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First Batch Question: Static Bubbles

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Snek

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 15, 2018
2
0
0
Hi,

So this past Sunday (8/12) I decided to finally start my first batch of Mead. I had all my equipment to make 1 gallon of mead. So I followed instructions as best I could and everything seems to be working. Except its now the 3rd day and there is now "bubbling". There are bubbles in the airlock, but they are small and just hug the surface of the airlock and don't move. the day after I started I opened up my bucket because I read you should aerate it a little, so I did that making sure to take precautions against contamination.

When I opened my fermentation bucket everything looked fine. There is a nice layer of form in the surface, no discoloration, and it smells like beer for lack of a better term. I put the lid back on making sure it was sealed all around and double checked the airlock. But it's starting to worry me that I may have done something wrong. But maybe its just taking a long time to start?

Unfortunately I didn't know to take a BRIX measurement before I sealed it up, I only took a ABV prediction and was around 12%. I'm thinking I may not have got my yeast going properly, if that is the case should I reactivate some more and add it in? Or is this batch possibly unsalvageable? Any help is appreciated.
 

Medsen Fey

Fuselier since 2007
Premium Patron
Hi Snek,
Don’t fret. If it is foaming the yeast are starting to work. You may have a leaky airlock - I have had some that didn’t bubble at all. Of course these days, I don’t even bother with airlocks and keep my fermentations open (usually). If your check a Brix or gravity reading now, you can check at a later point and see the progress being made.

If you give recipe details, folks can give you feedback on anything that looks potentially problematic.

Endeavor to persevere!
Medsen
 

bernardsmith

Got Mead? Patron
GotMead Patron
Sep 1, 2013
1,611
32
48
Saratoga Springs , NY
Hi Snek and welcome. The most important thing is not to worry. It is not so easy to make a really good mead but it is hard to make a terrible one. That said, if your hydrometer showed that your must (the honey water before you pitched (added) the yeast) had a potential alcohol level of about 12% then that suggests the specific gravity would have been about 1.090 (or thereabouts) - There are usually three measurements etched into most hydrometers - specific gravity, Brix and potential alcohol by volume (ABV). If you know one measurement then you can determine the others.

A specific gravity of 1.090 suggests that you had mixed about 2.5 lbs of honey in water to make 1 gallon of must. I say that because typically, most honey will when you mix 1 lb with water to make a gallon total will raise the gravity of the water from 1.000 to 1.035.
 
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