Stuck 71B

I tried to re-pitch a sweet Orange Blossom mead that had stalled out at about 9%. I figure I need atleast 10% to bottle and 11-12 would be nice

So I rehydrated a packet of 71B in warm water with a pinch of goferm and pitched. I got alot of gas build up when I aerated on pitching (almost killed my roommate with the carboy stopper) but nothing since.

I'm considering a new tack--I could repitch with K1V and sorbate the fermentation when it's at the sweetness I want. (around 1.012, ~12%)
suggestions? considerations? help?

This one is a "leftover" from a project I began with a friend of mine.

Simple (a little too simple) Recipe

1 gal Orange blossom Honey

4 gal Water

I assume that my roomate followed the on package instructios and put in 2 1/2 taspoons of DAP (if that seems off, than it was probably one teaspoon)

for what it's worth this must was sulfited prior to pitching yeast the first time.

1 packet K1V rehydrated in water

I dont have his notes (or even know if he took an OG) but by my calculater the OG should be 1.083 (PA 11%)

this was our first joint project, it was living at his house. Fermentation was healthy and rapid, you could see small champagne bubbles rising in the carboy.

Somewhere he'd read the instructions to let it go for 10 days and rack it to secondary, so he did. Fermentation slowed to a crawl immediately and stopped quickly after.

FG 1.012, about 9.5% abv.
That was many months ago, he left town and I inherited this project since I was kind of a part owner in it.

It tasted perfect but I feared that at under 11% it wouldnt preserve. So I added another 3 lb Orange Blossom honey from my LHBS and added it to the carboy with 1/4 t. wyeast food and a packet of 71B rehydrated in goferm. When I agitated the carboy to get it all started it produced a lot of preassure, but the air lock has been still since.
SG ~1.04

Yeah...the starter thing....
I gotta remember that. :

so I was going to rack it off the new lees and lock it away 'til I got a good hearty one going, when I noticed it had started fermenting. About five days late, and slow (1 every 5 seconds or so) but steady.

I'm not sure if I should let it go or not--isnt there a link between slow fermenters and nasty flavors?
I'd hate for this one to end up with that bread smell too...it's so nice right now (my friend descibed it as pear juice, but better)

Oskaar said:

Lesson learned, when it tastes perfect, set it aside and let it age.

Now the big question is, do you like the flavor at 1.04, or is it too sweet. If not let it age for a while and taste in a couple of months.

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1.04 is too sweet, thats Chaucers sweet and it leaves sugar on the side of the bottle and hydrometer. So you think I should let the slow fermentation that just picked up go? Or am I asking for stressed yeast flavors?

I would've let it be, but I heard that you more or less need 10 or 11 abv in order to ensure that it can preserve in a bottle. According to my math it was ~9% (I figured that was part of why it'd aged so fast) So I attempted to sweeten and raise a few %'s. How low an ac is safe?

When you tasted it at 1.012 and you liked it was really the time to rack again, and stabilze. Low alcohol meads take less time overall to become drinkable, and mature a bit faster than high alcohol/dry meads.

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Interestingly this mead was started with K1V in it's low acohol semi sweet incarnation.
I had considered the idea of using K1V again, monitoring carefully and killing the fermentation when it got back to where I'd want it--hmmm...sort of like playing Chicken with K1V yeast on the one side, and me with my K sorbate on the other side....
Could that work? Or am I having a 'Custer Moment'?



Oh yeah--one other--I think I read you saying 1 1/2 grams of go-ferm per gram of yeast disolved in 110 f. water is the proper way to prepare it. How many teaspoons approx. is 1 1/2 grams of go-ferm??