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I am an amateur brewer just cooked my third batch ever three days ago. This time with a couple of friends (which also bought the ingredients from a place I haven't before), so this time I used a different recipe, the one the new store gave us. That recipe had A LOT of sugar in it, and so as I feared, after one day in the bucket, due to extremely violent fermentation about a liter of mead was spilled, probably with a big part of the yeast. I see some signs of fermentation although it doesn't look very active.

What should I do? Is the batch ruined? Should i just wait and see?

Thank you!

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  • Perfectly normal. The more sugar there is, the more violent the fermentation will be. You're fine, albeit a liter less in mead when it's all said and done.
    – Scott
    Commented Apr 7, 2014 at 13:50

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It can happen - just let the mead continue as normal. It's probably equally due to temperature or the amount of yeast pitched and not just the sugar, since there are also plenty of simple sugars in honey.

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  • Ok, it can happen... but is it ok? I mean obviously I will know for sure only in a few weeks, but is just letting it sit is the best way of operation for this problem?
    – TomF
    Commented Apr 7, 2014 at 12:51
  • The yeast will be dispersed throughout the mead. Last year, I did a 12% beer that gushed for 3 days (even with temp control holding it down to 15.5C/60F) - that fermented out fine.
    – mdma
    Commented Apr 7, 2014 at 14:12
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This has happened to many brewers before and does not mean your batch is ruined. More than likely, the peak of the fermentation activity has passed.

You should clean your fermenter with a sanitized cloth on the outer areas where the spill occurred. Also re-clean and sanitize your air lock and lid or bung-stopper of your carboy or bucket, and reseal them.

To help prevent this in the future, leave more head space in your carboy or fermenter bucket. Also, try to lower the temperature of the fermentation to the lower ends of the temperature range specified by the type of yeast you are using, especially during the vigorous early primary phase. Most experienced brewers also use a blow off tube for primary fermentation.

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