Backsweetening and stabilizing

[ace21122112]

I'm working on my first batch of mead ever. I mixed 12 pounds of honey with 3 gallons of water hoping to end up with a sweet mead that you can still taste the honey. Starting gravity was 1.125. Ended up with what I now realize is an odd amount of four gallons of must

Anyway I'm 3 1/2 weeks into it. The must is still in the fermating pail. I was going to put it into carboy in a few days. I figured I'd crack the pail open and take a sample see how things were going

Concoction is now at 1.01 it is very boozy and tastes like 1920's bathtub mash lol. It is still very cloudy and small bubbles I presume still fermenting

One things for sure I went drier then planned so faced with two things. Excessive headspace and the desire to sweeten the must up.

I want to sweeten more but still cloudy and fermenting. should I rack (with one gallon of headspace which would probably get displaced by co2) wait for that to clear then stabilize and add extra honey-water? Or rack and stabilize right away then add honey water to top up and sweeten? Mind you if I do that the must is still cloudy

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

I'd wait until the batch has had a stable gravity (finished ferment), then rack and stabilize in the new container. You can backsweeten when it is still cloudy as adding honey to a cleared mead will add more cloudiness that takes more time to clear out again.

You don't need to worry about oxygen as the sulfite additions as part of stabilizing should help prevent oxidation.

 

[ace21122112]

So your saying back sweeting a mead that is clear is actually counter productive? I should expand ... The main reason I'm wanting to rack now is the carboy will have a spigot to take samples from where the pail has not which means I'm introducing oxygen and outside elements each time I take a sample.. Anyway if no harm done by adding more honey water now I shall proceed

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

So your saying back sweeting a mead that is clear is actually counter productive? I should expand ... The main reason I'm wanting to rack now is the carboy will have a spigot to take samples from where the pail has not which means I'm introducing oxygen and outside elements each time I take a sample.. Anyway if no harm done by adding more honey water now I shall proceed

To a degree. It will take extra time to clear again, (but not as long as it took the first time).
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As you pull the sample from a spigot, it will lower the volume in your vessel, which will cause a pulling effect from your airlock (Think of it going the other way). So you'll still be pulling oxygen in. It's the same principle that creates the siphon when moving your batch

 

[ace21122112]

Ok so I leave it be since either way it's getting oxygen. Then how long should the reading be stable and how often should I test?

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Well if you get all the way to 1.000, that's a good bet. It might drop another .001 or 002 (Tops) for the dryest of meads, but 1.000 is done for me. Or if it sits at that gravity for a week or two.

I think you should still rack. It's still good to get it off the bulk lees and plastic carboys are still less oxygen permeable than buckets. They also have less exposed head-space typically.

Sampling is fun, but remember that when you take the samples you're losing what will be finished product. I sample very rarely once I'm in secondary, and only usually do it when I change vessels or take a hydrometer reading.

 

[Yooper]

You definitely do NOT to stabilize the mead until it's completely finished. I'd rack to the carboy, and make sure there is no headspace and let it finish. There is time for stabilizing and sweetening in the future.

 

[ace21122112]

Ok so rack anyway and leave be till gravity is constant for a week. Then do stabilizing and back sweeten at the same time bit by bit until we get sweetness back up.

 

[ace21122112]

Yooper that's part of the concern is headspace I have four gallons and a five gallon carboy. I'm expecting if I'm still fermenting that will be filled with co2 so no big deal. I don't want to use marbles cause will need lots of them and higher then the spigot

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Well just to be clear, like Yooper said, don't rack until it's finished. Then stabilize in the new vessel.

As far as Head-space. Once fermentation is done, you can fill carboys pretty much right to the top as they won't be producing foam anymore. So three 1 gallon carboys filled up to the necks, minus the less slurry at the bottom of primary, and I doubt you'd be losing much mead at all (or you can store the leftovers in something even smaller like a growler or half growler).

 

[Yooper]

Well just to be clear, like Yooper said, don't rack until it's finished. Then stabilize in the new vessel.

As far as Head-space. Once fermentation is done, you can fill carboys pretty much right to the top as they won't be producing foam anymore. So three 1 gallon carboys filled up to the necks, minus the less slurry at the bottom of primary, and I doubt you'd be losing much mead at all (or you can store the leftovers in something even smaller like a growler or half growler).

Since the mead may very well need to be racked again, especially after adding more fermentables, another carboy (or three as marshmellowblue suggested) is really important to have.

It's important to reduce headspace, once active fermentation ends, so something smaller is needed in the long term.

You could use a three gallon carboy, and a 1 gallon carboy, for example.

 

[ace21122112]

That makes sense so we can leave it in the pail until it is completely finished.. Then rack to carboy. Part I'm still confused about is if I'm going to stabilize it when I put it in the carboy, I figure I can easily fill up that extra gallon with sweetener. Therefore five gallon carboy still ok?

 

[Yooper]

That makes sense so we can leave it in the pail until it is completely finished.. Then rack to carboy. Part I'm still confused about is if I'm going to stabilize it when I put it in the carboy, I figure I can easily fill up that extra gallon with sweetener. Therefore five gallon carboy still ok?

You don't want to stabilize until the mead is completely clear, and no longer dropping ANY lees at all. That won't happen in the pail, as there will be tons of yeast in the lees in the pail.

It needs to go at least 30 days or so in a carboy, so you can see if you have any lees at all, and it must be crystal clear, or the stabilizers (which inhibit yeast reproduction) won't "work".

 

[ace21122112]

Ok I decided to bite the bullet and get the marbles I'll do the transfer to the carboy then wait for that to clear.. Then once it does I transfer to a third this time add the stabilizer then at that time I'll back sweeten