I think I'll be bottling my first mead in the next few of weeks and have a couple of questions. Pretty basic recipe - Honey, cinnamon, clove, Pasteur Red yeast. OG was 1.090, over next couple of weeks dropped to 1.042 and I racked to secondary. Now about a month later it is just a hair under 1.00 and fermentation has slowed down dramatically (but not completely - a bubble every hour tops - sometimes longer).
I suspect your done, your yeast cake will occasionally give up some CO2 and temperature changes will impact it as well. If your Gravity has been stable for more than a few weeks you are done.
It's not perfectly clear but is getting there. I have maybe 1/2 - 3/4" of lees I'd like to get it off of and I plan on back sweetening with more honey and water to maybe 1.05. So - do I rack it to another carboy or bottle it? I'm leaning towards racking it one more time for another month maybe
Definitely time to get off the Lees (Others will debate this) However I always rack when primary is done and each time they accumulate to about 1/4 inch or until i can't stand not messing with it anymore. I would let it go clear in your carboy, read a newspaper through it clear. (Watch headspace and top off with another similar mead or take up the volume with sanitized flat marbles.)
I know for back sweetening I'll need to add campden and potassium sorbate - correct?
That is what is typically recommended. I personally never sweeten my mead and react to the "ates" so never use them and can't speak from experience.
How about cold crashing? Both? I'm hoping that by Christmas these will be drinkable enough to give as gifts but I have this horrible paranoia about giving someone a bottle that'll spit it's cork or worse if it gets warm....
TO clarify - I use time as mentioned above - 60 to 120 days or so after primary. I often also use a clarifier KC Super Kleer or something similar (There are others out there to use) and cold crash for 3 - 5 days. If all of this does not work I then use Pectic Enzyme.
Obviously I can't speak to if it will be ready by Christmas. That's totally your call and how well it ages, but your timing is about right.
