First racking

[Airidas]

Hello ima new to meads, i made my first mead using 4lbs forest and plains honey, cinamon stick , few cloves , few whole cardamons , one vannila bean and 3 cut pears, its now day 8, bubles are still going good, smell is good, when should i rack it for first time? I thinking doing it tommorow?

 

[JJack887]

I rack usually at the 2-3 weeks mark. If the gravity is around 1.010, I rack.

 

[Deafmeadmaker]

Hello ima new to meads, i made my first mead using 4lbs forest and plains honey, cinamon stick , few cloves , few whole cardamons , one vannila bean and 3 cut pears, its now day 8, bubles are still going good, smell is good, when should i rack it for first time? I thinking doing it tommorow?

I second what Jack said. Wait a few weeks. Let the yeast do it's job and don't think about racking until fermentation stops and the hydrometer reads 1.0 or less.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Airidas, and welcome. Bubbles are never a very good indicator of what is happening in the fermenter. You really want to use an hydrometer to measure the changing specific gravity (density) of the fermentation. That will tell you how much sugar is still in solution and so will tell you how far along in the process is your mead or wine. Bubbles might stop but the reason may be because the seal between the bung and the mouth or the bung and the airlock is not airtight. Bubbles may occur because of changes in air-pressure in the atmosphere or in the temperature of the room. If you were to add anything with particles (nutrient that was not dissolved well in water, for example) bubbles will vigorously form due to what is called nucleation and none of these examples have anything to do with continued fermentation and everything to do with the expulsion of CO2 held in suspension in the liquid.
If you don't have one, try to get hold of an hydrometer. it really is the most essential tool in a wine-maker's tool chest.

 

[Izzie1701]

Hi Airidas, and welcome. Bubbles are never a very good indicator of what is happening in the fermenter. You really want to use an hydrometer to measure the changing specific gravity (density) of the fermentation. That will tell you how much sugar is still in solution and so will tell you how far along in the process is your mead or wine. Bubbles might stop but the reason may be because the seal between the bung and the mouth or the bung and the airlock is not airtight. Bubbles may occur because of changes in air-pressure in the atmosphere or in the temperature of the room. If you were to add anything with particles (nutrient that was not dissolved well in water, for example) bubbles will vigorously form due to what is called nucleation and none of these examples have anything to do with continued fermentation and everything to do with the expulsion of CO2 held in suspension in the liquid.
If you don't have one, try to get hold of an hydrometer. it really is the most essential tool in a wine-maker's tool chest.

Just to add to this post also be aware of temp changes as noted in his post. When you go from a warmer to colder area (cold crashing example) the shrinking of the liquid and gasses inside your fermentor can actually cause a vacuum and suck your air lock liquid into your mead. It's the opposite when you go cold to warm and everything expands you will get bubbles. No fermentation just volume changes. I forgot the grade 12 chemistry term for this. Could be boles law but I could be 100% wrong on the law name. Been awhile since high school. The things I would do to go back.

 

[Izzie1701]

Just to expand on the last post because I know someone will say it. Yes water expands when cooled but alcohol shrines and so does all the gas so depending on head space you will get a vacuum. Just something to be aware of and another reason for bubbles in the air lock.