Mead Check-In
After a few weeks fermenting in the buckets, I checked on my mead that I am making for a wedding that happening in September.
The nutrient addition schedule was followed and from outside observations, all looked like it was going as planned. Unlike beer, mead takes some time to ferment all the way to completion. What I mean about “some time” is more than two weeks.
Checking on the mead consisted of opening up the buckets to see what it looked like, taking a gravity reading, and having a bit of a taste.
The full batch size is ten gallons but since I don’t have a fermentor big enough for the whole batch, I have split it in half and it fermenting in two separate buckets.
Similar but Different
So I took two separate gravity readings and discovered something interesting. I had two different readings. Not slightly different but large enough to wonder why.
Here are the two buckets.
So, the mead in one bucket gave me a reading of around 1.010. The other one had a reading of just under 1.020!
Now I am not going to tell you which one gave me the higher reading until a few of you guess in the comments.
The starting gravity for each bucket was around the same – both were in the 1.090s. I added two proofed packets of champagne yeast to both of them and they were fermenting in the same space for the same amount of time.
I know that fermentation is a delicate matter and that the shape of the vessel can have an effect on the final product; that is, it can be noticeable in a side by side comparison when fermenting in different vessels.
I wonder if anyone knows or can guess which fermentor helped the yeast do their job faster. Do you know? Leave a comment.
How Did It Taste?
The samples of each tasted on par for what mead tastes like at this stage. The one with the higher gravity did taste sweeter as expected.
I am not worried that they won’t both end with the same gravity. The 1.020 mead appeared to have more yeast activity going on than the other one.
In a week, I will check again and I hope I will have readings that are closer to each other. Once they’re done, I will rack them and let them condition for a couple of months.
So – what’s your guess?
Matt
I’m guessing the short/wide bucket had the higher gravity. Seems like the yeast would be more prolific in a container that is wider, because of greater exposure to the air inside the bucket.
John
Hi Matt.
Do you mean the short/wide one had the lower gravity; that is, the one with the ~1.010 reading?
Rob
I also think that the shorter bucket had the lower reading. Same reasons as Matt.
Guindilla
A wild guess: the relatively higher pressure developped in the taller/smaller-base bucket resulted in higher gravity. otherwise, I tend to agree with Matt re. wider bucket implying higher contact surface, although not due to oxigen, but due to contact with the yeast.
Again, wild guesses.
John
Wild or not, your guesses were all correct. The shorter, fatter bucket on the right had the lower gravity ~1.010.
The taller one with the blue lid on the left had the ~1.020 gravity. This weekend I will check the tall one’s gravity to see if it has come down 10 points. If so, it’s time to rack ’em both.
I am feeling good about the tall one. It has been bubbling all this week.
Mike
Its a trick question!
Unless the initial 10 gallons of must was created as a single batch in a large enough vessel, then divided into the two fermentors; I cannot make a reasonable guess as to which would be lower. Slight differences in gravity and inaccuracy in volume multiply together to compound the error. The division of the yeast, the true relative temps of the buckets. Too many variables to assume the experiment is truly an expectation of bucket dimensions effecting outcome.
And yes, I am a science jerk.
John
Dude, just guess.