Loss from racking mead

[avm221]

So I just racked my first mead into secondary to let sit ubtil.it clears again. From all of the racking and leaving the yeast and a some mead still in the carboy. How much volume loss do you think you get from a 1gal batch. Do you even notice the loss?

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[noblesquirrel]

I usually brew in a 2 gallon bucket for primary to get to 1.25 gallons or so. I find that I end up with 10 bottles, so a loss of 4 ounces is about what I end up with. I usually end up with 4 ounces in my glass at the end to accompany the bottles. I've found losses to be far worse on larger batches, though, particularly if you have fruit. I minimally rack for this reason. My basic process is to let the mead ferment fully in the bucket, then I sulfite and sorbate it, along with an addition of bentonite. I typically can see through the mead to the bottom of the bucket within 4-5 weeks. At that point, I'll rack and I find that I have a small amount of yeast that accumulates in the gallon jug, which I'll leave for 6-8 months. I don't understand the purpose of racking every 30 days as each racking is additional loss and additional oxygen exposure post fermentation.

 

[avm221]

Leaving it that long you don't get any off flavors from the yeast cake? So I racked it the first time yesterday, you think I should leave it there for about 4-6 months? Im 2 months in now. I have heard rack every 30 days, but I also fill my carboys with Co2 before I rack to minimize O2 exposure.

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[fatbloke]

No guarantee that you will get off flavours.......

There's a few yeast that are known to give off flavours relatively quickly, but many are considered fine, in fact an improving taste......

 

[HEMIII]

I did some crazy calculations and hope to get what I was hoping for and will probably never achieve again if I tried but here's a picture of my blueberry Melomel. I used purée this time instead of fresh whole fruits mashed in a bag.
If you have any room left when you rack into another, just fill it up with some extra honey.


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[HEMIII]

That's a one gallon jug and a quart jack bottle and I'm going for one gallon of Mel but I had to put it into two secondaries as shown. I don't know **** btw except for my gut mostly and what I have collectively read and my own experiments. Just add honey and your fruit if you want to make up for the lose and you should be fine brother.


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[ostensibly]

I usually pour the liquid left over from racking into a quart mason jar, trying to leave out the yeast. It clears just like it does in the carboy/bucket, usually a bit quicker, then you have some for tasting/topping off.