Backsweetening, carbonating and Kmeta + Ksorb

[Narkan]

Hello,

i'm a newbie on my first batch. It's a traditional dry mead with the following recipe:
10 liter batch (2,5 gallons)
3.25 kg wildflower honey (7,15 lbs)
5 grams Mangrove Jack M05
Wyeast nutrient SNA as needed
OG: 1.094
Gravity after 7 days: 1.038
At the moment on day 10 of fermentation

I have some doubts about racking to secondary and tertiary and when to add Kmeta and Ksorb and when to carbonate or sweeten.
At the moment I'd like to process half of my batch as dry and backweeten the other half.
Should I rack to secondary, add Kmeta and Ksorb and then backsweeten and let age?
Or should I rack to secondary, let it sit (and age) and then rack to tertiary, add Kmeta and Ksorb and backsweeten?

Thanks in advance =)

 

[EricHartman]

Once the SG stops dropping put the mead in a fridge for a week to help clear it. Then rack to secondary and add kmbs and sorbate. Age, oak, & acid adjust as desired. Then backsweeten and clear if needed.

Kmbs is important to help prevent oxidation during the secondary. Mead doesn't oxidize easily but airlocks, minimizing headspace, and kmbs are the defenses we have.

 

[Narkan]

Thanks Eric.

I have no way to cold crash 2,5 gallons at home, so I will skipping the fridge and maybe clear the mead before bottling with superkleer or something similar.
However, thanks for suggesting the correct phases =)

 

[Mattzak]

Thanks Eric.

I have no way to cold crash 2,5 gallons at home, so I will skipping the fridge and maybe clear the mead before bottling with superkleer or something similar.
However, thanks for suggesting the correct phases =)

I had a similar concern before. I looked up keeping it like a keg for a party, get a bucket if possible and place your carboy in it. Fill it with ice - as much as you can. It'll keep it cold, but you have to keep up with the ice. Cover it with a blanket to keep the air around it cold as well.

Good luck!

 

[Narkan]

I had a similar concern before. I looked up keeping it like a keg for a party, get a bucket if possible and place your carboy in it. Fill it with ice - as much as you can. It'll keep it cold, but you have to keep up with the ice. Cover it with a blanket to keep the air around it cold as well.

Good luck!

Is the cold crash really this needed? I suppose I could try to fit the fermenter but I’ll lose half the fridge for a week and the missus won’t be happy

 

[Skropi]

Do what I plan to do....buy another fridge....which will be bigger than the old one, to fit most of your carboys

 

[EricHartman]

You don't have to cold crash but it really does speed up flocculation and reduce "dusts" that will drop out later.

 

[Mattzak]

I also noticed that in my kitchen fridge, which I would open and close a lot throughout the week, the flocculation took a long while. And frankly, one of my meads were in the fridge over a week and didn't appear to drop a lot.

I got a new, small fridge and popped my mead in that baby. 33*F, with a +/- of 3* throughout the day. Any batch I put in there is very noticeably clearer in a matter of 2-3 days.

long story short, colder temps really work much much better.