Two weeks or six weeks in primary

I've got a batch of mead going right now in the primary. It started off at 1.120 OG and I pitched Wyeast Sweet Mead into it a couple of weeks ago. My issue is that I will be going out of town for about 4 weeks in a few days. So I have the option of leaving it in the primary for 17 days before moving to a secondary, or waiting until I come back which will leave it in the primary for just over 6 weeks.

Thoughts?
Will leaving it in the primary cause any problems?
Is it probably far enough along that moving it over to a secondary is fine?

wait.

patience never hurts mead, but trying to rush it sure will.

in the end, the gravity is what determines when it can be racked. if its not done, don't rack it!

Weeks? More like a couple months. These are things that take time.

Let it go. I left my first mead in primary for four months and secondary for two and wish I had waited longer; had way too much sediment in my bottles.

nothing bad will come of leaving it that long in the primary.

What do you usually do if the primary is not entirely airtight, like a bucket with a semi-tight lid or similar?

I've been racking in such cases to secondary when the fermentation slows down to 1-2 points per day because of the fear of not producing enough CO2 to keep nasties out, but that seems to further slow the final fermentation stages.

smn said:

What do you usually do if the primary is not entirely airtight, like a bucket with a semi-tight lid or similar?

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Well technically NO fermenters are airtight, if they were then probably half our beers would end up on the ceiling. Airlocks are vents or valves, to release EXCESS co2. Many folks just cover their fermenter buckets with a piece of plexiglass letting the co2 push out between where the plexiglass and the bucket meet. Others cover their carboy mouth with tinfoil. Totally ignoring the need for either an airlock OR a bucket cover.

A lot of folks, especially folks with arthritis, barely even put the lid on tight at all, they just lay it on top. again, if co2 is getting out, NOTHING nasty can get in. And that really is all that matters.

Your beer is cushioned by a layer of co2.

I agree w/ everyone...leave it!
My last cyser was actually bottled directly from primary after ~ 4-5 months...was just being lazy, and it was clearing so well, I just left it. It's just as good, if not better than my previous.
Mead is the lazy/busy brewer's friend!!!

Well cleared up then. I guess it stays in the primary until I come back. It's still pretty active so there's no reason to mess up a good thing.

Revvy said:

Well technically NO fermenters are airtight, if they were then probably half our beers would end up on the ceiling. Airlocks are vents or valves, to release EXCESS co2. Many folks just cover their fermenter buckets with a piece of plexiglass letting the co2 push out between where the plexiglass and the bucket meet. Others cover their carboy mouth with tinfoil. Totally ignoring the need for either an airlock OR a bucket cover.

A lot of folks, especially folks with arthritis, barely even put the lid on tight at all, they just lay it on top. again, if co2 is getting out, NOTHING nasty can get in. And that really is all that matters.

Your beer is cushioned by a layer of co2.

Click to expand...

Sure, but that isn't what I was asking. I do ferment with just a lid on my bucket and know about the safety hte CO2 offers to my mead during fermentation.

What I wanted to know is when should the mead be racked to a secondary with an airlock in such a case, when should the ever-slowing fermentation be considered too slow for generating enough CO2 to protect the brew, as the last 10 gravity points of fermenting mead can take several weeks.

With traditional meads, racking before it has finished can frequently lead to sluggish or stuck fermentations as you leave a lot of the active yeast behind unless you stir it all up before racking. Usually I don't rack until it is finished (melomels are often a big exception). However, I don't have fermentations that drag on for months. With proper management of nutrients, aeration, and pH, even my high gravity batches are done within 2-3 weeks. If your fermentations are taking significantly longer than that you may want to re-examine your fermentation management (unless you are doing it in cold temperature - low 50s F - where you expect the fermentation to take much longer).

By having your fermentation complete quickly, the issue of delayed racking goes away.

Since traditional meads are fairly resistant to oxidation (compared to white wines) I wouldn't worry about it staying in a bucket for a few weeks. And just to be precise, with an open fermenter, there isn't a layer of CO2 protecting the mead as air is able to diffuse in and CO2 to diffuse out - the gases won't stay in separate layers. What provides protection is the active yeast which will maintain a reductive environment in the mead and will bind up oxygen as it dissolves into the solution. As long as the yeast are active, you won't have oxidation issues with a traditional mead.