Mead wont start

[Triker]

I've made up a recipe for mead.

2 jars honey (900grams)
2 lbs of plums (for flavour and colour)
Tannin
Juice of a lemmon
1 tsp pectic emzyme
1 tsp yeast/nutrient

I put the honey into 3 pints water and mixed it thoroughly. Added this to the plums, lemon juice and pectic enzyme in DJ for two days and then strained the liquid off. Temperature was 21 when I added the yeast to the syrup which was giving me a reading of 1090 but I have yet to add more water after the fermentation has slowed down. That is if it ever starts. Its been almost three days and not a bubble in sight!

Is this usual for Mead?

 

[RobWalker]

It's horrifically slow. Give it like 5 days, the signs will be subtle too, you're not likely to get a foamy head but look for bubbles and shake daily.

if no result, repitch yeast and add 1/2tsp tomato puree for nutrient :thumb:

 

[Triker]

Thanks Rob. Its not just me then :thumb:

 

[Frogfurlong]

Mead is possibly the most boring wine to make, I mean it takes ages to get going and when it does it hardly sets the airlock on fire :lol:

It is a slow fermentation, but the results more than make up for this.

:

 

[alanywiseman.]

Have you had a look at Gotmead? They have loads of advice like oxygenate to the first sugar break then stir to suspend the yeast till the second then leave alone to finish.

I am just planning my first mead so have been researching so have no experience but it is worth a look :thumb:

 

[Kirk]

I would get another yeast starter prepared, have made a few meads and more then one has sat there looking at me doing nothing with the first batch of yeast. Have no idea why, but I guess more then 50% of them.

Had one that did nothing, until you stirred it, then a gallon of foam. That was the yeast to be honest.

Problem is that you can make mead 3 times and each will most likely proceed differently. I have read of some completing in under a week and others ambling along for 8 or more weeks.

 

[Triker]

Thanks for your help everyone. In the past hour or so it has started to show signs of life. :clap: :party:

 

[Ken L]

A starter bottle the way to go. I learned this after having 30L of apple juice sit there for three days with no signs of life at all. I re-pitched and it got going right away but I had visions of loosing 30L of juice to an infection.

The other major tip is to drop in a a pinch of sugar. If there is fermentation going on, the CO2 will nucleate on the grains and you will see bubbles. Don't use a whole teaspoonfull to see if an Old Rosie culture is fermenting in a starter bottle though - it can be quite messy.

 

[screamlead]

Deffo need more nutrient in there - try tomato puree, marmite works too and also Andrews liver salts is the dogs nuts. Also use a restart yeast like youngs. I made one yonks back which is now maturing until xmas and if i remember i lobbed in 4 tea spoons of nutrient and a restart yeast and had no problems with it apart from it being slow.

 

[Gayle]

I've not had any problems with my meads, but I've used about 1.5kg of honey in each gallon and also plenty of nutrient. They don't bubble as excitedly as a WOW but they do take a few weeks or more to ferment out properly.

 

[Callum]

I activated my yeast in some warm water with 2 tbsp of honey in it before adding it to my D/J. After reading what people here have said about how slow it starts I was not expecting to see some 'life' for a while. But lo' and behold it was frothing like a good un' very quickly - one of my most vigorous fermentations to date!

Yours has started showing signs of fermentation now - but next time make sure you add enough nutrient, and create a yeast starter, and you shouldn't have any problems :thumb: