Hi Mead experts- what would your advice be here:
I have a D-47 fermentation going on a key lime mead and it is stalling out at a higher sg than I would like. We're at about week seven now, and the point drop per day is not measurable now.
Original sg 1.125, current sg 1.034 (target sg say 1.015-1.120)
I'm just using test strips, but I measure the pH at 3.3 (I've added ~10 oz of lime juice to the primary fermentation)
Temp now 71 deg F (was fermenting at 62-65 deg F, but now summer is here. Could get the temp down by putting it in water with a fan...)
So what can I do to get it to ferment another 10-15 gravity points down?
In a previous D-47 key lime batch with og 1.130 it fermented to sg 1.023, and the pH was no higher than 3.3, so I'd think maybe I can goose the yeasts into a little more activity. But I've read that the yeasts don't really use nutrients or oxygen late in the secondary fermentation. Similarly re-pitching D-47 into almost 12% abv seems optimistic. So I don't really know what I can do to goose the fermentation along 10-15 more points with the D-47 yeast.
Or I was thinking of pitching some 1118 (or V1116??), but then I don't want the batch to ferment past sg 1.015, and if pitching with champaign yeast is too successful maybe I will not be able to arrest the fermentation. Also I wanted to age on the D-47 lees, but if there is also 1118 lees in there then maybe this wouldn't be such a good idea..
Ideas? (Thanks!)
I have a D-47 fermentation going on a key lime mead and it is stalling out at a higher sg than I would like. We're at about week seven now, and the point drop per day is not measurable now.
Original sg 1.125, current sg 1.034 (target sg say 1.015-1.120)
I'm just using test strips, but I measure the pH at 3.3 (I've added ~10 oz of lime juice to the primary fermentation)
Temp now 71 deg F (was fermenting at 62-65 deg F, but now summer is here. Could get the temp down by putting it in water with a fan...)
So what can I do to get it to ferment another 10-15 gravity points down?
In a previous D-47 key lime batch with og 1.130 it fermented to sg 1.023, and the pH was no higher than 3.3, so I'd think maybe I can goose the yeasts into a little more activity. But I've read that the yeasts don't really use nutrients or oxygen late in the secondary fermentation. Similarly re-pitching D-47 into almost 12% abv seems optimistic. So I don't really know what I can do to goose the fermentation along 10-15 more points with the D-47 yeast.
Or I was thinking of pitching some 1118 (or V1116??), but then I don't want the batch to ferment past sg 1.015, and if pitching with champaign yeast is too successful maybe I will not be able to arrest the fermentation. Also I wanted to age on the D-47 lees, but if there is also 1118 lees in there then maybe this wouldn't be such a good idea..
Ideas? (Thanks!)