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Bucket to Carboy

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monkerz

NewBee
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Nov 8, 2017
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First off I want to say this is a great forum to gather knowledge. Thanks.

I have been making wine for a few years now and just learned about Mead. I started my first Cyser batch 4 days ago in a 5 gallon bucket. Do I wait 7 days like wine prior to moving over to a 5 gallon carboy? Also I have read many posts and watched lots of videos and I do not see anyone degassing. Is this not necessary with Mead?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 

bernardsmith

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Sep 1, 2013
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Hi Monkerz - and welcome. Fermentation really does not operate to a clock or calendar. You really want to rack from a bucket (or from your primary fermenter) to a secondary fermenter - usually a carboy sealed with bung and an airlock when the active fermentation is ending. To determine that point you need an hydrometer and not a calendar. Depending on all kinds of variables that period can last from 3 days to 3 months (OK perhaps that is a little bit of an exaggeration, but not much). You might want to transfer (rack) your cyser when the gravity drops to around 1.005 - 1.010.
Degassing? I think that most seasoned mead makers try to remove the CO2 the yeast produce a couple of times a day. Honey cannot buffer acidity very well and during fermentation acidity can rise so high that the fermentation can stall. The presence of CO2 increases the possibility of that problem and so much gas can be produced that it exerts a great deal of pressure on the yeast. This may be less of a problem when you are fermenting very small batches but it can nevertheless be a cause of stress to the yeast.
Hope this helps.
 

monkerz

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 8, 2017
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That helped a lot. One last question. Do I introduce new oxygen and stir or should I shake the Carboy really good ?
 

Squatchy

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Nov 3, 2014
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That helped a lot. One last question. Do I introduce new oxygen and stir or should I shake the Carboy really good ?

For the first week or so you want to stir hard enough to create a vortex so it introduces O2 into the must. After that you stir less aggressively so as to only release the Co2 from suspension in the must.
 
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