Sediment in a cyser

I've made a few meads, I decided I'd try to add some apple juice to one. On October 25th, in a plastic bucket I added 1.5qt of apple juice I measured at 1.043, diluted it a bit, then added a solution of water and 42.5oz of honey which I had mixed together and kept at about 185F for 20 minutes, and finally a little acid blend, some yeast energizer, and a campden tablet before putting a lid on it. The final volume was about 1.25 gallons. The next day I added Wyeast's Sweet mead yeast (4184?) and forgot about it for a couple weeks.

I then transferred it to a 1-gallon glass jug with a *little* more yeast nutrient and energizer, leaving behind what I hope was mostly yeast. Now that the liquid is clearing up I'm wondering if I left behind a bunch of honey.

I have some sediment that floats up after rocking the jug a little and I'm wondering, is it mostly honey or mostly yeast. I took this picture a few days ago. I'd like to know if I need to transfer off of this soon or let it ferment out more. Apologies that this is sideways.

Looks like pectin to me, maybe with some yeast mixed in with it. You should be able to rack from under it. It's unsightly, but it won't hurt anything. Was it fresh-pressed juice?
Regards, GF.

gratus fermentatio said:

You should be able to rack from under it.

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This stuff is usually at the bottom. Over the past few days it seems to be sticking there more, even when I rock the carboy for longer. I get the impression that if I shook it the stuff would float up, but I don't want to add a lot of oxygen.

I'm mostly concerned about autolysis if that is mostly yeasts that are going to be dying soon. If that isn't an issue, and no one here recommends I rack off of it, I'm just fine leaving it alone.

Autolysis shouldn't be an issue after only a few weeks, and it's usually more of an issue with beer than wine or cider. I'd say if you're concerned, rack it; if not, leave it be for now. Not exactly a definitive answer, but ultimately it's your decision.
Regards, GF.

Yeast sink to the bottom when they are done, they only float around when they are fermenting, looks like what was said above about it being a big clump of pectin, I have one in a batch of crabapple cyser even bigger, forgot to add pectinase at the start. Why did you cook this to 185, its mead not beer, a pinch of sulfites is so much easier. WVMJ

WVMJ said:

Why did you cook this to 185

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Charlie P says to boil. I've been reading a lot about meadmakers not boiling. I figured that pasteurizing like that was a good middle ground. I also figured that heat would help get everything mixed together.

@fuelish it doesn't look like you have a sig and I'm willing to share this one.

The Complete Guide to Making Mead: The Ingredients, Equipment, Processes, and Recipes for Crafting Honey Wine Paperback – July 30, 2014

This is a better book on making mead, the one you are referring to is a bit dated. A drill mounted stirrer does a good job on honey and doesnt drive off any good honey smells or apple either, plus I like not having to wash a big pot all the time to. WVMJ

are those stirrers narrow enough for 1-gallon jugs? I've heard people talk about using those to degas wine and mead, but I'm concerned they'll mix in some oxygen too.

Relax. Your cyser has keeved. Look up the term "keeving" somewhere on Google or whatever, there's tons of information out there on this phenomenon. It is fairly common in ciders with high calcium content. I believe it consists of proteins and whatever else and is actually a technique in French cidermaking that strips the cider of nutrients, resulting in a naturally sweeter cider that won't dry out so terribly bad like other ciders do. Has something to do with calcium.

interesting: FYI

This reads that kevving has to do with depriving a cider of nutrients, but I added nutrient twice. I guess I'm just not sure what the deal with this is. Either way, it doesn't look like this will be an issue.