First mead, questions about racking...

[FunkyMunk]

Greetings, semi-experienced brewer & cider maker who recently decided to try his hand at brewing up a mead, here...

I seem to have successfully made it through a month-long primary fermentation, with my mead still intact. (Thanks to the wealth of information here and elsewhere, not to mention the amazing Compleat Meadmaker.) I'm anticipating racking to secondary pretty soon, possibly this weekend, and I wanted to see what advice I could glean on a few outstanding questions.

Relevant info:
"Brew" date: May 1 (31 days ago)
3.2 gallons in fermenter
OG 1.104, 9 lbs. honey (L.R. Rice, local Washington, from Costco)
No-heat method
yeast: Lalvin D-47, 2 packets (10 g), rehydrated with GoFerm
meadmakr.com/TOSNA 2.0 nutrient additions, which went off without a hitch
starting pH: 3.8
current pH: 3.2
current SG: ~0.998 (refractometer line is pretty fuzzy)

1) I've been fermenting in the garage, which held pretty steadily in the low 60s during the bulk of the primary. The last week or so, the temp climbed into the low 70s, then dipped to 68, but basically I think I'm looking at ambient temps of 70-72 for secondary unless I a) bust out the fermentation chamber, or b) bring the carboy down into the crawl space. I realize that drastic temp swings are a bigger concern than overall higher temps, but assuming I can keep a somewhat steady temp for secondary, is somewhere around the low 70s OK? Would cooler temps be preferable?

2) My last SG measurement of 1.002 was 5 days ago, but airlock bubbling has since slowed down drastically (now >1 minute between bubbles). The mead is still very hazy but there's a clear, solid layer of lees on the bottom of the carboy. I've read everything from "rack before primary is over" to "wait a few weeks after primary ends to rack". I was comfortable waiting until I thought primary fermentation was finished before racking, and I don't really expect SG to drop much more. Is there any advantage to waiting a while longer before racking? Should I stir the lees back up into suspension?

3) Is my pH OK? I was initially worried when it appeared to drop down to 3.4 a couple days into primary, then read a bit more and decided to leave it alone. I'm not exactly sure what the recommended threshold is for adding potassium carbonate; I think Schramm recommends keeping it 3.6 or higher, but many others suggest that lower pH is OK. Clearly I didn't get a stuck fermentation, but I'm wondering if the yeast might have been stressed at this pH.

4) Would the use of sulfites be recommended for this racking? I'll be racking to a 3 gallon carboy with minimal headspace. Wasn't going to use it but just curious if anyone else does.

5) Ummm... anything I'm forgetting? Right now it tastes really good, but could stand a bit of mellowing. I figured the first batch would be mostly a learning experience, with the production of good mead being a potential bonus. Yes, the next step is to start another batch ASAP.

Thanks for reading!

 

[mredge73]

1) Temperature is mostly a concern during the yeast growth phase, first 2 days in the primary. Your long term storage plan in the secondary sounds fine, I store mine at much higher temperatures and they turn out ok.

2) Meads will often drop below 1.0 but for the most part it is done. The bubbling is probably just gas coming out of solution. If you can cold crash do it to help clear it before transfer.

3) I don't know, it is close to a hard lemonade.

4) I wouldn't bother until bottling time.

5) Let it bulk age 6 months or longer before bottling if you can. If it taste good then drink it, otherwise let it sit in the bottle and taste it again next year.

 

[bernardsmith]

The pH is an issue for the yeast. Honey has no chemical buffers and so when fermenting the pH CAN drop below 3.0. Your batch fermented fine so the pH issue is really moot. That said, taste the mead. If it tastes too acidic for the flavor or the ABV then you may want to do something to reduce the acidity but it may taste fine... More important than pH when it comes to taste is the TA (or in the case of honey GA) - TA really refers to tartaric acid but honey does not have tartaric acid as much as it has gluconic, malic and lactic. PH is about the STRENGTH of the acids but TA refers to the AMOUNT of the acids present (you can have a lot of weak acids or a little of strong acids or a little of weak or a lot of strong). - TA also refers to the acids being titratable so it's a bit of a pun... Titratable - tartaric )
Your 4th q? - many folk suggest that you add K-meta (sulfites) each time you rack . The K-meta helps inhibit oxidation but many mead makers argue that mead is less susceptible to oxidation than other wines.
The higher the ABV the longer the mead needs to age. You may need to be prepared for more than 6 months - 18% ABV ... That ain't chump change . You may be looking at 12 months - or longer...

 

[nitack]

Just to eco what was already said, you are looking at over a year of aging time. It is definitely worth the wait, so throw it in a dark corner out of sight, out of mind, and get back to it in a year. I routinely brew 18% with EC-1118. It is hot and harsh even after six months, but you wait and it gets very mellow. People are surprised when I tell the the ABV because they can't taste the alcohol at all.

 

[FunkyMunk]

Thanks y'all! Out of curiosity, how did you determine 18% ABV? I've tried several calculators and they're all returning 14% based on my starting and current Brix/SG.

Otherwise that all sounds like good advice to me. I'll taste it again, but the last taste didn't seem overly tart to me. It's definitely dry, which I'm OK with. I was prepared for the possibility of a long aging period, guess I better keep that pipeline going.

 

[nitack]

My bad, I saw the previous poster say it and didn't bother to check myself. Yeah, your at about 14%. Still going to be hot for a while, especially with almost no residual sugars. Your D47 can eat almost all that sugar. I'd give it at least nine months.

 

[FunkyMunk]

Finally racked tonight, a week later (39 days after pitching yeast to start primary).

Got a better refractometer reading, SG is closer to 1.00.

I filled a 3 gallon carboy, set aside about 1/2 cup for sipping, and got a 750 ml bottle about 3/4 filled with the yeasty remainder (which I will let settle in the fridge until the Game of Thrones season premiere in 5 weeks). The mead in the carboy is still off-gassing quite a bit, so I'm confident there will be little to no oxygen in the neck. Feeling good about nailing my predicted volume for secondary!

(Anyone using glass carboys who hasn't yet seen *THAT* thread, please do so... Respect your glass!)

Honestly, it tastes really good right now. Still a tiny bit of residual sweetness, lots of honey in the nose, and really not too sour/tart at all. It's dry, but no more than a dry white wine (probably less so). I'm drinking it room temp, so chilled it would probably be even smoother. If I do detect any acidity, it's actually appreciated. (I tested a commercial mead out of curiosity, and the pH was 3.0, so mine at 3.2 is actually less acidic.) It really doesn't taste too hot, at 14% ABV, either.

I'm not going to add anything to it, just let it clarify a bit in secondary before I bottle. I'll update when I try it next month.