How long?

Mu · Sep 27, 2005

Well I started my mead a little wile back now, with an OG of 1.130 (very sweet) using a white wine yeast, I have raked it into a secondary after about 4 weeks and it’s been sitting there ever since. Tasting ok, but there are still some small bubbles and im 6-10 weeks in. How long should it take for a white wine yeast to finish?

The mead hasn’t really started to clear, I don’t mind taking the time, just wondering how long it might take.

As for my recipe I wanted a small batch so,

1.2kg honey
2 L water
½ cup tea
Juice of half a lemon

I did a hydrometer reading a little wile ago and it was 1.042, so it’s moving along, it should be at an average white wine strength by now, do they do anything to stop fermentation or should the yeast just stop somewhere between 12-14%?

scout · Sep 27, 2005

From what I've read about here, the ABV it is likely to stop at is highly dependent on the type and brand of yeast you use, which you didn't list here. And some of them, rated to go to 14%-16%, will go as high as 18%.

lostnbronx · Sep 27, 2005

Scout is right about the yeasts being all important regarding the final gravity, however, it is possible to shut things down when you get them where you want them. Try cold stabilizing if you'd like to end the process. Rack again onto potasium sorbate and sulfite, and then stick it into the fridge for a few days. This may make more things fall out of suspension, in which case do one final racking. The sorbate will prevent the yeast from starting up again, and the sulfites will keep the beasties away, as well as precipitate some of the yeast from the mead. You'll be ready to age at this point, or drink it if it you like the flavor.

-David

Mu · Sep 28, 2005

I actually couldn’t give you any more information about the yeast. It’s simply listed as white wine yeast. Im not a chemical fan, so I would just use the cold to slow it down, how long would I need to leave it in the cold for, a few days? Because ill put it outside over night, since it’s still cool here at the moment.

Mu.

byathread · Sep 28, 2005

Personally, I recommend: time. That seems pretty sweet, so if you want the yeast to attenuate further, just give it another month or two. Once fermentation is completed (I expect it will still be on the sweet side), it should clear naturally. The lack of nutrient may account for the slow fermentation, but I bet it will turn out just fine if you give it TIME!

Mu · Sep 28, 2005

Well I don’t mind weighting, I have another carboy with my beer in it, so I get to play with that, not to mention the hard ice tea im giving a whorl. Ill just weight it out. In reference to yeast nutrient, is that considered natural? Or are their natural means to add the nutrients?

Mu.

Brewbear · Sep 28, 2005

You can use dry fruits as nutrients for meads. The concern would be that they are not sulfited, that they do not impart unwanted flavors. As an example, raisins are used as nutrients but in large quantities they will impart a "grape" note to your mead and that may not be what you wanted. Other fruits I used: dates, rainier cherries.

Hope that helps,
Ted

Mu · Sep 29, 2005

Indeed,

I may well use some raisins in my next batch, not enough to place a strong flavor but enough to give of nutrients.

Mu.

Brewbear · Sep 29, 2005

Hi Mu,
To be honest, I wold rather use dry rainier cherrie, the influence they contribute is much more subdued, not as much as raisins. I used them in 2 mels and they blend much better with the fruit .

Ted

lostnbronx · Sep 29, 2005

Brewbear said:
Hi Mu,
To be honest, I wold rather use dry rainier cherrie, the influence they contribute is much more subdued, not as much as raisins. I used them in 2 mels and they blend much better with the fruit .

Ted

Wow! I feel like a slob! My palate is not so educated. :-\

I've found 20 to 25 raisins for a 4 liter batch to be adequate for yeast nutrition, and I can't taste them at all. I don't chop the raisins up, though, which I think can do a lot to lend a grapey flavor, even while this releases the nutritional qualities more readily. Never had a stuck fermentation or overly-stressed yeast (that I could tell) doing it this way, for what it's worth.

-David

Oskaar · Sep 29, 2005

OK,

Need to comment here. A lot of people use raisins for nutrient which is great. Problem is that they don't do a good job of chopping them up. The problem with not chopping them up is that you expose the skins, more than the nutrient enclosed within the grape to the mead.

Picture putting a ball of nutrient inside a micro-permeable baggie and dropping it into your mead. The nutrients are there, but you need to open that baggie up to get to them. Also, that micro-permeable baggie contains a bunch of astringent flavors along with tannins. Your mead will leech those main flavors from the baggie itself easier than what it contains if you don't chop them up.

By chopping up the raisins you allow the mead greater surface area contact with the nutrients as well as the skins, and give your mead a better and more balanced route to the nutrients in the meat of the raisin, as well as the tannin in the skin.

Don't make the assumption that tossing whole raisins into your mead will provide it with all the nutrients it will need.

Cheers,

Oskaar

Mu · Sep 29, 2005

I know the inside of raisins is soft. Would cutting them down the middle and scraping out the inside be better than just chopping them up finely, and then dissolve this with the must? Using say 4, per liter. Per haps I should do some testing for my pallet, by adding some this way into water and seeing at what level I notice the taste.

Thanks for the advice, my first mead tastes ok at the moment, just weighting on it to clear.

Mu.

Pewter_of_Deodar · Sep 29, 2005

Mu,

Cutting the raisins in half would be more than fine to take care of Oskaar's concern. Using the inside only would be even better but is a lot of effort for a very tiny difference in the expected results.

Oskaar · Sep 29, 2005

Totally!

Too much work in scraping them out dude.

I use a mezzaluna chopper to chop the heck out of my cherries, blueberries, currants etc. when I'm going to use them as a nutrient. I've pretty much stopped using raisins because I've found that I like the characters in other dried fruits better.

Cheers,

Oskaar

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