11 replies to this topic

[robsauce]

I have the blueberry braggot off the fruit and in secondary now - it's been there for 7-8 weeks I believe (forgot to check my records). As far as procedure goes, I followed the instructions from the group brew that happened a year or so ago. I have an odd issue I've never seen before. White foam/bubbles have started to form on the surface of the braggot in the carboy. At first there were just a few and I figured it was CO2 bubbles escaping but they usually don't stay. Anyway, they've slowly grown to the point where there are patches of white foam/bubbles on the surface of the braggot, anywhere from the size of a dime to a silver dollar. Any idea what this might be? I removed the airlock to take a sniff - no foul odour or anything. I'm wondering what my best course of action is or if I have anything to worry about.

[robsauce]

I'll snap a photo tonight. I didn't take any detailed notes but I followed the blue braggot instructions.... I think....

24-36 Hours before racking to secondary place 1 quart of water into a large pot and heat to 150°F. Turn off the heat and add the frozen blueberries, cover, and mix well. When thawed, mash the berries, and add the pectic enzyme to the fruit. Place the berry slurry into a 6 gallon fermenter. After an hour add the KMETA and swirl the berries to mix. Wait 24 hours and then rack the fermenting honey mixture on top. After 10-14 days on the fruit, rack the mead to another 6 gallon carboy leaving the fruit behind. After 30 days rack the mead to a clean carboy.

https://www.brews-br...__fromsearch__1We did however have a the above discussion which makes me think I may have not used the pectin enzyme, and may have not added kmeta. However I also vaguely recall hitting up the LHBS to buy pectin and kmeta. To be honest I can't remember what I did exactly

[EWW]

Did you take a gravity reading at transfer? Sometimes adding a little O2 When racking can restart fermentation a bit. My guess is that you have nothing to worry about. How does it taste? Worse case scenario you could sulphite and sorbate it now and protect yourself from having an off tasting batch.

[robsauce]

Gravity is currently at 1.010 - 1.012 @ 68F-ish. I believe thats maybe 5ish points lower than when I racked off the fruit 6-8 weeks ago. It tastes OK but has an odd bite that I would presume will mellow with time. Aroma and nose seems OK. Here are two pics. The chunkish stuff floating at the top is left over fruit that snuck through on the previous racking. The white bubbles are the unknown...It's extremely hard to take pictures through glass with a point and shoot =[

[EWW]

Hard to tell by the pic. Some parts look normal and other parts questionable. Are some off those bubbles opaque and slightly off color (more beige) then the rest?ETA- I'm basically asking if the bubbles have any similarities to something like

Edited by EWW, 15 November 2010 - 10:34 PM.

[Calder]

ETA- I'm basically asking if the bubbles have any similarities to something like

Now you are just showing off! Is that an oak dowel you have in there. Looks pretty!

[strangebrewer]

Looks fine to me. I'd still keep an eye on it of course but those are pretty 'normal' looking bubbles. Probably just the must outgassing and the clusters are where it's hanging onto some of the floating chunks of fruit.I've always thought blueberry braggots and melomel's tasted a little odd especially when they were young. Everything mellows and integrates better with age.

[EWW]

Now you are just showing off! Is that an oak dowel you have in there. Looks pretty!

I wasn't meaning to show off (although it is purdy). When I zoomed in on the larger mass at around 6:00 some of the bubbles looked opaque...I can't tell if it's a product of the pic quality and zoom or if it's something to be concerned about. I posted a reply last night saying "you're fine" and then deleted it after I zoomed in.

[strangebrewer]

Mail it to me when it looks like this:

[robsauce]

Why is everyone going bananas over EWW's pic of white foamy stuff?? I'm missing something here I think....I was originally planning to rack Dec-Jan. Any reason I should rack it sooner? Thanks for all the advice!!

[robsauce]

I've had the odd lambic but never thought of attempting it myself. Given my success with beer and mead lately, I think I'll pass.

[strangebrewer]

Why is everyone going bananas over EWW's pic of white foamy stuff?? I'm missing something here I think....

The pics EWW and i posted are good examples of what a must looks like when you've got something other than yeast in your fermentation. My pic is what you'd see early on if bacteria were present and EWW's is more final stage.