I've made a couple of small gallon batches of mead, which have turned out alright, and I'm on a third that I'm afraid I may have messed up.
Basically, after racking into seconday I noticed that there wasn't any bubbling like there had been after I racked the previous batch. I was afraid I may have killed fermentation. I was also worried about the head space, so I added some boiled water and repitched a small amount of Red Star Cote de Blanc. I hoped the new yeast would fill the reduced head-space with gas and keep it from getting too much oxygen. Well, a bit of bubbling ensued, and at first I was pleased. Now however, I have another layer of lees about 1/8 of an inch on the bottom of the gallon jug, and also a very small ring of white around the top of the mead. Will I have to rack again?
Basically, after racking into seconday I noticed that there wasn't any bubbling like there had been after I racked the previous batch. I was afraid I may have killed fermentation. I was also worried about the head space, so I added some boiled water and repitched a small amount of Red Star Cote de Blanc. I hoped the new yeast would fill the reduced head-space with gas and keep it from getting too much oxygen. Well, a bit of bubbling ensued, and at first I was pleased. Now however, I have another layer of lees about 1/8 of an inch on the bottom of the gallon jug, and also a very small ring of white around the top of the mead. Will I have to rack again?