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To Rack or Not To Rack - that is the question

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Honey

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 31, 2012
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I started a Joe's 2 weeks ago, but I added cacao nibs. It is doing great and still bubbling (so I am guessing still fermenting - has a balloon on top). It's getting a lot of fallout on the bottom and I am tempted to rack it (especially as I want to try out all my new racking and siphoning and airlocks and carboy stuff, lol). Will it hurt it to rack whilst still fermenting?

Honey
 
If you rack before the ferment is complete (or mostly complete) it can stall the fermentation. So, it's best to be patient, and if you're following the JAO recipe from this forum (if you used bread yeast) it's not going to hurt to leave it alone for a couple months and rack it then. Plus you'll be giving more time to allow those cocoa nibs to infuse some flavor.

P.S. I bet TAKeyeser posts before I do! :)
 
Honey said:
I started a Joe's 2 weeks ago, but I added cacao nibs. It is doing great and still bubbling (so I am guessing still fermenting - has a balloon on top). It's getting a lot of fallout on the bottom and I am tempted to rack it (especially as I want to try out all my new racking and siphoning and airlocks and carboy stuff, lol). Will it hurt it to rack whilst still fermenting?

Honey
Click to expand...
Irrespective of whether you've varied the ingredients in the batch, if it's made to the JAO method/technique, then leave it alone till it's done.....
 
HunnyBunz said:
If you rack before the ferment is complete (or mostly complete) it can stall the fermentation. So, it's best to be patient, and if you're following the JAO recipe from this forum (if you used bread yeast) it's not going to hurt to leave it alone for a couple months and rack it then. Plus you'll be giving more time to allow those cocoa nibs to infuse some flavor.

P.S. I bet TAKeyeser posts before I do! :)
Click to expand...

You beat me to posting :)

I agree with the advice though. Let it finish and you'll be happy you did. Time is Your Friend when it comes to mead making.
 
HunnyBunz said:
...and if you're following the JAO recipe from this forum (if you used bread yeast) it's not going to hurt to leave it alone for a couple months...

I am inferring from this that if I had used another type of yeast it would not be so good to just leave it? (I'm lost on yeast types, lol)... why would it make a diff had I used wine yeast (assuming it actually WOULD make a diff??)? And yes, I'll leave it alone (alas, I'll just have to start a new batch to use my new toys, lol).

Honey
Click to expand...
 
Honey said:
I am inferring from this that if I had used another type of yeast it would not be so good to just leave it? (I'm lost on yeast types, lol)... why would it make a diff had I used wine yeast (assuming it actually WOULD make a diff??)? And yes, I'll leave it alone (alas, I'll just have to start a new batch to use my new toys, lol).

Honey
Click to expand...

Some wine yeasts are fine for aging on the lees, others - not so much. Lalvin 71B-1122 for example will start getting stinky at about 6 weeks. Others I've heard mixed reports on. Bread yeast usually does not impart any off flavors, I think partly because it has a low alcohol tolerance, and it is used in the JAO recipe with those points in mind.

I'm still learning about the different strains of yeast myself, but you can learn a lot just by following all the advice given in these forums. Many of the people here are very experienced and very generous with sharing their knowledge.
You might try doing a search on lees aging to get more information.
 
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I don't know about low alcohol tolerances, but I just took two JAOV into secondary yesterday that should be between 14-15%. I had 15lbs of honey in one meth that went to 1.005, and 15lbs of honey+1 gal of fruit juice in another that went a point lower. I think bread yeast might really shock everyone on how tolerant it truly is.
 
Soyala_Amaya said:
I don't know about low alcohol tolerances, but I just took two JAOV into secondary yesterday that should be between 14-15%. I had 15lbs of honey in one meth that went to 1.005, and 15lbs of honey+1 gal of fruit juice in another that went a point lower. I think bread yeast might really shock everyone on how tolerant it truly is.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know that others have said that with proper fermentation management (which the JAO doesn't require) bread yeast would be able to last longer and produce a higher ABV mead.
I should have just said that following the JAO instructions would produce a lower alcohol content, rather than referring to the alcohol tolerance.
 
Honey said:
I started a Joe's 2 weeks ago, but I added cacao nibs. It is doing great and still bubbling (so I am guessing still fermenting - has a balloon on top). It's getting a lot of fallout on the bottom and I am tempted to rack it (especially as I want to try out all my new racking and siphoning and airlocks and carboy stuff, lol). Will it hurt it to rack whilst still fermenting?

Honey
Click to expand...

You did a JAOM with cacao nibs? What's your recipe? It's now gotten me awfully curious...
 
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