Tej fermentation time

Mead, wine, beer, and any other form of alcoholic beverages, as well as vinegar.

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Tej fermentation time

Postby Andres on Sun May 05, 2013 4:35 am

Hi,

My Tej has been fermenting for a while and I wonder if it should be ready or I should let it ferment some more. There are no bubbles coming out the airlock (unless I shake the bottles) but I see small bubbles coming to the top of the bottle, so I guess this means it's still fermenting. This has been the timing:

March 13th: mix water and honey in jarr
March 21st: pass to bottles with airlock
May 5th (today): still fermenting (small bubbles coming to the top)

Should I wait more? I'd appreciate some tips, thanks! awesome book by the way, really enjoying it :)

Best,

Andrés
Andres
 
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Re: Tej fermentation time

Postby FermentingYeti on Fri May 10, 2013 3:17 pm

I'd give it some time if you want to bottle it. If it tastes good, go ahead and enjoy some. I made some banana-coffee tej that had a really vigorous fermentation. I racked it a couple times to clear up all the residue. It had already been a couple months since I initially made it, and, stupidly, I decided to bottle it as a test. About four in the morning, I heard a cork pop (I had re-used a bourbon bottle cork). I got up and decided to put the bottles back in the fermentation jar. One exploded all over my brewing table when I pulled out the cork. Fortunately, I didn't have any bottles burst. I had forgotten about one in the basement and noticed it was smelling suspiciously delicious when I was down there a few weeks later. Another cork had burst. What was left in the bottle was pretty tasty, though. I guess my point is, drink it if it's good, but if you're still seeing bubbles, don't bottle yet!
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Re: Tej fermentation time

Postby Andres on Sat May 11, 2013 4:59 am

Thank you for your tips Yeti! I haven't tried it yet, I have the airlock there and I thought it wouldn't be good to remove it and let some air in ... but I guess it's OK to open it for a minute a try it?

This is my first alcoholic drink fermentation, so I'm not sure how strict I have to be with the airlock.
Andres
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun May 05, 2013 4:12 am
Location: Spain

Re: Tej fermentation time

Postby FermentingYeti on Sat May 11, 2013 8:03 am

No problem. I've brewed a lot of beer, but have recently begun brewing mead. I primarily focus on the wild fermentation techniques outlined in Sandor Katz's book. I've had my share of mistakes, but am slowly working on a fool-proof technique. For wild fermenting, you want outside air initially. For any brewing, it's ok to remove the airlock from time to time, as you'll need to do so to rack into another container or check the gravity levels. I make my wild ferments in glass containers with spigots so I can check how the flavor is progressing without actually exposing the mead to air. I've written a couple blogs on my experiments you may find to be helpful:

http://www.earthineer.com/content.php?blogid=20656
http://www.earthineer.com/content.php?blogid=19849
http://www.earthineer.com/content.php?blogid=19743
FermentingYeti
 
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Re: Tej fermentation time

Postby Andres on Sat May 11, 2013 4:49 pm

Thank you Yeti, I had a look at your blog and it looks great. I have to try to make that banana coffee Tej. One thing I noticed is some "white stuff" in the bottom of my Tej. I never stirred it after I put the airlock, should I stir it or just leave it alone?
Andres
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun May 05, 2013 4:12 am
Location: Spain

Re: Tej fermentation time

Postby FermentingYeti on Mon May 13, 2013 11:42 am

The banana-coffee isn't bad right now, but I plan on bottling it to let it age. The stuff at the bottom is lees, which is all of the residual yeast left over from the fermentation process. I've heard different theories, but mostly it's ok to leave it. In Wild Fermentation, Sandor K says it is vitamin rich and recommends using it for cooking in soups, breads or casseroles. You can also save it, along with some of the mead, as a starter for another batch. The best way to do that is to rack it into a secondary fermentation container with a siphon hose. Leave behind a bit of the mead, swirl the lees into it and refrigerate it until you decide what to do. I tend to toss mine in the compost, but hope to find more uses for it eventually. Feel free to keep an eye on Earthineer. The site is growing and I plan on doing more blogs on fermenting, and on mead in particular. I'll also be writing about wild-fermented mead in the summer issue of New Pioneer magazine.
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