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Yeast still active 1 1/2 years later?

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rothschild

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 12, 2011
6
0
0
Eastern MA
Firstly, my apologies. I didn't keep great records with this mead. But I started it in October of 2011. It's 3 gallons. I used Lalvin D-47 yeast along with nutrient, energizer, and water. It probably began with just under 3 lbs of honey per gallon of water. It fermented for about a month, was quite active. I aerated it. When the bubbles in the airlock were getting very infrequent I racked it and put it in the basement.

When it seemed to have been clearing I brought it back up but then I noticed that there were bubbles moving up the sides of the carboy. Back into the basement it went. That happened a a few times until October of 2012 when I did the same and thought maybe it had never been aerated enough. So I shook it up until the remaining yeast was redistributed in the mead. It has been clear for a bit. Brought it back upstairs to bottle last night. As soon as I placed it onto the counter I noticed bubbles moving up the sides of the carboy again. This morning I awoke to find that it's still happening.

Any thoughts on what might be going on/suggestions for how to deal with it? I don't think our basement is particularly cold, just a touch cooler than the rest of our apartment.

Thanks!
 
K

kuri

NewBee
Registered Member
May 5, 2013
364
1
0
Japan
My guess is that this is temperature related. Your mead will reach an equilibrium with respect to dissolved gasses. Of particular relevance is CO2. As the temperature rises, the mead will hold less and less CO2 in solution. Also, shaking the carboy could release a small amount of CO2 even without a temperature change. Let it sit at a warmer temperature for a while and see. In particular, if you bring it upstairs for a full day and check for bubbles in the late afternoon when the temperature has stabilized or in the evening as the temperature is dropping then if the bubbles are temperature related you shouldn't see any new bubbles forming. If there are still bubbles forming then it could be that your ferment hasn't finished yet. Have you checked the gravity over the past few months?
 
R

rothschild

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 12, 2011
6
0
0
Eastern MA
Thanks everyone for your replies! Alas, I've been driving blind. Never checked the OG when I began it, and haven't checked the gravity since. I figure whether it's degassing or fermenting, eventually those bubbles will stop.
 
R

rothschild

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 12, 2011
6
0
0
Eastern MA
Good idea! Thanks!

It's about .998/.996 right now. For what it's worth, there were also bubbles in my thief. Tasted fine but there was some mild carbonation, like flat soda.

Medsen Fey said:
Yes, but the question you want to answer before bottling is will the bubbles start again later? If you take a gravity reading now, we may be able to help answer that question.

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