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First Batch Quandary

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Asking me to taste the mead already... made my day !! Had to restrain myself on day one. I see what you mean about being hot and edgy. It had a slightly warm "after feeling" after swallowing it and to me it was recognisable as a mead drink instead of dishwater. Tasted fine to me but then I'm biased.

Anyway, took a reading tonight and it was 1.00. Would this be the correct time to rack into a demijohn ?
 
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SeanD said:
Asking me to taste the mead already... made my day !! Had to restrain myself on day one. I see what you mean about being hot and edgy. It had a slightly warm "after feeling" after swallowing it and to me it was recognisable as a mead drink instead of dishwater. Tasted fine to me but then I'm biased.

Anyway, took a reading tonight and it was 1.00. Would this be the correct time to rack into a demijohn ?
Click to expand...

You could, but what would you gain and what thinking has you asking this question. Way too many people think one should rack now, or even sooner. Bad information on the web has lead unexperienced people to think you need to run from the lee's as fast as you can. Not true. You do want to keep them suspended so stir every few days and keep your must cool. By leaving you mead with the lee's for a couple weeks or more you are exposing the living yeast to left over "trash" from the ferment. They will eat the mess and in so doing clean up things that take to age out latter.

If you did want to just move over EVERYTHING, that would be fine. Your lees are your friends for a couple moths as long as you keep them stirred up.
 
My reasoning was that I had read in a number of places that leaving it too long after the fermentation had finished/slowed down enough would impart an undesired flavour (nutty was one description). My SG readings appeared to be all over the place so I surmised that as my latest reading was at a point where certain sources said to rack it I should do so.

So by keeping it a bit longer before racking (so long as I stir every few days) would be better in the long run as it will clean it up quicker ? In your experience what would be the specific point where one should stop and start this process, going from stirring twice a day to once every two days and then racking ?

(Jeez, sorry if this is not making sense. It's 2 in the morning here, it's taken me half an hour to spout this babble and I'm supposed to be up 4 hours time to go to work !!)
 
> In your experience what would be the specific point where one should stop and start this process, going from stirring twice a day to once every two days and then racking ?

You're now at the point where you may get five different answers from five different people on this forum. I tend to rack sooner rather than later (after a certain point -- only after the S.G. has settled and obvious signs of fermentation have stopped), but I know that Squatchy does exactly the opposite. We both seem to be happy with our results, so maybe it doesn't matter as much as we might think it does.

You won't ruin the mead by doing it one way or the other, as long as you're careful about the racking and you don't oxidize the mead via multiple careless / splashy racking. So my advice would be: do whatever feels comfortable and reasonable to you. Then maybe try doing it differently with your next batch, and see which approach you prefer; or maybe not, if you're really happy with the results from this batch.

And congratulations on your first batch!
 
I agree with pdh that you will eventually find your way. And that is a wonderful thing. I think once you find what works for you your mead will take a life of it's own and you will be free to try different things.

I will tell you my experience. I have found that as I continue to stir things up to re-suspend them, it seems to concentrate the lees more somehow, and it takes less and less time for the detritus to sink back down. And then you will notice the stratification sooner as well when the top starts to clear some. If I do this for a few weeks (3-5), and then let it rest it clears pretty fast. When I used to rack and then wait it took months sometimes for it to clear. I feel it taste cleaner sooner as well. I find the sooner I get my mead clear, or semi-clear the faster it turns the corner to become drinkable. I also feel it develops a rounder mouth if I let it sit with the lees longer.

It's not uncommon now days to keep it in the lees for a few weeks, stabilize it, cold crash it and then rack in a couple more weeks. Now then, I will either add adjuncts if that's what's called for. Or, I'll fine it if I am not planning on adding anything more that would muck things up. Rack it when it's clear and then run it through the filter. Now I can drink it or age it.

I have found the sooner it's clear the sooner it starts to become drinkable. This now goes full circle: If I stir it on the lees for a few weeks I end up saving 2 or 3 times that waiting for it to clear if I rack it too soon.

Wine makers have reason to get it of the detritus so it doesn't become vegetal. This is where that fear came from. I see face bookers all the time think they should rack at 1020 and then wonder why things stall.

We have influences that have come to the mead world from wine makers that are not true in mead. And, we have beer making fears that have jumped the fence from that side as well. Legitimate for each arena. But are not the case any longer in the mead world. Some of these are fear of oxidation issues, fast racking, infection fears, nutrient additions (or lack there of), filtering/finning, lees exposure, open top primary's and more.

One things is for certain. Mead is very resilient, and there are many roads to the same destiny!
 
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