Mead - fermentation lag time?

[Swift Pint]

Hi,

I've recently brewed a traditional mead.
The recipe is straightforward, 2 gallons of must, with an OG of 1.120 with orange blossom honey.

I pitched an entire packet of lalvin 1122 yeast, which I'd rehydrated properly.

For yeast nutrients I boiled up the yeast slurry from a pale ale that I'd just boiled alongwith a handful of diced raisins. I added about a teaspoon of this to each of the 1 gallon demijohns.

I then aerated with an electric whisk & pitched at about 18c, and have been keeping the fermentors at this temperature. I'm wary of the initial fermentation getting too hot so am keeping check on the temperatures. The demijohns are in a waterbath in a plastic tub to keep the temps down.

I've been degassing / aerating at least twice a day, and there is quite a lot of gas coming off - which I see as a positive sign.

But after almost a week the gravity has only dropped to about 1.115, so not very much!
Is this slow start fairly normal for a mead?
Should I be thinking about adding some more nutrients or do I just need to chill out and give it more time?

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

Is this slow start fairly normal for a mead?

Honey contains natural antibiotics, so a slow start is to be expected.

 

[Gayle]

That seems like quite a high OG, and the yeast might need a bit more nutrient. I've read that a lot of people do staggered nutrient additions to help the yeast along and build up their proteins to be able to cope with the high abv, or else they just die. I'm not too fussy with nutrients, I add half a tsp per gallon on brewday and another half tsp about 4-5 days later. It's possible that due to the high OG, the yeast couldn't cope with the amount of sugar initially - it's better to start with less and add extra honey as the brew progresses so the yeast don't freak out. Maybe take a little out, dilute a bit, add fresh yeast, and gradually add in more must over a day or two, then add back into the fermenter? This should build up the yeast's tolerance a little.

I have a traditional wildflower mead I'm just about to rack, that was started 3 weeks ago, and finished and cleared last week! I have never bothered to aerate the must during fermentation (other than a bit of a shake at the start), but do be careful as interfering with the must twice a day is an easy way of getting it infected!

 

[Swift Pint]

Cool, thanks for the help.

I think I have probably just overwhelmed the yeast with such a strong must.

I think I'll give it a bit more nutrient, another stir and then leave it for a while. The amount of gas that was coming out when I was stirring would suggest that fermentation was happening, just slower than I'd expected.