Adding to my mead

[ClawsMcPaws]

Hello everyone,
I just started my first ever fermentation of anything, a batch of mead. I'm doing this because while visiting Ontairo last summer I got to try it for the first time at an actual meadery, of the 6 I tried I fell in love with one in particular that they age for 2 1/2 years in decommissioned cognac barrels. If my mead turns out palatable or when it does get to that point in my brewing carrier could I just grab a nice quart bottle of cognac and add it during secondary. For context I'm mixing just honey, spring water and Mangrove Jack M05 mead yeast in a 6 gallon bucket for ease of mixing then transferring into a 5 gallon carboy for primary fermentation, after fermentation is done I'm going to transfer into my second glass carboy for a month and this is the stage where I was thinking it should be added if I was to do so. Any suggestions, thoughts or insight would be awesome and although I wanted to name the winery/meadery and product I acquired there I didn't know if that was against fourm rules (feel free to let me know that as well because I'd love to pump their tires on that one aspect)

Thank you all very much

 

[fluketamer]

i would try making a tincture of oak chips or spirals in cognac for a week or two then add the tincture. trial and error tasting will be needed. i would try a light wood like white oak rather than a charred oak imo

also why secondary anything these days. im just curious . i stopped secondary on all my brews i jut dont see the advantage. is there an advantage to secondary in mead thats different then beer.,

 

[ClawsMcPaws]

i would try making a tincture of oak chips or spirals in cognac for a week or two then add the tincture. trial and error tasting will be needed. i would try a light wood like white oak rather than a charred oak imo

also why secondary anything these days. im just curious . i stopped secondary on all my brews i jut dont see the advantage. is there an advantage to secondary in mead thats different then beer.,

That's not a bad idea with the wood chips, saw them at my local wine shop. As for secondary, for me it's what they told me at the shop

 

[AzOr]

I was thinking the same as fluketamer as I was reading the initial post.

It may be semantics. Many consider the vessel after the primary to be the secondary. I’ve read that this is the order…
Fermentation vessel….primary then secondary.

I often refer to primary as a secondary though.

 

[hottpeper13]

AB uses beech wood lathes to attract yeast and I've found that my barrels have yeast up the sides as well as the bottom. I like using spirals, you get the same level of wood or toast as chips but I can put them on the BBQ when done. Soak the spirals for as long as the primary, then rack to secondary with the spiral only and save the liquid for bottling if needed.