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Jump starting a batch

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Rusty_Bucket

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 4, 2005
12
0
0
Hey guys,
just wanted to share this, thought it might help the other noobs (like myself).
I put a batch of blueberry mead on a few days ago and it has since come to an almost halt, hardly any bubbles at all. I put the jug in a sink of warm water and in about 20 minutes, kicked back into high gear. Guess it was getting a little chilly in the house :eek:
 

CheshireCat

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 21, 2005
87
1
0
43
Our house is really bad about not keeping warm, so I have a heating pad under my batch of mead.
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
7,874
8
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34
The OC
If you're going to heat your must to bring the fermentation back to life you'll want to spend some time studying the yeasts you use in the future. Make sure you pick a yeast with a dynamic enough temperature range to remain acitve at the temperatures you will be expecting where you live.

Also please note that heating your must after inoculation will bring those yeasties back to life, but prolonged fermentation at warmer temperatures (above72 - 25) will produce higher alcohols. Many yeasts tend to produce higher alcohols (Methanol, Heptano, Octoano, etc.). Methanol has one carbon atom, ethanol has two, etc. These higher alcohols can combine with fatty acids to form fusel oil, which has a nasty odor and flavor. Generally, fusel oil will break down over time, restoring your mead to some form of palatability, but it may be a pale shadow of the great beverage it was born to be.

I read somewhere that higher alcohols and fusel oil are both implicated in hangover incidence -- so there's another reason to ferment at a relatively low temperature.

Hope that helps,

Oskaar
 
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