Stuck Ferment or is it done?

[Neviawen]

Hello,
I had a question about a batch of Mead I am currently making. It is a clover flavored honey with tangerine peels in it. I used K1V-1116.

I started the batch on 2/19/2012 (9 days ago). The starting SG was 1.080. I’ve stirred every day/every other day, checking the SG. All looked well in the bucket, good smell, color, was foaming away, etc.

I checked yesterday (at day 8) and it looked a lot different. The foam/ bubbles were gone and it looked like it wasn’t fermenting any more for some reason. That had me thinking I’d wait until today and check it again and see what it read.

Today (day 9) it read the same SG reading: 1.066 and it still looks the same but it tastes really nice. It’s a mid-sweet taste w/ a hint of tangerine, you can taste some of the alcohol but I’m thinking there still might be some sugar left in there to ferment because of the sweetness. I’m not sure because I’m new to making mead. (New to making wine altogether!)

I’ve referred to your yeast fermentation guide to try to troubleshoot myself. For this type of strain it says that it does ferment fast and yields a high alch. content. I'm confused about the "stuck fermentation". Either is starts stuck fermentations well or it gets stuck alot. (Not sure.) Do you think it is done fermenting or is the fermentation stuck? I have 3 batches of Mead going and these are the first I’ve ever brewed so I do not know what the bottom SG readings of Mead are. Any ideas?

Thanks!
~Katie

 

[robie]

I have never made a mead, so all I can do is generalize.

The mead can be fermenting slowly, even if you don't see any activity. Don't try to go by sight, go by your hydrometer. I believe meads do ferment very slowly.

If the must started at 1.080 and is now 1.066, it is by no means done fermenting. That is very little alcohol.

Stir it well and keep the temperature in the mid 70'sF. Check the SG again in a couple of days and see if it is still falling, which I bet it will be.

Maybe some people experienced with meads will come along and help.

 

[Jersey.Vintner]

Katie,

Yes, you have a stuck fermentation. At 1.080 and w/ 1116, you should expect a FG below 1.00. I think you need more nutrients, such as fermax, warm temperature (72+) and starter of 1118.

Good Luck.

 

[Wade E]

What is the temp of this mead? Did you use any nutrient or energizer? If not you really need to and alkso get the temps up to around 70 or mid 70's! Meads can take a long time to ferment so check again a few days to make sure you are truly stuck or if its just moving along very slowly as meads usually do but either way get the temp up.

 

[Neviawen]

Hi and thanks for the help.
Wade: I did use nutrient when I first started the batch and it is 68 degrees F. I will move it to a warmer location and keep checking the SP.
If after I move it to a warmer location and in a few days I still get the same reading, how do I go about starting fermentation up again? Do I add more nutrient and another pack of 1116 or do I get a packet of 1118?

 

[Deezil]

If you get it into the mid-70's temp and in a few days, there's still no activity.. You could try 1116 if you wanted to keep with just 1 yeast profile, but if its not that big of a deal - the 1118 should knock it out.

You might consider yeast energizer as well, Wade & Tom pointed out to me on my very first batch, that energizer and nutrient supply different things.