Blackberry melomel help needed

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fatandy

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Hi all, last weekend i had a go at a blackberry mead.
I added about 3.5lb of blackberries to a fermenter and crushed them a bit.
Boiled 4ltr water and added about 3lb of cheap supermarket honey.
Once cooled a little i added a clove and a teaspoon of allspice to the water with the peel from an orange and juice from a lemon.
I added this to the berries and covered it over night to cool.
Next day i added a sachet of mead yeast, gave it a stir, re covered it and left it.
I gave it a stir every other day.
Every time i opened the lid it looked as though there was a tiny bit of bubbling but this could easily have been from liquid dripping from the lid. At no point did any bubbles form in the airlock.
I added about 1/2 a teaspoon of youngs nutrient on thursday but no difference.
I strained it into a demijon yesterday, added another 1/2 teaspoon of nutrient, fitted an airlock and left it overnight.
This morning it was still just a still liquid so i added another sachet of youngs sparkling wine yeast.
This afternoon it is still not reacting, there is the merest hint of action with a very fine froth around the neck of the bottle but not enough to displace any water in the airlock.
Any ideas on where i should go from here ?
 
Health warning to this advice, I am not an experienced mead maker. I've only done two, though they do seem to have gone ok, and one used blueberries.

My strong suggestion is to be patient, even with the simple sugars in honey yeast can take a while to get going. It sounds like you've got something happening, so keep an eye on it but don't go overboard with interventions.

Next time it is a good idea to use yeast nutrient at the beginning as this provides nitrogen the yeast needs and won't get elsewhere. On my meads I vigorously stirred twice a day for the first three days as well to keep the oxygen supply up. This is very different from making beer.

If your blackberries covered the top then it's also possible that fermentation was happening and the fruit was preventing the CO2 from escaping. 'Punching the cap' (prodding a gap in the fruit) isn't a bad idea early on in a mead fermentation.
 
Hi, thanks for the reply.
I also have two straight honey meads on the go and both are bubbling away, the blackberry one is just sitting there doing nothing.
I gave it a shake earlier and now theres not even the light foam that was there before.
Any advice on where to go next will be greatly appreciated.
 
It does sound possible that your yeast has failed to start, possibly due to a lack of oxygenation or nitrogen. My recommendation would be to try a big oxygenation. I assume the melomel is in a demijohn? If I'm wrong and it's in a bucket or something similar then a vigorous stir with a sanitised spoon could be enough to get it going. If it's in a demijohn or similar narrow-necked FV where you couldn't get an angle to do that then you may need to pour into another sanitised vessel and back again to introduce the oxygen. You've put a fair amount of yeast in there already, so if the yeast hasn't died this oxygenation could well be enough to get it going, if it does then I would be tempted to dose it with nutrient more or less as soon as you see activity. If nothing starts up then you might want to redo the oxygenation and pitch a new yeast with nutrient.
 
Thanks for the advice, it is in a demijon.
I have poured it into a bucket and then back into the demijon, will keep an eye on it and post the results.
Fingers crossed !
 
Well that did'nt work !
I left it for about a week just in case but no joy.
This morning I transfered it to a bucket and added another yeast and a teaspoon of nutrient.
I left it for about an hour then gave it a good stir. A few hours later it went back into the demijon and is now under cover on the side. I have had a look and it would appear that nothing is happening.
I am positive everything I have used is well sterilised and properly rinsed off before I used it.
I have also used different yeasts so I am sure I have not had a dodgy batch.
I can only guess something is killing the yeast. Is there anything else I can try if it fails to start or is it time to pour it down the sink ?
 
What airlock are you using? Is it sealed properly or fitted properly? As visual signs in the must can be misleading as to whether fermentation is taking place or not. For starters 2 teaspoons of nutrient to start then 1 tsp each week for a month is what I use, but you would get some nutirents in the blackberries for the yeast. What yeast (name brand) have you used? Some yeast are low foaming for example harris premium yeast is very low foaming. Next question is where did you get you're blackerries, supermarket or frozen from the autumn? Supermarket bought might have been treated with potassium sorbate and finally name brand of honey as again might have something in it.


You say you sterilised, how, did you add camden tabs as can take sometime to disapate from a dj if ever, if fermentation has not started.

And finally stop messing about with it and leave for at least a fortnight after adding the yeast today.
 
Thanks again.
The airlock is a boots one, a sort of two part thing but it is properly sealed.
There is nothing happening in the liquid that i can see, no bubbles or movement of any sort.
The yeast is a mead yeast from crossmyloof brewery, the previous one was a youngs sparkling wine and the original was also mead yeast, same as the latest one.
The others i have on the go used the youngs sparkling wine yeast and are bubbling away like good-uns.
The blackberries were supermarket (tesco) frozen bags.
Honey was cheap from sainsburys, not the cheapest one but the next one up. The others i am doing just used the really cheap stuff.
Sterilised with bleach, left to stand in it for a while then thoroughly rinsed off/out.
As far as leaving it goes i don't think i have got much choice now, although having said that do you think it worth adding some more nutrient ?
I don't have any nutrient in the other ones i have done although they have raisins in them amongst other stuff.
 
hi. I've seen cheaper honey having potassium sorbate preservatives in them. If so then it's not going anywhere I'm afraid. I've made that mistake not thinking sorbate would go anywhere near honey. Could be wrong though and as others have said it could just be low foaming. I suppose a hydrometer reading would help?
 
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=289725731

Was it these blackberries, link above? Packaged in Serbia, it doesn't mention on the site if potassium sorbate has been used, if you have a pack in the freezer check, if not when in Tescos have a look at another pack to see if they have used ks. That might be your problem. Although residual bleach may also be, always a good idea to use a little citric acid into the dj and swish about to neutralise any residual bleach, baby bottle stuff is better like milton or another simliar product.

Don't think honey is the problem.

Those crappy airlocks hate them, get a simple bubbler for dj's. With those airlocks it is difficult to see activity sometimes.
 
Yes, that's them.
I will have to look next time i'm there.
If they do have potassiaum on them is there any way it can be recovered ?
 
This past week i have mostly been drinking the coopers ale thats now ready, probably could do with a little more time to rest but still perfectly drinkable !
I have switched the airlock to one of the conventional ones and it would appear there is some action in the mead although inly very slight, it is bubbling maybe once a minute at best, but it is bubbling.
I have added a teaspoon of nutrient every 2-3 days.
I checked the packaging on the blackberries when i was in tesco and nothing is mentioned on the packaging.
 

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