Mead lag time

All you mead makers… how long is typical for a mead to take to start showing signs of active fermentation after pitching?  I just started my first mead, and it started bubbling nicely in the airlock in about 45 minutes.  Needless to say, this was a LOT shorter than I was expecting.

OG: 1.115
Yeast: Safale US-05 (Brew store was out of Lalvin 71-B)
Temperature: 60-65F
1st batch of a staggered nutrient addition added.

I was a little sad to find that I couldn’t get 71-B for my first mead… I’ve had some good meads from US-05, so hopefully this will come out all right.  I have a little Thames Valley-II hanging around in the fridge, and I almost pitched that instead.  It has a nice stone-fruit character, but I didn’t think it would attenuate enough.

Thanks.

–Evan

I’ve never had anything start in 45 minutes.  How much yeast did you add, and did you rehydrate?

Just 2 sachets of the US-05.  I didn’t even rehydrate.  It’s very confusing.

That’s quite a bit of yeast - I usually use 3 packs of 71B, which is 15 grams.  Two US-05 is 22 grams.  But then I also rehydrate in warm water with goferm.  Is it possible it is warming up?  That will cause bubbles.  What is your fermentation temp?

This is what I’d suspect. Maybe you could get a bubble or two after 45, but bubbling nicely? Must be something else.

Probably.  “Nicely” is a vague word though. :slight_smile: