What does fermentation look like?

I realized recently that I haven’t included many pictures of what fermentation looks like, only pictures of pitched must before active fermentation begins.

Here is the prickly pear mead, about 72 hours into fermentation:

First off, the color on this batch continues to be just unbelievable. Vibrant, almost glowing. Prickly pears are amazing, they represent their desert ecosystem with style and grace, during a snowy New England winter!

You can see the layer of bubbles at the top. This is CO₂, carbon dioxide which is one of the byproducts of fermentation, along with heat (too little to be noticeable) and C₂H₅OH, or ethanol.

This stage of fermentation is very fun, if you look closely at it you can see it swirling and undulating, stirring itself as the yeast go to town, madly consuming the glucose and fructose from the honey. Fermentation is a metabolic process; it is literally alive. Like any other live creature, it really responds well to good juju. Love your mead!