I tend to rack for the last time while there is still a slight, but noticeable, fermentation going on... a blip or two every 5 minutes. This way I can be sure it is still producing a blanket of CO2 to protect my mead in it's final aging vessel. The relatively small amount of lees it generates... usually just wisps of yeast (new brewing term?), I'm not overly concerned about. In the final vessel I let the Mead clear/age as long as possible before bottling. Now that I have Bottled CO2 and Kegs... I no longer need to rack before it stops fermenting. I'm trying to move to yeasts that are lees aging friendly so that I can just let them sit and clear before transferring to a keg for aging.
Wrathwilde
Wrathwilde
