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Might have to buy an extra better bottle, then. I'm still a little worried about aerating it, but I guess racking it one more time won't matter that much anyway...Would something like racking after primary, and then again after 4-5 months sound good?
 
Tiwas said:
Might have to buy an extra better bottle, then. I'm still a little worried about aerating it, but I guess racking it one more time won't matter that much anyway...Would something like racking after primary, and then again after 4-5 months sound good?
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As long as the end of the tube is against the bottom of the carboy you're racking into, and then stays under the surface, the oxidizing that will occur is very very low. Even grape wines and melomels that are super sensitive to oxidization are racked like this and are fine, and traditional meads are seriously difficult to oxidize without try to do it on purpose!

I wouldn't go based on a timeframe. Rack after primary, then watch to see when a decent amount of lees have dropped. For me that's usually about a couple weeks to a month (if less than a month I just wait month anyways. Very little yeast character will be imparted if any in this kind of timeframe).

Unless you're specifically looking for a lees-aged character I wouldn't leave it on the probably fair amount of lees in secondary for longer than 2-3 months(if very little drops then sure, wait longer).
 
Thanks!

I must admin that it sucks big time being from the mead capital of the world and not having any local information (there were a couple of hundred years where they tried to get rid of our past), but it's great to have such a knowledgeable community available :)
 
;D Personally I'd consider Ethiopia more the mead capital of the world (it is the national drink, and one of the few places on Earth where mead is still super common that I know of), but of course your area is the one us westerners tend to connect with mead! ;)
 
You know this is like telling a 6 year old boy not to climb trees, right? I don't care how much proof you can produce that Norway isn't the mead capital of the world :crybaby2:
 
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Did some reading, and the only advice I could see regarding when to first rack, was at 1/3 sugar break. So...when I hit 1/3, should I rack onto the better bottle, keeping some in a jar to add the last nutrient, and then pour into the rest of the must? What then? Just leave it airlocked for a month or so and then check the SG?
 
Where did you read that? Generally we recommend first racking take place after you're pretty sure the ferment is done, not partway through it (the point of racking is mostly to get off the lees, but during an active ferment you want those lees, as they're largely alive and fermenting still).
 
Don't remember the thread, but it rocked my beliefs. I was also under the i,pression that I should wait...But I'm young and plyable :p
 
There are other reasons to wait too - if you rack too early you'll end up with a huge pile of lees in secondary right away and will have to rack again, and then you'll have lost more volume. Also, since fermentation will be continuing strongly you're pretty likely to have it periodically climb up through the airllock and make a mess/lose volume (if it doesn't shoot the airlock right off!).
 
You can transfer the mead any time during primary fermentation, for a variety of reasons. I have done it to move the mead off some fruit. It's probably a good idea to stir up any lees that have dropped before you rack, to make sure you get all the yeast transferred along with the mead. Even if you don't, however, at the 1/3 point there should be plenty of yeast in suspension to keep you going if you do want to move it for whatever reason.

On the other hand, unless you have a compelling reason to move the mead, I'd really recommend leaving it in one container until the fermentation is done.
 
I think I ruined a batch of wild yeast or something. Never clean, like a monkey pissing in its taste .......
 
AToE & akueck: Thanks. That was kind of my impression, so I'll go with that :)

Btw: what's the easiest way to mix in the yeast stop? I hope it hasn't been answered before...I was thinking about just drop it into the empty carboy, rack the mead and then, using some sort of long/thin rod mix it in. The reasoning being that the will be less air exposure through the neck of the carboy than in the bucket...
 
That drill thingy is worth its weight in gold! Yesterday, the SG was 1.085 or so, and today it was less than 1.075 (1.072-1.074 somewhere) :D

So...now I just leave it? How often do you measure it? I guess it really doesn't matter as long as it's not sitting on its lees for too long? Is once a week often enough?

Cheers from a happy "father of a few million" :D
 
If you're past the 1/3 mark then personally I stop measuring unless I'm watching for something specific (for challenging ferments I'll often add yeast hulls or boiled yeast even later int he ferment. You don't want to add anything containing DAP past the 1/2 mark, but some other things can help if the ferment is troubled) I just stop taking SG readings until I see the ferment actively calm down. Then I'll take readings to make sure it's about done fermenting.

I like to wait a day or two after fermentation is complete to rack sometimes so that it can drop as much lees as possible before racking. For fruit meands and such I don't do this as I'm a little bit more concerned about oxidization, but a traditional would be totally safe, especially with all the CO2 that will be coming out of solution for a long time after fermentation is complete.
 
Tiwas said:
Thanks!

I must admin that it sucks big time being from the mead capital of the world and not having any local information (there were a couple of hundred years where they tried to get rid of our past), but it's great to have such a knowledgeable community available :)
Click to expand...

When I asked my lovely Norwegian daughter whether Norwegians drank mead she said no, very little, as it's extremely expensive--even more expensive than almost everything is there. It does seem a shame, but I do send it back with them whenever they visit. They'll be here in May, that's 8 bottles they can take from my "cellar" to theirs!
 
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