5 galllon racking question

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1eightdevils

NewBee
Registered Member
Apr 2, 2013
15
0
0
Vandalia OHIO
Hi everyone,
so I racked my 5 gallon orange blossom mead from the fermentaion bucket on the 14 of april. sg reading was .999-1.000. I racked into a 5 gallon carboy. should I top it off because there is about 8 inches of space from the top of the mead to the airlock. There is pressure on the air lock. just wondering if that is to much space and if I do add water will it dilute the abv too much.
thanks for everyones time
 
It's not really how far down the mead is from the airlock as square inches exposed to air. Is the surface area mostly negligible or is it quite large? If you have a large amount of exposed surface area, then yes, I'd top up. Actually, as the SG you posted right now is VERY dry, backsweetening would be the perfect option for you right now.
 
I like to take a small sample and add honey till it tastes right, check the SG, and then bring the whole batch up to just under that SG (using the mead calculator to get a rough estimate on how much honey I'll need). Still leaves a bit of wiggle-room without overdoing it.
 
thanks,
Back to my first question, I have a standard 5 gal. glass carboy. The top of the mead is right at the point where the carboy starts to curve up to the top. About a 10 inch diameter of surface area that the mead is exposed.
will this really affect it since there is still co2 being produce. If i add one gallon of water and 1 pound of honey to it, do I put it in raw or should i heat it first.