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04-13-2012, 05:32 PM
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Larva
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 53
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To Rack or Not To Rack - that is the question
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
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04-13-2012, 05:39 PM
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Larva
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Salem, OR
Posts: 178
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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! 
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All the world's a nail to a child with a hammer.
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04-13-2012, 05:39 PM
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General Idiot.....
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK - South Coast.
Posts: 2,181
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Honey
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
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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.....
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and don't forget
What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away! Tom Waits.....
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04-13-2012, 05:53 PM
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Virgin Queen
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 1,228
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HunnyBunz
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! |
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.
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" ...no sense hauling empty carboys around when full ones take up just as much space. " -TheFlyingBeer (on HomeBrewTalk)
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04-13-2012, 08:49 PM
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Larva
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 53
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[quote=HunnyBunz;189130]...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
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04-13-2012, 09:53 PM
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Larva
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Salem, OR
Posts: 178
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Honey
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
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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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All the world's a nail to a child with a hammer.
Last edited by HunnyBunz; 04-13-2012 at 10:00 PM.
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04-13-2012, 10:05 PM
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Worker Bee
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Missouri
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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.
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Angry Viking Hedgehog say "Give me mead or I poke ya!"
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04-15-2012, 01:46 AM
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Larva
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Salem, OR
Posts: 178
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Soyala_Amaya
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.
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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.
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All the world's a nail to a child with a hammer.
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04-16-2012, 02:34 AM
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Crazy Martian Cat
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: On one of 7000+ islands in the Pacific
Posts: 532
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Honey
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
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You did a JAOM with cacao nibs? What's your recipe? It's now gotten me awfully curious...
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"The single biggest threat to our planet is the destruction of habitat and along the way the loss of precious wildlife. We need to reach a balance where people, habitat and wildlife can co-exist -- if we don't, everyone loses...one day...Since when has killing a wild animal, eating it or wearing it, ever saved a species?" - Stephen Robert Irwin (1962 - 2006)
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04-16-2012, 01:03 PM
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Verbose Intermeadiot
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Ottawa, ON
Posts: 6,323
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Quote:
Originally Posted by THawk
You did a JAOM with cacao nibs? What's your recipe? It's now gotten me awfully curious...
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Me too, that's on my to-brew list but I haven't procured nibs yet...
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"The main ingredient needed is 'time' followed closely by 'patience'." - The Bishop 2013
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