From my perspective racking from primary is done when the fermentation is done. Time frames are great, but they don't always apply. Let the fermentation come to a stop, or slow down to less than one blip a minute.
I don't use the lees as a determining factor in racking. I let the fermentation stop, and if the lees are 1/2 inch high, that's fine. The lees are a function on the vigor, virulence, and verve of the yeast, along with the amount of sugar to be converted, the temperature, the pH, acid, ya de da de da . . . ad nauseum.
There have been times that I am very interested in leaving the mead on the lees. I have done so in some cases for close to two years, and the mead was very well balanced and had no off-flavors. I have about 35 friends and relatives who can attest to that, and who are still haranguing me to do it again. My problem is, I don’t let it sit around that long.
As far as aging goes, that’s really up to you. I check the flavor weekly, and now I do to gravity readings to see where it is. When it’s ready to stop, in to the refrigerator it goes. I don’t stick to a time schedule on how long it takes, because in my experience there are so many variables involved. I have noticed that certain honeys tend to mellow quicker than others.
My friends had a few (six) bottles of stuff I made in 1994 so we popped a few bottles open over the weekend, and it was astonishing how good it was. I told Joe Mattioli in an email that I thought it was about 8 years old. I expected my Naughty Nymph labels, but the were actually older, and closer to 11 years. They were bottle capped, and had my old labels on them, here’s a link to the post with a link to the lables:
http://gotmead.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=equipment;action=display;num=1087420558;start=9#9
At that time when I was making mead I was using strictly Cornelius kegs and blow off tubes, so measuring the lees was a complete non factor.
In the early eighties I was using demi-johns that my dad and uncles had left over from wine making, but they were such a hassle that I switched to corny kegs, and it forced me to get my own techniques down. Now I’m using carboys and it’s different. It’s more visual, but the best stuff I’ve made has been in kegs with no view of what was going on.
Cheers,
Oskaar