Noob to brewing... 1 week brewing, ready to rack?

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JustinG60

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So today its been exactly a week in the original tub, this morning the air lock was bubbling once every about 3 seconds. At about 3pthe air lock was already down to about once every 30 seconds. Is it already about ready to rack into a carboy?

Its a crazy basic recipe just to get the gist of things. 5 gal total, 15lbs of honey, water and Lavlin D47. Oh I forgot what nutrient I used but if it is pertinent I can get it out and check.


...basically 1. week give a day or 2 seems awful early for racking..?
 
Measure the gravity. If it measures the same 48 hours apart you are ready to rack and bottle. If the fermentation temperature is warm and you aerated well and you pitched enough yeast then 1 week would be pretty normal for fermentation completion. Even if two out of three were true I wouldn't be surprised. Many people will let it age for several more weeks after it has reached final gravity.
 
Measure the gravity. If it measures the same 48 hours apart you are ready to rack and bottle. If the fermentation temperature is warm and you aerated well and you pitched enough yeast then 1 week would be pretty normal for fermentation completion. Even if two out of three were true I wouldn't be surprised. Many people will let it age for several more weeks after it has reached final gravity.

I would NOT even consider bottling at this point. That's WAY too early- it's probably not even finished and certainly not clear.

Go ahead and rack to secondary if the SG is under 1.020 or so, and top up. Once you have lees 1/4" thick or so, rack again (generally in about 60 days). Then it should start to clear nicely for you!
 
Yooper said:
I would NOT even consider bottling at this point. That's WAY too early- it's probably not even finished and certainly not clear.

Go ahead and rack to secondary if the SG is under 1.020 or so, and top up. Once you have lees 1/4" thick or so, rack again (generally in about 60 days). Then it should start to clear nicely for you!

I'm new to making mead and it's posts like this that have really been helping me out. Thanks a lot Yooper!
 
Thanks for the responses! I def did not intend to bottle for quite some time yet...

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But upon resealing the air lock began to bubble approx once every 6 seconds which is a lot more frequent than the once every 30 I had prior to putting a hydrometer to it. Thanks again for the responses, figure better to ask than assume. Everyone is new to something at some point...
 
Hopefully not being too bi of a pain here... I expected to rack tomorrow so 2 days ago I put a hydrometer to it and got 1.03. I sealed it back up and checked and again got a reading of 1.030. Seems a little high to be finished, or so I have read. Is this bad? Or wrong? Finished and ready to put into a carboy?
 
Haha I appreciate all of the information.I guess this is what happens when you just do a lot of reading with no experience. I'll gladly let it sit another 2 weeks if need be. Should i be mindful of what the air lock is doing in addition? I assumed there was a correlation to it...
 
Too soon....patience young Jedi!

What is the FG for the recipe supposed to be?


I leave most of my beer in primary fermenter 3 weeks minimum (as do a lot of guys/gals on here).......I do not secondary very often......let the yeast do their thing......1.030 definately not finished yet. Let it go 3 weeks then check it again. (There is no harm in this...lets the yeast clean up the beer real nice)

If you really want to secondary it then maybe check it after 2 weeks....but it really is NOT necessary to secondary. The more you keep opening it to take samples...and transferring to secondary, etc...the more you risk infection.

Be patient and give it 2 more weeks then check it....it will probably be finished...then you can rack and bottle......

Now...you will want to let it go at least 3 weeks in bottle for carbonation / conditioning at 70-72 degrees F.

If you have any questions on bottling, etc...actually....just make sure to post when you are close to bottling so we can walk you through that.....or with any other questions in meantime.

BTW>...not a pain ....you should have seen me on here when I first started....talk about a pain....actually still a pain I think....:D

Um, this is the MEAD forum. "Secondary" absolutely is crucial. There isn't any "three weeks for bottle carbonation" either. There isn't "yeast clean up" to consider, either.

If it's slow at 1.030, think about adding some nutrients. It's really important, especially if you haven't been doing it all along.

You can dissolve some nutrients in some water, and stir it in. That will help. Degas when you stir, to get rid of some of the co2 that may be slowing the fermentation. You probably don't want to rack to a carboy quite yet, but you may have to if it doesn't get started again in a day or two.
 
My first batch is almost a month old and it's still fermenting nicely. Simple batch like you have. I"m thinking 6+ weeks before it goes from one carboy to the next. But ONLY if it's completed fermenting. I don't see it going in a bottle for 2 more months.

One thing about mead is it takes lotsa time to get were it needs to be.
 
JustinG60 said:
Hopefully not being too bi of a pain here... I expected to rack tomorrow so 2 days ago I put a hydrometer to it and got 1.03. I sealed it back up and checked and again got a reading of 1.030. Seems a little high to be finished, or so I have read. Is this bad? Or wrong? Finished and ready to put into a carboy?

You can transfer from primary (which I NEVER) apply an airlock to when making mead/wine, and when OG has dropped by 2/3 I transfer to carboy and apply airlock. I never use airlock activity as a monitor because I have had some yeasts that simply do not cause a lot of activity. Plus mead as compared to wine can take a bit longer to hit the end of fermentation. I really do not worry about it because I know I will be bulk aging. If I have a high gravity OG, greater than 1.110, I never use all that fermentable up front since it simply stresses the yeast out. The honey is fed in planned increments. If I want to know what is going on I use my hydrometer. No issues in three years.
 
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