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Straydogs · 02-18-2012, 08:52 PM

Exactly two weeks ago i started my firest mead, its a one gallon batch. Today i racked to a clean carboy and took a gravity reading of 1.070 . I had a small taste, it was sweet but damn good.

**biochemedic** · 02-18-2012, 09:14 PM

Sounds odd to have a gravity of 1.070 at racking, and 2 weeks is, generally speaking, a little early to be racking a mead from primary. If you could provide some additional details, it might make more sense...

Straydogs · 02-18-2012, 10:15 PM

The reciepe i am following calls for it to be racked to a secondary after two weeks. Though it doesnt detail any info about gravity readings, i took one while i was racking just to see.

**biochemedic** · 02-19-2012, 12:37 AM

I can understand where you're coming from following a recipe...The problem with following a random timeline like that is that it doesn't take into account the actual mead you're brewing. Generally, primary is for fermentation, and secondary is for aging/clarifying. There's really no benefit to transferring until you've reached final gravity, and at that, I usually wait until the mead is mostly cleared before transferring if I do it at all (I sometimes bottle right from primary if it's fully cleared.)

If you transfer before fermentation is complete, you will really reduce the amount of yeast that is actually working the mead, and even if you're not actually dropping gravity, it doesn't mean the yeast isn't doing stuff...there is still a lot of metabolism going on, clearing up byproducts of fermentation that can improve the mead. There's something to be said about some additional time in primary, for both beer and mead.

What was your recipe, OG, yeast strain?

Straydogs · 02-19-2012, 12:53 AM

The reciepe if from Stormthecastle.com, instead of gravity readings it states to rack based on airlock activity. I understand this is not the best method, but i am trying different reciepes to better understand the entire process. I did not have a SG because at the time of making it i did not have a hydrometer. This is the first of many, and i picked a very simple reciepe.

**biochemedic** · 02-19-2012, 01:00 AM

Well, RDWHAHB...keep experimenting, and I agree - try different things. You'll nail down a process that works for you. Keep reading and the best practices will slowly reveal themselves. I'd like to think I've kept an open mind and can say for sure that I've changed my practices in many ways over time based on new info/evidence, and my brews are better now because of it.

Straydogs · 02-19-2012, 01:06 AM

I do appreciate the input, as i am new to mead and wine making i want to experiment as much as i can.