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Barrel Char Wood Products
I've set up my office right next to my mead, and it seems it will give up three to four burps in a second to second and a half, then wait for three to five seconds before burping again. The things is...I'm really excited and would like to see how far the fermentation's gone. So...are there any good reasons NOT to test it tomorrow? It's been 5 or 6 days (feels like 5 or 6 months) since it passed 1/3 sugar break and I haven't opened the container since. It's my understanding the fermentation can be pretty good right up until it stops...so it would be hard to know how far it's come just by counting bubbles.

Cheers :)
 
oh...forgot to mention that the burps don't smell like honey any more. Not like yeast either, so I'm assuming most of the sugar has been used and that's what's keeping the burps from smelling...?...
 
Are you making sure to spin it once in a while (couple times a day is best if you can) to get some of the sediment back up into suspension? "Average" speed would be 10 points a day at this point in the ferment, but I wouldn't at all be concerned about it moving a little slower, that's still a respectable pace.
 
Think along the lines of swirling a wine glass. You want to do it gently, but enough to make sure the liquid is moving around in a circular fashion. You want to do it long enough to make sure the mead is moving all the way from the top to the bottom in the fermenter, to re-suspend the yeast. Just dont do it too violently because at this point you dont want to splash it around.
 
Is it supposed to give off a lot of co2 when doing that? The air lock activity really went up for a little while after I put it back down...
 
Once or twice a day is good. Some people stir three times. I would think more than that is not needed.

For lees aging, you stir like once a month until bottled.
 
Won't that get in the way or clearing? When I stabilize my brew, I would have hoped it would clear as soon as possible...?...
 
One more thing I don't think I got answered, which I (hopefully) will need soon. How do I add the yeast stop thingy? I was told to wait three or so days after the fermentation has stopped before racking, but should I add the yeast stop at the same time as racking, or just wait?
 
It will actually speed up clearing - as you swirl the sediment back into suspension some of it is live yeast who can now go back to work, but some of it is dead yeast, those can bind onto other dead yeast (as I understand it) and actually act as a simple fining agent.

I generally swirl at least once per day (sometimes as many as 5 or 6 though, I work from home) during primary fermentation, and then about once per day (or every couple days, whatever) for 1-3 weeks in secondary, then I let it settle out.

I swirl pretty agressively, because I do it in secondary where it is topped up a gentle swirl won't get it moving. I put it on the floor (carpet) and just agressively rotate it 5-10 times, then put it away. What I really want to get is a lazy susan (weird name for a rotating circle that goes in the middle of a dining table to rotate food and condiments around for everyone) for this task though, then I can really spin it (being careful not to topple of course!).

Yes this will release CO2. This is good in primary, because it will lower the CO2 in solution (which at too high of levels can becoming toxic to the yeast) and it's good in secondary because it helps degass the mead, which further speeds clearing (without CO2 in solution other junk drops out much more quickly).
 
It's something I picked up from Oskaar mainly, though lots of other people recommend swirling through primary and partway into aging (not just for a sur lees effect either).
 
You're talking about the stabilizing chemicals? They won't usually work to actually stop yeast (once yeast get going they're really tough buggers), generally you wait until fermentation has finished (or seems to be finished), then let it clear a bit (to get rid of as many yeast as possible) then add the chemicals and either backsweeten or don't (if there's enough residual sugar for you) and then watch it for a while to make sure it doesn't start up again (and unless you're adding fining agents it'll probably need a lot more time clearing).

I generally recommend against backsweetening until the mead is totally clear and has aged at least a few months, otherwise it will be tasting less than optimal and you're likely to add too much honey to cover up the harshness, and will end up with something too sweet.

If you do want to attempt to actually stop the yeast there has been some discussions on that around here, most people try to stick it in the fridge as cold as possible without freezing (called cold crashing, aids clearing and can put the yeast to sleep) then racking off the sediment and stabilizing, but even this doesn't always work. Bets to just let it finish really.
 
Thanks :) I won't stop the yeast, but rather just backsweeten it. I won't even bother to get it sparkling, and if I do, I'd rather use co2 than have it ferment in the bottle.

Cheers! :)
 
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Barrel Char Wood Products

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