First Timer

[Mead'n It]

Hey everyone,

So I started my first batch of mead about 2 weeks ago. I followed Schramm's book and am shooting for the sweet mead recipe. I followed it using 15.5 lbs of honey, 4 gallons of water, 2 tsp each of Energizer and nutrient, and used Lalvin D-47 yeast.

The only thing I did not do was sanitize the must by heating the water prior to adding the honey. I used Schramm's "no heat" method.

I started with an OG of 1.123 and am not at approximately 1.08ish. Should I rack over to my carboy now? Or should I wait untill it gets closer to the estimated final SG around 1.02?
Or will it reach 1.02 while it is in the carboy?

I leaving for a week tomorrow and dont want to leave it in the bucket with that much head space in case it will hurt the mead. Or maybe I'm over thinking it too much. Please let me know you thoughts.

Thanks!

 

[RPh_Guy]

The idea behind racking is to remove the majority of yeast cells so that they do not contribute off-flavors AND to reduce the amount of head space to prevent oxidation during aging.

D47 won't cause off-flavors during aging, so racking early is definitely an option, just make sure to transfer a portion of the lees as well.

Any potential oxidation issues can be avoided by adding sulfite when racking, so waiting to rack after it finishes is fine too, in my opinion. If your bucket has a good seal, it's not a problem at all.

Welcome to HBT!

 

[bernardsmith]

You could rack now (at 1.008) and then you are free to step away for a period of time without any worry. If you were to leave the mead in the bucket for another week or two I am sure that nothing untoward would happen to the mead (oxidation does not take place that quickly and mead ain't beer so it does not sour and in any event mead itself does not oxidize as quickly (relatively speaking) as fruit wines do..so entirely your call, I would say.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Did he mean 1.008 and not 1.080 ? Those are very different.

A leaky bucket will allow oxygen into the mead.
Once oxygen is in the mead it's only a matter of time and temperature until it oxidizes, unless sulfite is added or you drink it before the oxidation reactions occur.
How long does it take mead to exhibit oxidation when exposed to lots of oxygen while aging at 70°F?

 

[madetoday]

I'd leave it and rack when it's finished fermenting, or at least closer to finishing (assuming it's at 1.080 right now). IMO you're more likely to stall your ferment by racking it, and 2 weeks isn't long enough to worry about oxidization especially if you've still got an active ferment going.

How long does it take mead to exhibit oxidation when exposed to lots of oxygen while aging at 70°F?

I've had meads sit in a leaky bucket for ~6 weeks without oxidizing, and unless I'm working on a low ABV short mead I rarely rack before a month or so. That said, if the FG is 1.008 then the ferment is probably close to done and racking shouldn't hurt anything...knowing whether he meant 1.080 or 1.008 could change my answer.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I've had meads sit in a leaky bucket for ~6 weeks without oxidizing

My point was that after oxygen gets into the mead, it stays there until oxidation occurs.
The reactions may happen after it's transferred, over a longer period of time, since transferring certainly doesn't remove oxygen that's already dissolved in the mead.

Welcome to HBT!

 

[madetoday]

My point was that after oxygen gets into the mead, it stays there until oxidation occurs.
The reactions may happen after it's transferred, over a longer period of time, since transferring certainly doesn't remove oxygen that's already dissolved in the mead.

Welcome to HBT!

Oh, I misunderstood & didn’t realize it was a rhetorical. And thanks!

 

[RPh_Guy]

It's not rhetorical. Sarcasm not needed.

There can be detrimental effects later even though the oxidation reactions don't occur initially, because the oxygen is still in the mead.
I don't know what sort of longer timeframe it takes to oxidize the mead (in the absence of sulfite). Temperature greatly affects the reaction rate too.

 

[madetoday]

It's not rhetorical. Sarcasm not needed.

There can be detrimental effects later even though the oxidation reactions don't occur initially, because the oxygen is still in the mead.
I don't know what sort of longer timeframe it takes to oxidize the mead (in the absence of sulfite). Temperature greatly affects the reaction rate too.

Sarcasm wasn’t intended, sorry. I did misunderstand what you were getting at initially.

 

[danishd43]

My assumption in regard to headspace is that if you had an active fermentation, AND a good seal on your primary the only “air” filling that headspace should be co2 as it would have pushed all the oxygen out of the airlock so you shouldn’t have to worry about oxidation. Again, this is my personal assumption so someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[danishd43]

My assumption in regard to headspace is that if you had an active fermentation, AND a good seal on your primary the only “air” filling that headspace should be co2 as it would have pushed all the oxygen out of the airlock so you shouldn’t have to worry about oxidation. Again, this is my personal assumption so someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[RPh_Guy]

My assumption in regard to headspace is that if you had an active fermentation, AND a good seal on your primary the only “air” filling that headspace should be co2 as it would have pushed all the oxygen out of the airlock so you shouldn’t have to worry about oxidation.

Basically yes, for a limited time.

Oxygen will diffuse in relatively slowly through the airlock and through the vessel itself if it's plastic, with HDPE and PP being the most oxygen permeable.

Temperature fluctuations may cause air to be drawn in through the airlock.

 

[Mead'n It]

I appreciate all of information. I ended up racking it over to the carboy before i left. When I came back the fermentation had slowed even more and the bubbling had basically stopped. The yeast is now starting to fall out the mead is beginning to clear.

I have not taken a new SG since i have been back. Reverting back to the question of whether it was 1.08 or 1.008, it was definitely at 1.08. I think i may have jumped the gun starting out with a 5 gallon batch so i hope it turns out alright. Thanks again for all the info!

 

[Tombstone0]

The confusion about your gravity reading is because specific gravity readings are typically written to 3 significant digits. So the question was where did the missing digit belong, before or after the 8?
Both are fairly common.