A newbie's Question

[Pflanz]

Bought a Short Mead Kit....Started over three weeks ago. Is a Spice mead. Followed all instructions. Was bubbling good the first two weeks....and down to once every 12 seconds when I racked to secondary. After racking I have seen no bubbles in the airlock, but it "grew a foamy head and I now have about 1/4 inch of sediment on the bottom. So i know it is doing something. I had no hydometer when I started, but now have one. I have not taken any readings though. It is a one gallon batch..

I planned on leaving it in the secondary for 2 weeks, and then rack again. And then let it clear in the Carboy for a bit before I add any clarifiers or any thing to make sure the fermentation is stopped.

Am I on track? The kit included it's own yeast, so I donot knwo the brand, and since it came in a plain small plastic bag, I guess it could have nutrients in it also, but do not know.

Obviously this is my first attempt at Mead as a hobby. And I am open to suggestions.

 

[sweetcell]

the sediment is yeast and other gunk settling out as your mead clears. perfectly normal.

"grew a foamy head" - can you describe it a bit more? it is still there, or was it temporary?

i would leave it in secondary longer. you want to rack as often as needed, but no more than necessary. 2 weeks seems a tad on the short side. waiting 4 weeks won't hurt.

when you rack again, be sure to go into a container that will be filled as much as possible. you don't want a lot of headspace above the mead as it sits & ages.

 

[Pflanz]

After the first rqacking, while it was not near clear, there was very little floating on top. Little by little I saw rthings floating up to the top and sometimes back and forth. after a couple of days the top was full of foamy bubblelike stuff. and runs from creamy colored to quite dark. And the bottom has covered with sediment, which I expected. I filled the carboy up to about an inch from the neck of the bottle after racking.

The oinstructions for the Short Mead says to taste during the first 2 weeks and bottle when it hits your taste preference.

since I see nothing in the process that is different than a regular mead, I feel letting it run it's course and aging it a bit could do not harm. This weekend I will tak a Specific gravity check. .

 

[fuelish]

I feel letting it run it's course and aging it a bit could do not harm. .

Absolutely, willl do no harm ... although some young meads may taste good (may taste VERY VERY good ) when young, age is mead's friend. Best remedy I've found to wanting to "rush" it is to have several batches in the pipeline at various stages of aging....reduces the angst I've got 25 gallons aging at different stages atm ...4x5 gallons, 1x3 gallons, and 2x1 gallon....for now....still have an open 6 gallon primary bucket and 2 open 1 gallon jugs, and plans are afoot

 

[bernardsmith]

I don't make kits but assuming the kit manufacturer is from a reasonable company I would follow their instructions the first time I make a kit. But that said, when I make a simple mead I transfer the mead from the bucket where I start the fermentation to a carboy (sealed with a bung and airlock) when the gravity falls close to 1.005 (I make meads with about 2.5 lbs of honey to make one gallon of liquid, so the starting gravity is about 1.090 and the length of time the yeast takes to ferment almost all the sugar is about a week to 10 days. If your starting gravity was more than 1.100 then it may take considerably longer for the yeast to acclimatize to such a stressful environment - remember they use osmosis to bring in the sugars and expel the alcohol and their cell walls need to cope with high concentrations of sugar and then high concentrations of alcohol and honey being honey, high levels of acidity (fermentation of honey can result in very low pH that is, a very high acid environment)

 

[Pflanz]

I checked on it last evening, and lo and behold it is bubbling once again. Once every 20 seconds. So i will let it go a bit, take some readings, and eventually rack it once again.

Thanks, all.

 

[sweetcell]

I don't make kits but assuming the kit manufacturer is from a reasonable company I would follow their instructions the first time I make a kit.

some kits come with good instructions, but many are sub-par. my limited experience with kit instructions is that most of them don't emphasize making the best possible beer/mead/wine/etc.; instead the place importance on making the process as easy as possible (so newbies don't get discouraged), or as fast as possible (so newbs have something to drink ASAP and don't lose interest), etc.

 

[Pflanz]

Yes, I bought 2 kits, and have one starteed. Will start the next this wekend, and then from then on it will be recipe based and not Short Meads. I do nto mind waitng...And i want to show a very clear Mead as the end product, with varying degrees of dryness or sweetness.

Thanks, All

 

[noblesquirrel]

The activity you're seeing is just normal fermentation. When you racked it, you roused CO2 out of suspension, resulting in the foam. Out of curiosity, why did you rack it so soon?

 

[Pflanz]

The instructions called for racking within 2 weeks, depending on your preference for sweetness, and to bottle pretty much right away and keep chilled in the refrifgerator to halt fermentation. Also cautioned to breathe the bottles weekly. Also cautioned on a lifespan of only about 6 months or so.

I will give them that it was a good way to learn, but left a lot to b desired in the way of support other than to follow the directions.

 

[sweetcell]

I will give them that it was a good way to learn, but left a lot to b desired in the way of support other than to follow the directions.

that's what we're here for

 

[noblesquirrel]

The instructions called for racking within 2 weeks, depending on your preference for sweetness, and to bottle pretty much right away and keep chilled in the refrifgerator to halt fermentation. Also cautioned to breathe the bottles weekly. Also cautioned on a lifespan of only about 6 months or so.

I will give them that it was a good way to learn, but left a lot to b desired in the way of support other than to follow the directions.

That's a very bizarre method for making mead, imo. That's more of a primitive fermented honey beverage than the more beautiful types that can be made with some more time. Even with venting the bottles weekly, I wouldn't want to risk the chance of a bottle bomb. Especially if it could explode in the fridge...

 

[sweetcell]

ha, the bottle venting part somehow didn't register with me... how about instead of that, you make a beverage that is properly fermented and doesn't require venting?!?

 

[bernardsmith]

ha, the bottle venting part somehow didn't register with me... how about instead of that, you make a beverage that is properly fermented and doesn't require venting?!?

Good point.
Pflanz, an airlock or "bubbler" vents the carboy and allows CO2 to escape when pressure builds up but prevents air from entering. If you allow the mead or whatever to ferment in a carboy or even in a bottle with a suitably sized and drilled bung to which you have attached an airlock the CO2 will be vented when enough pressure builds up inside the container. Looks like the manufacturers of this kit want you to bottle while the mead is still fermenting.

 

[Pflanz]

After racking to the secondary, it has been 3 more weeks....It has cleared up nicely, and I intend to rack once more this weekend. It is a clear golden color and has a ton of tiny bubbles still floating to the top. I will start taking the hydrometer reading for a few days to see if it has stopped. But my plan is to rack it while adding the stuff to stop the yeast and to clarify, hopefully to a finished product...Then after a few days, bottle.

Once question. Should I refrigerate after bottleing or just let it sit out?