Oxygenating Must Too Late?

Hello!

I'm on my third mead: a standard medium-sweet black sage mead, based heavily off Ken Schramm's "Medium" Recipe in the Compleat Meadmaker.

Original Gravity was 1.094: it's now hovering at about 1.023, after 8 days of fermentation.

Up until the third sugar break, I stirred, oxygenated with 0.5 micron stone for 2 mins, and adjusted the pH to ~3.5. Then I left it alone for a few days.

Today, I checked and adjusted the pH, stirred the must/mead, and then, without thinking, I oxygenated it for 1-2 minutes. I checked the gravity after doing this, and realized that the mead was much further along in its fermentation than I had originally thought.

Will the ~1-2 minutes of O2 this late in fermentation cause problems with oxidation/off flavors? I did some research, and have found that people generally stop oxygenation after 1/3 break, to prevent oxidation of the fermenting must. I had always thought oxidation to be a post-fermentation issue, but you learn something new everyday.

How bad should I expect this to be? I've already lost a mead due to oxidation, and I'd hate to think I've done it again. =(

I'd be very grateful for any thoughts.

Thanks!

Thank you very much, Medsen and fatbloke, for your reassuring advice.

Cheers!

Actually, Black Sage is the floral source for this varietal honey. It's a mild, medium-light honey with just a bit of noticeable sage flavor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_mellifera

I'm planning to use pineapple sage blossoms and foliage in the secondary later on as a flavoring.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_sage

S. elegans has a wonderfully light floral-pineapple aroma, but it is much milder than most other sages: it doesn't hold up as well to cooking, but it makes truly amazing iced tea. I'm thinking that at least a large spray of flowers per gallon of mead will be necessary to get the aroma I want, but I really have no idea of dosage with this sage variety. I'll let you know how it goes!

Chevette Girl said:

Sage mead, did you say? I'm insterested in how much sage you used, whether it was fresh or dry, and how it tastes? I made a sage mead a while back and the early tastings said it really really needed to mellow a bit but later tastings have said it's mellowing nicely.

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