sediment on bottom

I brewed my first batch of mead, its been fermenting for 2 weeks today, and I've notices about a half inch of white sediment on the bottom.

I was wondering if its like beer where you want to avoid getting any of that when you rack it into your second carboy, or are you supposed to let that come through.

Don't let it come through.

Leave that crap behind...but not for a few more weeks.

If you do pick a bit of it up...no worries...that's what a secondary is for.

Also unlike beer, you might rack a mead or a wine multiple times over a long time, so each time you will leave a bit more behind...

thanks guys.

just wondering, what exactly is that sediment made up of?

I'm sure someone has a book and can nail the answer for you but in general it's a collection of flocculated yeast that have fallen out of suspension. It also has your general proteins and other particles that are settling out.

You'll be amazed that even after many months how much lees a mead can drop out. I've bottled mead that aged in a carboy for over a year throw lees in my bottles and I swore it was crystal clear when I bottled it.

and to summarize the crap on the bottom is the nasties that you dont want to keep. but again if you pick some up no problem it wont hurt you just like it wont in an unfiltered beer.

well, it's been fermenting for 4 weeks now and hasn't died down much.

should I rack?

and when i do rack, do i continue to use my airlock for further fermentation, or should I add some kind of wine conditioner to kill the yeast.

just let her go! Meade takes time.

dont think about racking until you have about 3 readings, one taken every 3-4 days, that are the same then goto secondary...

movement said:

well, it's been fermenting for 4 weeks now and hasn't died down much.

should I rack?

and when i do rack, do i continue to use my airlock for further fermentation, or should I add some kind of wine conditioner to kill the yeast.

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Depending on what you're wanting for your end product & what strain of yeast you're using, I'd say wait. Don't rack untill the fermentation slows SIGNIFICANTLY. Then rack, but you might want to pick up just a wee touch of the lees (sediment) to keep a healthy fermentation going. Most wine yeasts are bottom fermenters, meaning that your sediment is part living yeast & part dead yeast & other non-fermentables. My 1st batch of mead just up & quit fermenting after the 1st rack, after some research I discovered that all you need is a little bit, just about a spoonful to keep it going in secondary; after a few more months in secondary, I racked a 3rd & final time, this time leaving ALL sediment behind... It turned out to be rather tasty a year later. That's my 2 cents worth, hope you find this information useful. Regards, GF.

4 weeks is NOTING in the life of a mead. If you get to 4 months and it's still going....We'll talk again.

I would NOT rack until gravity has all but stabilized. If you rack a mead off of a healthy yeast cake, you are just asking for stressed yeast to give off flavors.

ohh wow that long on just the primary fermentation, thats crazy, yeah it hasn't slowed significantly just i figure if i rack it it will be nice and fresh having less sediment to clear up even some more, but now that you mention it im just going to wait until it fully kicks out, then rack it for a week or 2 let it clear up real nice then bottle it. going to start recording the gravity now.

secondary will be measured in months as well, not weeks. sorry but this will take time.

Hey all,

This is NOT the same batch of mead i have been talking about in this thread, this one is different.

I made it 3 days ago and the honey has went directly to the bottom and hasnt dissolved even a little bit.




is that going to dissolve, or should i give it a little shake?

the recipe is the Winter Mead I found on this forum.

ohh listen thanks for all the advice and help here, this forum is really great, once my cards are cleared up(week or 2) I will donate to the site.

Oh it'll dissolve. Just give it time. I've done honey additions and the thick honey will be gone in a few weeks. I like to think that it's better for the yeasts that way, that way they're not overwhelmed with sugars.

I always have that happen... I dunno about a few weeks. but it will disolve eventually

alright, cool, for a second i thought it was because i used pathmark brand honey.

I just realized, that out of stupidity I used my secondary carboy for another batch of mead.

would it be cool if I siphoned the mead into a bucket, cover it for a few minutes while i clean out the primary carboy and then re-rack it?

or would the double siphoning disturb it too much?

As long as you are careful in your racking, then that is perfectly fine. Just don't stir the sediment much.

I have 5 1 gal jugs and one 6 gal. carboy, so I use every one of them at the same time, and have a bucket specifically for racking and bottling. Works fine

Tusch said:

As long as you are careful in your racking, then that is perfectly fine. Just don't stir the sediment much.

I have 5 1 gal jugs and one 6 gal. carboy, so I use every one of them at the same time, and have a bucket specifically for racking and bottling. Works fine

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I hate to admit, I have plenty of 6 gallon carboys, plenty of 5's, enough 3 gallon carboys to build a wall, but for 1 gallon batches, I'm doomed to this same chore.

Just be careful not to get too excited and be tempted to POUR your drink back into the cleaned carboy.

I want some 3 gallon carbys

Right right, meant to imply be careful racking both too and from the bucket.