It keeps going!

I started my first mead on April 28th. I racked to a secondary on May 28th and was disappointed at the sweetness it retained. I used Wyeast Dry Mead yeast and it wasn't really all that dry.

So the other day I'm in the basement checking out my current batches, and I notice a bubble in the mead carboy. I'm still getting bubbles every now and then. Great! It's still fermenting and it won't end so sweet!

Question is, how long will it ferment before it's done? Should I rack again in another month or two?

Meads can take a year to completely ferment. Great Mead Experiment

david_42 said:

Meads can take a year to completely ferment. Great Mead Experiment

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Right. The question is, how long should I allow it to stay in a vessel, and how many times should I rack before it's ready to bottle?

Seeing as how it will take a year+, I'm probably going to start on another one soon so that I have mead more than once a year. An excess will allow me to lay down a couple of bottles for the future.

I'm sure you know the answer to your question- you can't bottle it until it's done. Otherwise, you end up with a bottle bomb or sparkling mead (if the co2 reabsorbs into the mead). You should rack whenever you have lees on a regular basis- like every 45 days, if you have lees- you should rack. When you have no more activity and no more lees, then you can bottle.

I've heard that patience is a virtue, but I don't know that from experience....


Lorena

If I remember correctly, some samples bombed after waiting ten months to bottle. I would wait until the gravity is below 1.005

david_42 said:

Meads can take a year to completely ferment.

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And then you could/should age it for at least a year. I've got some mead in my brew room that has been in the bottle for about 3 1/2 - 4 years, and it is just starting to get really good.