Racking to Secondary Question

I started my first mead about two weeks ago with the Wyeast Dry Mead yeast. The OG was very low, about 1.065, which was what the recipe I used said to aim for. Despite the low amount of fermentables (only about 7 pounds of honey and 1.5 pounds of corn sugar in 5 gallons), fermentation has been going strong for two weeks. By "strong" I mean that the airlock has been bubbling every 5-10 seconds, for two weeks. I would like to rack it off the lees, but I don't know if it is a good idea to do that while fermentation is still so active. I know that autolysis doesn't occur until there is very little other food, but I still worry (though I've been medicating with homebrew ).

Any advice would be appreciated!

Any reason for adding sugar to a mead?

Leaving it on the lees until active ferment subides and gravity is stable would be my recommendation. The yeast should actually clean up after itself as fermentation slows. Patience is your friend here...

What is the current gravity?

I like to rack my wines and meads to secondary when the SG is about 1.010 or less, but while it's still fermenting. It gets you off of the gross lees, but there is still plenty of active yeast in suspension.

YooperBrew said:

I like to rack my wines and meads to secondary when the SG is about 1.010 or less, but while it's still fermenting. It gets you off of the gross lees, but there is still plenty of active yeast in suspension.

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Look at my post count and look at Yoopers

listen to HER! I'm just learning...

twohands said:

Look at my post count and look at Yoopers

listen to HER! I'm just learning...

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HAHA! Just because I'm a big blabbermouth doesn't make me right!

I actually started out as a winemaker, though, and make some pretty good wines and meads. With beer, there is less chance of oxidation since the beer is bottled fairly quickly and spends much less time in the fermenter. Also, when you make wine, take a little taste of the lees. I think you'll find it more than a little unpleasant!

There is a technique called "sur lie" which means aging on the lees. That requires stirring up the lees, though, and not just allowing the wine to sit on the lees. I rack whenever I have lees 1/4" thick after 45-60 days, once the wine or mead is out of primary.

YooperBrew said:

Just because I'm a big blabbermouth doesn't make me right!

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Thanks for the advice! As a philosophy major, I spent a lot of time listening to people who had left their mouths open and forgot to stop speaking

That being said, it makes more sense (to me) to rack off the lees, so I will heed the advice. While my instincts tell me to wait for fermentation to become less active, I am more worried about off flavors from the lees.

Thanks again!