another clearing question

[mastakebob]

So i'm making my first mead, and I'm wondering how long it should take to clear and how 'clear' it should be.

Details:
20 lbs of wildflower honey
vial of white labs sweet mead yeast
4 gallons of water
little bit of yeast nutrient
6.5 gallon carboy

let it sit and ferment w/ out disturbing for 3 months (till airlock bubbles slowed to less than a minute)
Racked it into secondary fermenter (no additives)
Haven't done anything since the last rack (about a month ago)
(sorry, didn't take any gravity readings cause i don't have a meter)

It's still pretty cloudy, meaning that I shine a flashlight through it and it diffuses pretty good (can't see a clear origin of the light from the other side of the glass carboy).

I wasn't planning on bottling till it cleared, but I want to use the carboy again for another batch and was wondering if there's a way to speed up the clearing process. I've read that there's some chemical you can put in, or put it outside to 'shock chill' (correct term?), is one better than the other?

Sorry for the long windedness, but thanks for any help.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Time is your friend. Ciders and meads need time. Lots of time. When you think it should be done, wait some more. It will most likely clear on its own.

 

[Yooper]

"Clear" means you can literally read a newspaper through the carboy. If you don't wait until it's clear, all that sediment will end up in your bottles.

 

[mastakebob]

so you're saying another carboy purchase is in order. I can do that.

While I got you guys here, I have a cyser fermenting now (about 2 weeks old now). I"m considering racking into two 3 gallon carboys to get 2 different batches with different flavors. Is this a good idea? Or should i have put any flavoring in the first fermentation? And what flavors go well w/ apples and honey?
details:
20 lbs of honey, 4 gallons of fresh apple cider, lavlin d47 (?) yeast, sprinkling of nutrient

 

[malkore]

don't rack it until its done in primary. you can easily add flavor in secondary.

if you rack too early, you can severely stunt fermentation. you're removing too much yeast, and the remaining yeast now has quite a bit of alcohol to bog it down.

 

[NurseNan]

Cinnamon goes well with apples and honey, and once done, will mull quite well.