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question about my secondary

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Ablemedic49

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Jul 2, 2016
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Hello all,

This is a follow up to the thread "question about my spices"

So I decided to crack the lid, its been about 2 weeks. I made a horrid mistake of siphoning to the carboy before getting a gravity. Also the siphon was somewhat poor, it bubbled at times going into the carboy.

To bring you up to speed.

It was a gallon batch, in a plastic fermentor, and I was worries about keeping it in the primary too long because of it being plastic and all the talk about getting it off the lees. Well, my siphon was also poor because I missed about a quart of mead off the lees because it started to mix when I tipped it. So not only did I possibly introduce oxygen but I have about a quarts worth of headspace in a gallon fermentor.

Well anyways, I did manage to get a gravity before airlocking it and putting it away, it was 1.020, so its about 91% attenuated from OG 1.118. My concern is that since I moved it from primary to secondary, is it going to finish? And if I oxydized it.. Oh and also I tasted it, first wiff when I opened the lid was slightly volatile, and the taste was sweet, spicy/tart and hot from the alcohol. Should I be concerned? Or will keeping it in the secondary for a few months and maybe racking a few more times do the trick to mellow this beast out?
 
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Squatchy

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Nov 3, 2014
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Mead is very resilient. Add that to some aging time and you should be ok. Don't worry about oxidation it's more myth than anything. You would have to try hard top mess it up that way. I probably wouldn't rack it until it's mostly clear. That way you won't continue to lose volume with unnecessary racking.


When you just racked it you removed it from most of the yeast. It may or may not continue forward. If it does it will be slow and probably not to dry. Why did you rack it so soon anyway?
 
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Ablemedic49

NewBee
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Jul 2, 2016
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Not sure what I was thinking, used to brewing beer and getting it too the secondary pretty much after all the vigorous stuff is done. That and I was concerned about the flavor funkning up leaving it in a plastic primary too long. The airlock is still bubbling in the new vessel, hopefully it finishes, I don't mind if its sweet, as long as its not too overpowering. I think I will be happy if I can at least get the yeast to drop it another 10 points to 1.010 FG. Obviously 0 is what I'm shooting for but I can live with bottling at 1.010 and having a sweet mead to age in bottles for a few months. Thoughts?
 
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Squatchy

Lifetime GotMead Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Nov 3, 2014
5,542
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I don't have any idea of the protocol you used and no idea of the yeast you picked. If done right you can make yeast beat it's cataloged tolerance level almost every time now days. If done poorly many have stalled ferments and short finishers with lots of problems.

You could also fortify it with something. The higher ABV would cause it to not seem so sweet if you feel it is. 1010 is semi sweet and a couple points less is off dry. I think that's probably where most find it enjoyable anyway. :)

I just ran over to your "spices thread" We don't advise adding acid up front ever. That pushes it way to close to the place that too much acidity can cause your yeast to stop fermenting. Add it later, if at all. Most (of my batches at least) need almost no acid additions other than some occasional zest to brighten things up some.Also, it's pretty hard to know what's up if you're trying to decide about your spice profile if your mead is still green and/or full of yeast still in suspension. Especially if you continue to use the nutrients you are using. Those particular nutrients take a while before you can get an honest evaluation of how things taste. Where as, if you use Go-ferm and Fermaid-O it becomes very drinkable in just a couple months if you also monitor/control your temps.
 
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HeidrunsGift

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Feb 1, 2016
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"If done right you can make yeast beat it's cataloged tolerance level almost every time now days."

Squatchy, aerating is one of the methods I'm still trying to perfect regarding having mead done absolutely right to beat advertised ABV levels. Currently I use red O2 bottles from hardware stores with the brass adapter (that you can buy from brew stores but does not tell you how much O2 is going in). I leave it on with bubbles for about 2 minutes, but am not sure if this is hitting way less or way more of desired 14-15 ppm. Is that what you use, and if not, do you use an actual O2 tank with a psi regulator (to get exact amounts)? If so, and you dont mind, could you share where we could buy one at?

Sorry this a bit divergent from original thread topic, but certainly an important topic for Ablemedic49 and us all in future mead endeavors. Thanks!
 
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