First batch--To rack or not to rack?

I have my first 3 gallons of mead fermenting. I used about 7 lbs honey 3 or 4 cups fresh OJ and spices and a liquid mead yeast. Fermentation has been steady with bubbles every few seconds and quite a bit of turb dropped. Now for the stupid questions. Should I rack it off the turb, many recipes I have seen dont mention racking at all. Will adding nutes speed up fermantaion alot? How long before its drinkable, I'm a bit impatient.

zadig39 said:

...Should I rack it off the turb, many recipes I have seen dont mention racking at all...

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Have you read the mead FAQs? The one on "Making a Basic Mead" addresses that issue as well as others. Shorter answer - I don't typically rack until the primary fermentation has ended (the actual SG will vary based on the recipe).

A term clarification. Making beer, its trub. With wine, mead, & cider it's known as lees. BTW, what are "nutes"

Lastly, impatience and mead generally spell disaster...

Nutes are yeast nutrient.

Definitely wait until primary fermentation has stopped, or at least slowed.

Thanks for clarification. I am very much a noob and will be butchering more terminology in the future. Are there any natural nutrients that may help the fermentation along.

If it's bubbling that way there's nothing to help, it's doing great.
You might start a batch of JAOM while you're waiting. It'll be drinkable before this one.

zadig39 said:

Thanks for clarification. I am very much a noob and will be butchering more terminology in the future. Are there any natural nutrients that may help the fermentation along.

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First, understand that honey is a barren desert when it comes to nutrients - especially yeast available nitrogen (YAN).

The only natural nutrient sources that I can think of are juices: apple, grape, etc. But if you use them, you won't be making a traditional mead...