My very first Mead, need some advice

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Dtkubitski

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So I started on 6/5/16 with a sweet mead (1 gallon) recipe and the thing is still bubbling away! Been 20 days and has only slowed to 1 bubble every 20-25 seconds. I used D47 and 5 lbs Wildflower honey (probably way too much thinking back on it), sg 1.130, 6/12/16 gravity was down to 1.065. I haven't taken a measurement since but that puts it about 8.5%.

I don't mind if it gets up there with the alcohol but not sure if I'm doing this right. Should I let it just bubble away? I am seeing some loss of liquid, very minor but I can see the rings on the carboy.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!
 
Just let it go and do its thing. You might end up at 1.020. To me thats pretty sweet.
 
So I started on 6/5/16 with a sweet mead (1 gallon) recipe and the thing is still bubbling away! Been 20 days and has only slowed to 1 bubble every 20-25 seconds. I used D47 and 5 lbs Wildflower honey (probably way too much thinking back on it), sg 1.130, 6/12/16 gravity was down to 1.065. I haven't taken a measurement since but that puts it about 8.5%.

I don't mind if it gets up there with the alcohol but not sure if I'm doing this right. Should I let it just bubble away? I am seeing some loss of liquid, very minor but I can see the rings on the carboy.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Nope, you seem to be on target. The rule of thumb is 3-4 lbs. of honey per gallon for a dry mead. 5 lbs. is not unusual and people generally prefer their mead to have a bit of sweet flavor.
The rings sound like they could be from when the yeast first started to bubble. Taking a before/ during/ after picture helps. We all believe we take good notes, but there is always one thing we forget to write down or think, 'I'll remember that.'
They could also be from evaporation. Does the sun hit the jug? Is the airlock on securely? These are small points and easily corrected. Keeping the jug in a cool, semi-shady corner won't hurt the mead. If you are truly concerned about losing water, it's okay to top it off with a little water.
Remember this is an exercise in patience. You're only a few weeks in, let the yeast do it's thing for at least another month.
Transfer it to another container when two things happen: when the reading is 1.0 or less, and when the airlock has stopped bubbling entirely.
 
Your fine to let it go. You could stop fermentation when ever you feel its reached the ABV you desire as well. I've have some dry meads ferment for 3-4 months, and I've seen others a bit longer. My suggestion however would be to look into nutrient schedules using a YAN calculator. It allows the yeast to ferment and be healthy longer instead of just hitting with a bunch of nutrients right off the bat(which is kind of what GoFerm is for). I use DAP, fermaid K and fermaid O as my nutrients.
 
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