I've put fresh apple cider in a sterile tank with mead yeast and an airlock. In a few hours it began to foam. Plenty of CO2 came out the airlock. Two weeks later the bubbling inside has stopped and there is a thick layer of yeast at the bottom. However, there is relatively no alcohol in the cider. My alcoholmeter is definietly accurate too. There appears to be nothing going on. What should I do? Wait longer??
Taste it. If it doesn't taste sweet (tastes dry) then all the sugar's gone and that's all the alcohol you're going to get.
If it does taste sweet then there's still sugar in it and it hasn't fermented completely. Shake/stir it well and with luck it may begin fermenting again. If it doesn't, put in another yeast.
Also, when you take a sample from the fermenter to measure the alcohol, don't take it from the surface but a bit deeper. I've noticed than when I've made wine, the wine taken from the surface tastes quite watery. But after siphoning when all the wine has mixed up it taster much better.
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