Racking question

[iamjoeyjo]

Hello. This is my first post here.

My mead is 20 days old and the dead yeast is beginning to form and there is a bubble about every 10 seconds now and slowing daily. Its a JOAM and I didnt realize I had to top up after the foam part but still it is at a good inch below the nozzle If I rack it to another carboy I will have headspace, I think, too much.

My question: can I forgo the 2nd carboy and wait another 2 months and just rack to bottle without stabilizing ?

 

[mannye]

Hi! If you're following the JAOM recipe, you don't have to do anything. An inch below the nozzle seems to be right about or maybe a little above the one gallon mark for most one gallon glass carboys. Mine are all at the gallon when the liquid reaches just below the "one gallon" lettering on the glass but yours might be different.

Anyway, the recipe for JAOM states that you leave it alone until it clears and the fruit starts dropping. So all you have to do right now is wait another 4 weeks or so.

 

[iamjoeyjo]

Oops. I looked at the JAOM recipe again and it said bread yeast and I used wine yeast instead. I guess it will be a little dry. Can I still leave it on the lees like a JOAM like you said?

 

[mannye]

Yeah. If you used all the ingredients except substituted wine yeast for the bread yeast you're going to have a very dry and very pithy (bitter) mead. It will take at least a year to be drinkable. But I have heard that if you wait long enough it makes a great mead.

Alternatively you could try to back sweeten it and balance out some of the pithiness once it's done.

My advice would be to wait until it clears or you have a consistent gravity reading, then rack it off the lees and forget about it until next year.

While you wait, try the JAOM with the bread yeast and in just 8 weeks you will have tasty spiced mead.

Once you master JAOM, I would try the one gallon BOMM which produces a wonderful tasty quick 30 day mead. It requires some more advanced ingredients and methods however, so it's probably best to wait until you've mastered JAOM before trying it.




Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now. G

 

[Riverat]

Oops. I looked at the JAOM recipe again and it said bread yeast and I used wine yeast instead. I guess it will be a little dry. Can I still leave it on the lees like a JOAM like you said?

What yeast did you use and what temperature / s has it been?

 

[iamjoeyjo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2ueyNQfnfE here is the mead video I was following. It's a JAOM with a wine yeast and the guy said it would turn out. Now... I haven't tasted it yet, the fruit hasn't dropped.

It doesn't have a brand name on the yeast, just says basic wine - making yeast. I have kept it in a dark place and the temperature is average 15 Centigrade.

 

[Riverat]

Well...insufficient data for a meaningful answer....so plan on letting it sit for upwards of a year or so like Manye says and post some tasting notes when you can, it should turn out good, just take awhile longer.

 

[iamjoeyjo]

Should I open the carboy and have a taste to see if there is any sweetness at all? I could mix some more honey water into it as there is still room at the top of the carboy for more and the fermentation isn't complete.

What do you think? Is it safe to open the carboy and stick a drinking straw in and just go for it and be careful about backwash or would that somehow cause contamination?

Or should I try to rack it to another carboy and then try it and if it is bitter than just top it up with some honey water then?

Another thing, why do the forum posts appear to be in reverse for me. The first post is on the last page, the newest post is first... is there a setting somewhere to reverse that to normal?

 

[Riverat]

Should I open the carboy and have a taste to see if there is any sweetness at all? I could mix some more honey water into it as there is still room at the top of the carboy for more and the fermentation isn't complete.

What do you think? Is it safe to open the carboy and stick a drinking straw in and just go for it and be careful about backwash or would that somehow cause contamination?

Or should I try to rack it to another carboy and then try it and if it is bitter than just top it up with some honey water then?

Another thing, why do the forum posts appear to be in reverse for me. The first post is on the last page, the newest post is first... is there a setting somewhere to reverse that to normal?

At twenty days it is too young to have a clue what it will taste like after it finishes out and ages, Mannye is right, rack it off the gross lees, top it off to avoid oxidation and put it back in the cupboard till fall or so.

 

[iamjoeyjo]

How shall I top it up?

I've read marbles and I've also read that I shouldn't worry because the CO2 will cover it and protect it. I've read about adding mineral oils to the top.

Is there a simple way of just adding water or a water honey mix?

 

[Riverat]

If you have the means to mix honey and water to match the original gravity that is a time honored method (heck, just whip up another batch and use that), or just white grape juice or apple juice is used by many, some just add a mild white wine and of course the marbles work but they're a pain to rack off of while minimizing losses

 

[mannye]

Water honey mix is the best thing. Go ahead and make a strong (honey heavy) mix and top up with that. With any luck, you'll have some residual sweetness left over after the yeast is exhausted.

If you really want to try it, just sanitize the straw and do that thing where you put your finger on top and draw some out. Then taste that. Don't stick it in there and suck like it was a Big Gulp...lol. (note to self...get some Big Gulp cups to fill with mead). But seriously...don't sip it like a soda. The beer-maker in me cringes at the thought.

Now...if you have never tried mead before, get ready for this concoction you have to taste like ass. Bitter with a side of Band-Aid. But don't worry, this is normal for many very young meads, which is what you have. It will get better. It's not even done fermenting I'll bet. So rack to a clean sanitized carboy, top it up with honey/water and put an airlock on it. Then all you do is put it in a dark corner of the garage and forget about it until June. By then you will have made two more gallons of JAOM and a couple of BOMMs.