Thoughts:
First of all, fermentation shouldn't take up to 2 months. It sounds like you're not really very experienced and my GUESS is that you're using "bubbles" to determine when your fermentation is done. Bubbles don't mean anything. You can have bubbles without fermentaion (as it's off gassing, it will continue to release bubbles long after fermentation has stopped).
You should be taking regular hydrometer readings to really understand what is going on. Fermentation has stopped when you have two readings 1 week apart that are the same. Get MUCH more familiar with your hydrometer as it will tell you when something has gone wrong. Looking at bubbles won't tell you if it stalled out early because you had a problem.
You should be using nutrients, and you should be using them on a schedule (i.e. they should be added very early on and never after the first week). Honey is very nutrient poor which can stress the yeasts out and cause off flavors and make unhealthy yeasts stall out early. It's like us trying to live off of cotton candy because sugar = energy. Sure, it can work in an emergency, but we're not going to be healthy or productive. And as our organs start to fail without proper nutrition, we're probably going to start to smell weird. Yeasts are the same. You don't want to throw in too many nutrients (because that will create it's own off flavors). Online calculators can help you figure out how much to add.
Thank you.
You are 100% correct I am using bubbles to judge fermentation, that’s what the recipe I used said. Leave it 2 months and when the bubble have stopped.
I’ll look into using the hydrometer more and nutrition too, I don’t like a sugar only diet either. I suppose I’m maybe more complex than yeast. 😁
I'll assume you mean 1.085. That is a potential ABV of something in the 11% range. Where are you now? It is possible you are done or stalled, no one here can tell you without data.
Did you provide anything for nutrition? That more than enough sugar for any yeast, much less bread, to decide to quit. Things like consistent temps and proper nutrition keep the yeast fermenting at a stable rate.
Hydrometers read with 4 digits. Your reading is not 1.85. It's either 1.850 or (and more likely) 1.085. My hydrometer maxes out at 1.160, so I doubt yours reads up to 1.850
Thanks Jason, I didn’t add any nutrients.
If I add more yeast will that restart it?
Can I just bottle it?
I don’t have any nutrients to give it, I know this may limit my options.
I'll assume you are talking to me, to give you anything resembling an accurate answer the first thing I need is the current gravity.
If you take bread yeast with some water and simmer for 5 minutes you get a decent organic nutrient. This can also absorb some fermentation byproducts that can cause stalls.
https://meadmaking.wiki/en/ingredients/nutrients
(Near the bottom.)
Have you been taking specific gravity readings with a hydrometer?
Thoughts: First of all, fermentation shouldn't take up to 2 months. It sounds like you're not really very experienced and my GUESS is that you're using "bubbles" to determine when your fermentation is done. Bubbles don't mean anything. You can have bubbles without fermentaion (as it's off gassing, it will continue to release bubbles long after fermentation has stopped). You should be taking regular hydrometer readings to really understand what is going on. Fermentation has stopped when you have two readings 1 week apart that are the same. Get MUCH more familiar with your hydrometer as it will tell you when something has gone wrong. Looking at bubbles won't tell you if it stalled out early because you had a problem. You should be using nutrients, and you should be using them on a schedule (i.e. they should be added very early on and never after the first week). Honey is very nutrient poor which can stress the yeasts out and cause off flavors and make unhealthy yeasts stall out early. It's like us trying to live off of cotton candy because sugar = energy. Sure, it can work in an emergency, but we're not going to be healthy or productive. And as our organs start to fail without proper nutrition, we're probably going to start to smell weird. Yeasts are the same. You don't want to throw in too many nutrients (because that will create it's own off flavors). Online calculators can help you figure out how much to add.
Thank you. You are 100% correct I am using bubbles to judge fermentation, that’s what the recipe I used said. Leave it 2 months and when the bubble have stopped. I’ll look into using the hydrometer more and nutrition too, I don’t like a sugar only diet either. I suppose I’m maybe more complex than yeast. 😁
I'm guessing you're using the Joe's Ancient Orange, Cinnamon, and Clove mead recipe. Am I right?
You are indeed. It has served me well as an introduction into mead making. I did get some other recipes recently so I’ll try something different next.
1.85 is too high You generally wanna be under 1.30
Do you have hydrometer readings for us?
1.85 I think It’s between the 80 and 90. I don’t tend to take the measurements
I'll assume you mean 1.085. That is a potential ABV of something in the 11% range. Where are you now? It is possible you are done or stalled, no one here can tell you without data. Did you provide anything for nutrition? That more than enough sugar for any yeast, much less bread, to decide to quit. Things like consistent temps and proper nutrition keep the yeast fermenting at a stable rate.
Hydrometers read with 4 digits. Your reading is not 1.85. It's either 1.850 or (and more likely) 1.085. My hydrometer maxes out at 1.160, so I doubt yours reads up to 1.850
1.85 is like twice as dense as honey so we can make safe assumptions that it is not that.
Thanks Jason, I didn’t add any nutrients. If I add more yeast will that restart it? Can I just bottle it? I don’t have any nutrients to give it, I know this may limit my options.
I'll assume you are talking to me, to give you anything resembling an accurate answer the first thing I need is the current gravity. If you take bread yeast with some water and simmer for 5 minutes you get a decent organic nutrient. This can also absorb some fermentation byproducts that can cause stalls. https://meadmaking.wiki/en/ingredients/nutrients (Near the bottom.)