Kits from Midwest Supplies

[ArcLight]

Midwest Supplies sells a Mead kit, but their instructions seem very basic (even lacking) compared to Norther Brewer and especially compared to here.

1. I brew beer not wine, so I don't have wine bottles or a corker. Can I instead age mead in a carboy for a year or two, then bottle it in Grolsch style swing top bottles? What about trapped Oxygen in the head space?
Do you carbonate mead prior to bottling? I've always had uncarbonated Mead. So how do you deal with the head space? Drink the mead quickly (within a month of bottling)?

2. I read here about racking from time to time. Why is that necessary? After primary fermentation (call it around a month till SG reaches 1.00) can't you rack it to a carboy and leave it for a couple of years?

3. The Midwest kit comes with LD Carson yeast energizer,

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/yeast-energizer.html

and they add 5 teaspoons at the start, instead of the gradual method suggested here. Northern Brewer comes with LD Carson Yeast Nutrient.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/yeast-nutrient.html


Which additive is correct?
I will follow the instructions here and gradually add the energizer/nutrient.


4. Midwest and Northern Brewer don't mention degassing at all. Is it sufficient to degass once a day for a couple of weeks? Or do you degass till a SG of 1.00 is reached? Can I gently stir with a long spoon for a minute, or is more time needed? Is once a day enough?
To constantly open the bucket seems to risk infection.

 

[huesmann]

1. The amount of oxygen in a bottle is minimal. Don't worry about it.

Carbonation can either be done prior to bottling (force carb) or primed with sugar prior to bottling, in which case it's technically "carbonated" after bottling.

You can use swingtops if you like. Just don't plan to keep them all that long, since the rubber gaskets on the tops can deteriorate with time.

2. You rack to get the mead off the lees. If you stop getting lees, you can stop racking.

3. There are different ways of skinning a cat. They gave you the easiest. Do what you like.

4. Degas until there's no more offgassing. You'll need to continue degassing after you rack out of the bucket to a carboy (and beyond). Basically, you're going to be degassing until the yeast is done. I use a vac pump on my carboy, in addition to agitation (swirling it around). I don't really consider I do while it's in the bucket as degassing--that's more like aeration.

 

[ArcLight]

>>2. You rack to get the mead off the lees. If you stop getting lees, you can stop racking.

But why is that necessary? can't you let it sit for a while and get a big collection of lees, then rack, as opposed to continuous racking?

 

[Bearmaul]

>>2. You rack to get the mead off the lees. If you stop getting lees, you can stop racking.

But why is that necessary? can't you let it sit for a while and get a big collection of lees, then rack, as opposed to continuous racking?

Sometimes leaving the mead on the lees for an extended amount of time will contribute off-flavors. Depending on the kind of mead you're making, you might want these flavors, but for the most part, yeast tastes bad.

 

[alexnharvey]

That's what people thought leaving beer on the yeast until recently...

 

[Robusto]

That's what people thought leaving beer on the yeast until recently...

Beer and Mead are totally different animals- how long are you realistically going to age a beer. Meads are typically aged for months and more often years. Also, a beer will drop most if its lees relatively quickly. Meads can look clear and then continue to drop lees for a long time. I would not want to leave anything sitting on the lees for that long while the yeast start going through autolysis. The exception to this could be champagne yeast. I have read about it, but have never done it, so I can’t really comment.

 

[ArcLight]

Beer and Mead are totally different animals- how long are you realistically going to age a beer. Meads are typically aged for months and more often years. Also, a beer will drop most if its lees relatively quickly. Meads can look clear and then continue to drop lees for a long time. I would not want to leave anything sitting on the lees for that long while the yeast start going through autolysis. The exception to this could be champagne yeast. I have read about it, but have never done it, so I can’t really comment.

Would it work to add a fining agent after say a month in the primary fermentor, let it sit another month, to clear, then rack to a secondary?

I haven't made a Mead yet - if I use the standard methods, is there a way to gauge when to rack? Or is it a meter of looking at the carboy and seeing a buildup of lees, and deciding its time?

How many times do you typically rack, and does this taper off? So for example a Mead is racked at month 1, 3, 6 and then can sit for 2 years?

 

[huesmann]

No. Don't fine unless your secondary is for aging only. If you fine, you're removing yeasties, which may still be doing their work converting sugar to alcohol.

Some people rack on a schedule, like every 30 days. Others just rack when there's a buildup of lees. You can stop racking when the layer of lees is very thin, then rack once more and leave it. Or if you're a lazy/impatient bastard like me, you can then use fining agents, if it's not completely clear, and then bottle. I typically rack once from primary bucket to carboy, then depending how lees-heavy the batch is, just once more before fining.