar 27, 2010

i don't worry about temps unless it get's so slow that the fermentation suffers. at this time of year, 60-70 degrees is average indoors from night to day.

as for the ginger addition, i think it would be best to make a strong ginger tea then add it to taste in the secondary or perhaps before bottling.

man did i screw up today though... i was going to take a hydrometer reading and decided to taste a bit. tasted great but on a whim decided to dump 2 oz of agave nectar into it, more food for the yeasties and a bit of sweetness. then i check the hydrometer. that's right.... like the reading is going to be correct now? well i must have lost my mind for a second there! oh well, i will not get accurate readings now but can still determine if it's dropping or not.

I did notice (finally) some alcohol burn. I'm guessing it's about 9% now. i think this batch is going to be great!

meadiac · Apr 3, 2010

so... it's now day (16) and this batch is still fermention slowly but as from the start: "steadly." the bubbles are so tiny, but thousands of them - looks like a fine mist of air. airlock is still getting one burp per 10 seconds. taste is still ok, more alcohol burn as well. since i screwed up with the addition os ectra sugars via the agave nectar i don't bother with readings any more. i have a very good guesstimate that it is at about 11% at this point. i think the potential was 13.3. again, when this one reaches the level of balance i want, going to stop the fermentation then dump to secondary on even more ginger.

really though, using 1116 and only 2.6 lbs of honey i thought this sucker would have been fermented out by now. i know - patience!

meadiac · Apr 11, 2010

well this puppy is still going, slow like one bubble in airlock per 30 seconds but still alive. a taste revealed that it's just about dry at this point. i think i'll rack to secondary on top of more ginger. going to wait it out to see if the honey reappears before any back sweetening!

fatbloke · Apr 11, 2010

meadiac said:
well this puppy is still going, slow like one bubble in airlock per 30 seconds but still alive. a taste revealed that it's just about dry at this point. i think i'll rack to secondary on top of more ginger. going to wait it out to see if the honey reappears before any back sweetening!

Don't forget, the bubble rate isn't a good guide to the level of fermentation....... Your hydrometer is your friend.

3 identical readings on 3 different days (I leave it a couple of days between measurements) says it's finished and is just de-gassing.

Have a look (google) about ginger flavouring/extract/essence production to get the most from the spice. Because there are ways of making it "more gingery" in taste (memory tells me that you should clean the root but not peel it as most of the stronger flavour is in the outer flesh of the root...... research it, don't trust my memory......)

Also, I seem to recall that the sweeter it is, the more ginger the taste (thinking candied ginger in syrup here....)

Good luck with it and hopefully that gives you some "food for thought".

regards

fatbloke

meadiac · Apr 17, 2010

no, not a candied ginger taste at all. i'm talking about a true ginger flavor like real ginger ale, spicy and a wee bit gingery hot. but anyway...this one is now dry and will rack in a few days over even more ginger.

fatbloke · Apr 17, 2010

meadiac said:
no, not a candied ginger taste at all. i'm talking about a true ginger flavor like real ginger ale, spicy and a wee bit gingery hot. but anyway...this one is now dry and will rack in a few days over even more ginger.

Ah, well, even when I make some ginger beer, I tend to make it so that it comes out sweet - probably just habit as the stuff made by the commercial soft drinks makers tends to be sweet (natural or "diet" artificial sweetners).

Plus, the candied ginger in syrup is was "christmas treat" when I was a kid, so it's that sort of flavour that's stuck in my mind (damn it was good to drink the syrup from the jar once all the ginger had gone

).

So I'm not sure that I'd enjoy a dry ginger mead (I prefer my meads medium sweet anyways, so......)

As for you saying about the K1116 taking it's time? well it's strange, as I've read that elsewhere too, but never actually had a problem with it being slow to finish myself. Yes, I've found that when the mead is fresh off the lees, it can have a very "rough" flavour to it, but it does seem to age very, very well. It's one of my favourites to use.........

regards

fatbloke

meadiac · Apr 18, 2010

i too prefer medium/semi sweet meads, but on this particular batch i thought that i would see what time would do for it as far as bringing back some of the honey taste. i'm only adding more ginger to get where i want it to be! it will probably end up with more honey to sweeten but for now, i'm racking on top of extra ginger, and letting it sit as long as i can stand it!

i have NO clue where the post about my strawberry mead is! but it stopped at 14.9% abv. i added 1 lb frozen strawberries since i only wanted a hint of the fruit. the mead sat on the berries about 12-14 days before i racked again and i think hit the mark with this one! perhaps a slight bit more than a hint, especially the aroma, but as you say...the berries will fade in time. i'm temped to drink this one now, but in an attempt to be patient, i'll bottle in another month. man, it tastes really good already! this sucker was pure rocket fuel before the strawberries! i was shocked that just 1 lb smoothed this rocket fuel out so fast! amazing!

i appreciate all the help and suggestions!

dr9 · Apr 18, 2010

Weird, I can't find your s-berry topic either, even searching for all posts with your username. Do you have an alias? Are you sure it wasn't on HBT?

meadiac · Apr 20, 2010

i think i may have mentioned the strawberry mead on another post, it's the only rational explanation.

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