Hello all,
I am a newbie and this is my second attempt at making mead. The first time I tried I used 15 lbs honey, 4 gallons distilled water, 2 tsp. yeast nutrient and some Wyeast sweet mead yeast. I Boiled the water and honey and once it cooled to 75 F I added the nutrient and the yeast (Prepared according to the package). I put the lid on the bucket with the airlock and waited for it to do its thing. Not one bubble for a week and after finally opening it to see if anything looked different I found some large patches of mold on the surface. I decided to dump it. I figured that there was too much honey per gallon of water for the temperamental yeast that I used and because there was no fermentation the mold was allowed to grow.
So starting anew, this time I used 12 lbs honey 4 gallons of purified water, two packets of lalvin d47 wine yeast and 2 tsp. yeast nutrient. This time I just heated the water then added the honey so that it would mix well. I made sure to stir really well for about a half hour so that I could re oxygenate the must. I also added the nutrient and when it cooled to 75 F I measured the specific gravity, which if I did it right came out to 1.082. I prepared the yeast as marked on the package and poured it in stirring it vigorously, put the lid and airlock on and waited for some bubbles. It's been a whole day now and not one bubble still. What should I do if anything to get it going? I don't want this one to mold too.
Thanks
I am a newbie and this is my second attempt at making mead. The first time I tried I used 15 lbs honey, 4 gallons distilled water, 2 tsp. yeast nutrient and some Wyeast sweet mead yeast. I Boiled the water and honey and once it cooled to 75 F I added the nutrient and the yeast (Prepared according to the package). I put the lid on the bucket with the airlock and waited for it to do its thing. Not one bubble for a week and after finally opening it to see if anything looked different I found some large patches of mold on the surface. I decided to dump it. I figured that there was too much honey per gallon of water for the temperamental yeast that I used and because there was no fermentation the mold was allowed to grow.
So starting anew, this time I used 12 lbs honey 4 gallons of purified water, two packets of lalvin d47 wine yeast and 2 tsp. yeast nutrient. This time I just heated the water then added the honey so that it would mix well. I made sure to stir really well for about a half hour so that I could re oxygenate the must. I also added the nutrient and when it cooled to 75 F I measured the specific gravity, which if I did it right came out to 1.082. I prepared the yeast as marked on the package and poured it in stirring it vigorously, put the lid and airlock on and waited for some bubbles. It's been a whole day now and not one bubble still. What should I do if anything to get it going? I don't want this one to mold too.
Thanks
