Changing Colors?

[MaxTheSpy]

Alright, well I started my first batch of mead on the 9th it's now the 15th and in the 6 days that it's been fermenting, it's changed colors. It was a deep brown when I started like honey color but now its turned a lighter brown and got cloudier, it's almost an orange color. Im not sure if this is normal or not but I also notice that fermentation is slowing down, less bubbles through the airlock.

Im not sure if this is because I put the spices in Primary instead of secondary or if its not in a cold enough place or dark enough place, let me know.


Thanks!
MaxTheSpy.

 

[CKuhns]

Sounds Perfectly normal.

CO2 is being produced along with Billions of Yeast in suspension.

 

[MaxTheSpy]

Sounds Perfectly normal.

CO2 is being produced along with Billions of Yeast in suspension.

Thanks bud. Do I just wait u till it stops bubbling to put it into secondary or when should I re rack it I to secondary

 

[bernardsmith]

You really want to use an hydrometer to determine when to rack. Mead ain't beer and you use gravity readings in making decisions rather than count bubbles not least because you have no way of knowing whether a reduction in the amount of CO2 bubbling through your airlock is because all or most of the sugars have been fermented or if there is still an enormous amount of sugar still waiting to be fermented but the yeast is no longer able to transport the material through their cell walls. So... when to rack into a secondary? When the gravity falls to about 1.005

 

[MaxTheSpy]

You really want to use an hydrometer to determine when to rack. Mead ain't beer and you use gravity readings in making decisions rather than count bubbles not least because you have no way of knowing whether a reduction in the amount of CO2 bubbling through your airlock is because all or most of the sugars have been fermented or if there is still an enormous amount of sugar still waiting to be fermented but the yeast is no longer able to transport the material through their cell walls. So... when to rack into a secondary? When the gravity falls to about 1.005

Ahh gotcha, I'll have to get one of those pretty soon. what happens if I leave it in primary too long.

 

[bernardsmith]

Too long covers a great deal of time.. If there is a a great deal of head room then you run the risk of oxidation. And if you leave the mead on the gross lees too long then you run the risk of the yeast producing off flavors. But if we are talking about a couple of weeks or so then you should still be fine... You really do want to get hold of an hydrometer... Hard to know how much sugar is still in the ferment without measuring (and you need to sanitize anything that touches the mead - the hydrometer, the measuring cylinder, the baster or wine thief you use to collect a sample of the mead to test). And ... if you sanitize these tools properly there is no good reason why you cannot return the sample back to the fermenter. This ain't beer and there is really no concern of bacterial infection to sour the mead.
Wine makers use K-meta to sanitize. K-meta when dissolved in water releases SO2 and sulfur dioxide kills bacteria, mold, and wild yeast.

 

[MaxTheSpy]

Too long covers a great deal of time.. If there is a a great deal of head room then you run the risk of oxidation. And if you leave the mead on the gross lees too long then you run the risk of the yeast producing off flavors. But if we are talking about a couple of weeks or so then you should still be fine... You really do want to get hold of an hydrometer... Hard to know how much sugar is still in the ferment without measuring (and you need to sanitize anything that touches the mead - the hydrometer, the measuring cylinder, the baster or wine thief you use to collect a sample of the mead to test). And ... if you sanitize these tools properly there is no good reason why you cannot return the sample back to the fermenter. This ain't beer and there is really no concern of bacterial infection to sour the mead.
Wine makers use K-meta to sanitize. K-meta when dissolved in water releases SO2 and sulfur dioxide kills bacteria, mold, and wild yeast.

I was told a while back to use 1 step, does this work as good as K meta?

 

[bernardsmith]

Don't have a good answer. Technically, One-step is a cleaner that uses oxygen (like Oxy-clean). It is used - I think , more by brewers as a sanitizer. Wine makers tend to use K-meta not least because at higher dilutions K-meta acts as an anti-oxidant (Campden tabs) which you crush and dissolve and add to the target carboy (1 per gallon) when you rack.