"Your good Jim.
Just let it work off.

This can be tough to do without any drinkin stock built up.

Get an other fermenter in service and get yourself into a cycle where you have something fermenting, something clearing and something ready for the still.

calm down man"

"LWTCS,
LW, Thanks again for the valuable info, I concur, I'm too impatient!!!.
I've been studying the Yeast, Fermenting processes etc on both this site and Home Distiller.com for Harvesting Info. As you politely indicated to me before, Lingo is a problem for us beginners and upon reading a ""Thread"" more terminology shows up (BTW>I think that is OK, kind of a forced education) which requires more looking and research. I am realizing that you Mentors certainly have your hands full with us Novices, and I assume that the most aggravating part is that the answers to our questions are located somewhere in the thousands of Threads.
With that said here is my question, and I think my own answer; ""Harvesting Yeast prior to Pitching"" Perhaps Harvesting is the wrong term but in an effort to ""Get the Yeast Working"" can I take a small portion of Mash (250mL or so) add a ""tad""/pinch/or??? of Yeast to that portion of mash, seal the container (1/2 pint Mason Jar}add an Airlock, and let it start ""perking""?? Once that occurs, I ""think"" I can take this 'sample' and mix it in my Main Fermentor, 23L of Mash, and then add the balance of the unused Yeast to the overall blend. I hope this makes sense to you. My understanding is that this may/will accelerate the overall fermentation process!
Regards,
Jim"

"When the summer heat hits I make up enough to keep me happy all winter. The picture shows what I make every two weeks and now have about 150 gallons of wash in various stages.

I have lived in this house for 3 years now and have never seen the kitchen table. The little mead jugs are for Christmas."

"Mead is a different animal and a bit different when dealing with this subject, should really have its own thread.

First, the Brewhaus calculator says your wash is 11.2% and is in the ballpark for meads.
Second, never touch the mead unless moving to another container, like wines you should never allow air to be introduced once the fermentation has taken hold or is complete.

You should post the recipe you used but doubt it is a ""mash"", could be a ""must"" but I just call them a ""wash"". Depending on the recipe I leave the mead in a dark cool place for one month, then slowly decant into a new vessel making sure not to inject any oxygen via splashing and leaving no head room. Oxidation will give mead an off flavor.

I then leave this sit with a full air lock for another 3 months to clear, then again carefully decant in smaller jars and refrigerate. If you don't take your mead to absolute dryness it can blow up your jars if not using heavy champagne bottles and captive corks.

If you made sweet mead or want to back sweeten then you should use campden tablets and potassium sorbate to kill off any lingering yeasts or wild yeast that may have got into an opened jars which will make bombs.

I have never seen a film like you mention on any of the different types of mead and pyments that I have conjured but without knowing what you made can't say what it could be. Mead is susceptible to different kinds of infection and should sterilize any container, funnel, jar, or tool that it comes into contact with a bleach solution and good hot water rinse.

I'm one of those who in many many years have never sterilized any of my mash or wash containers except the initial one when making a distillable but certainly do it when making meads and ciders as it needs to sit for a year to become goodness."

"I know refractometers can be used for many things and have only seen them used personally in girly bars to get a sugar drink recipe right, but besides for critical stuff I would see no use for them in making simple whiskey mashes or proven recipes.

I use hydrometers for mead as an alcoholmeter will not work in them but seldom ever use them anymore except to experiment with. None of the stuff I make or drink is measured that close to even remotely need a precision instrument."