mead bubbling up!

[Mikael]

Heya guys!
I have been making mead for a long time and never not once has this problem ever happened...now it is, Im getting bubbling build up and its going right into the air lock. I am finding myself having to open it up and clear out the bubble build up and rinse out the air lock, refill it again, only to redo the process a few short hours later....any advice on what i can do to get it to stop or just keep on doing what i am? thank you in advance!

 

[ashappar]

attach a blowoff hose and run it into a small jug. use a hose that fits into the neck of the carboy snugly and let it overflow into the jug until it settles down. then re-attach the airlock.

anti foaming agent may help. I know it helps keep down the foam during the boil when making beer.

 

[Mikael]

hehe, i was thinking about that and said 'eh, that cant hurt!' so i did it, its doing just the trick!!!! thanks!!! : D cheers!

Mikael

 

[Malkore]

What's the recipe?
Some yeasts like to foam/krausen.
It could be the honey, if its more 'raw' than you've used in the past, there's more proteins in it.
If you added any spices or other flavorings, same thing...it changes the surface tension, adds proteins, etc.

 

[Mikael]

ooh yeah, theres spices in it, lol, i put some allspice and ground cloves in it, 4 pounds of honey too, HAHAHA instead of the normal 3 pounds, this sucker is ging to be a powerhouse, using the lalvin ec-1118 yeast ><

 

[fatbloke]

ooh yeah, theres spices in it, lol, i put some allspice and ground cloves in it, 4 pounds of honey too, HAHAHA instead of the normal 3 pounds, this sucker is ging to be a powerhouse, using the lalvin ec-1118 yeast ><

Well if it ferments dry, as EC-1118 can do, then there's also the possibility that you'll get rocket fuel, but tasting "alcohol hot".

Which is fine if you're just gonna drink it with some mates in a party atmosphere, but if you want to get it right/good, then it's likely to need to be aged for 6 to 12 months plus - which just allows the mead to mellow and lose it's rocket fuel taste (not losing any alcohol though).

Your biggest danger with flavours though, is likely to be the ground cloves. Cloves at the best of times are powerful little beasts, and over use gives an excessively clovey flavour that's hard to take.

It's one of the reasons that the JAO recipe says about using 1, or 2 at most per gallon.

S'up to you though.....

regards

fatbloke

 

[Malkore]

agree with fatbloke...the more honey you use, the longer it'll have to age and mellow out.

not a bad thing, but its a key reason most wine isn't over 12% ABV...it just starts losing flavor when the alcohol goes up.

Just try not to sample it too often

 

[Mikael]

yeah, i been making meads for years, just never had a blow over before....its allways a rule of thumb to age them a year. by the way, the blow over finally subsided, lol and is now back to a normal airlock, lol now it doesnt look so much like a mad scientist lab anymore HAHAHA

 

[Mikael]

haha its so hard NOT to sample haha, i tried a bit yesterday and....omg..it was great