Should I Stabilize?

[MitchSmit]

Recipe:
12.5 lbs honey
4.5 gal. distilled water
nutrients were added during fermentation
D-47 + Bread Yeast

Fermented for about a month and a half, racked into sanitized secondary using sanitized equipment. I took a SG reading as it was racked and I had 1.010 - 1.009. Tastes pretty good, a little on the sweeter side. My question:

Should I be stabilizing the mead while it is in the secondary? This is my second mead other than a JOA I did a year ago and I have never done it before. I'm not that concerned with it finishing ASAP, but the thought of infections worry me. Any issues with just leaving it as is and aging without stabilizing? I have very little head-space in the secondary. There is a yeast ring on the top of the neck as well as some yeasty-looking spots on the top slanted part of the carboy so I think there is definitely some yeasties still in there from the rack.
Thanks,

 

[fatbloke]

Once you're happy that the ferment is complete and won't go any further, then if there's any residual sugars and the possibility of fermentation within the tolerance, you should stabilise.

Even when the mead is completely clear, unless you've "sterile" filtered, the possibility of refermentation exists and the possibilty of bottle bombs.......

 

[MitchSmit]

Ah Gotcha. It seemed to me that most of the posts I was reading folks were stabilizing right away into the secondary without letting it continue to ferment after racking. I suppose I could have achieved this by letting the mead sit in the primary for a longer duration until it was completely done but I think it will turn out. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[fatbloke]

You'll find that a lot of us just complete the ferment in primary, then just rack it off the gross lees into secondary. Then the clearing and any other mods are done there. Because in a glass secondary you can see whats going on etc...

 

[Kelvin]

Depends on the yeast and the sugars.... I think math is more important than anything. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Do the math first. When it reaches the stage that the yeast will do nothing more then give it another month and then bottle. That's just me. I've never had any explosions. I never have and never will put anything else in my mead or beer (beer doesn't matter as much). I think it you follow your recipe and yeast to a T then you'll get the desired results without having to resort to sulfites or whatever. That being said, Fat Bloke and others on here are much more experienced than I am. I am just giving you my own opinion from my own experiences. Take it for what it is.

 

[Medsen Fey]

Depends on the yeast and the sugars.... I think math is more important than anything.

Math and temperature. If you ferment and age nice and cool, and bottle it up and let it warm up to 80°F you could be in for a surprise.

In this case, the big question is what is the final gravity here?

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[MitchSmit]

Well, I did not take an O.G. when I started the batch (mistake) so I am unsure where it started, but when racking it was at 1.010 - 1.009. It has been about 10 days now since the rack and I am pretty sure it's still a little active (theres a yeast ring at the top of the neck and the airlock has fluctuated slightly). I will be taking more consistent S.G. reading as time passes when I know activity has slowed to a near stop. Again not really in a rush to bottle, just wanted to know the pitfalls, if any, for not adding anything to batch to assist in preserving (Sulfites). It feremented for about a month and a half before the rack. Thanks,

 

[Medsen Fey]

Well, the answer to you question can be determined by the final gravity. If it is above 1.000, you'll be wise to stabilize.

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