Mead Started back in July - Need Advice

[BrewFrick]

Here's the rundown on what has happened with this stuff so far.

First Mead: Started 7/25/07

12 lbs. Honey bought as “Heavenly Honey” on eBay (Mixed Wildflower)
2 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
1 Pack Red Star Champagne Yeast
Brought up to just almost 5 gallons

7/27/07 – Started to bubble good and hard, “fizzes” if shaken and airlock goes crazy with bubbles.
7/28/07 - Added 2 lbs orange blossom honey and changed lid to better sealed lid
8/1/07 - Has slowed down on bubbles in airlock, still fizzes and sends out lots of bubbles in airlock if shaken
8/5/07 – Racked to secondary, still rather sweet taste, very hot and alcohol like in taste
8/7/07 – Still bubbling in the carboy, can see tiny bubbles coming to the top like crazy, pushing up some of the yeast to the top and it is bubbling on top
8/24/07 – Not much change, still getting a little krausen on top, I shake it now and then to stir up yeast, still looks to be bubbling like crazy
9/2/07 – Racked over to better bottle, still lots of yeast in suspension and cloudy, kept on bubbling away.
9/6/07 – Still getting some yeast on top, just starting to clear now
11/4/07 – Seems to have no activity, not quite totally clear, will fizz and blow lots of bubbles in airlock if shaken up

I was guessing that this was about done with primary ferment in September and that I have been just bulk aging it for the last two months. I know this will be a slightly sweet mead since it has a total of 14 lbs honey and I am planning on bottling this still in wine bottles. By the way it still fizzes up I am thinking the yeast is still working or that the mead needs to be de-gassed to make sure there is not too much CO2 in suspension for a cork setup. Can someone take a look at all my documentation here and let me know what my next step might be exactly?

 

[Yooper]

Did you take sg readings? That'll help to decide if it's done or offgassing co2. The reason I ask is that champagne yeast is alcohol tolerant to about 18% alcohol, so it should have taken that mead dry, it your honey gave you an og in the 1.100 range. I wonder if it was stuck, or at least just slow. Honey does take a very long time to ferment out, as a rule. I'm thinking it's not finished.

 

[BrewFrick]

No, no SG or hydrometer use, I know I should start, I even have one too.
Well, I just shook it a bit and it fizzed but didn't really bubble too much in the lock. I have another packet of champagne yeast. Should I rack it again and add in the new packet to get it going again or taste to see if it has fermented out really dry?

 

[malkore]

why did you rack it on 8/5? 10 days is NOT enough time to ferment 12lbs of honey.

a month is the typical timeframe to rack to secondary, not 10 days. you're stressing the hell out of the yeast by racking early. and stress often = off flavors.

 

[Yooper]

Well, I'd say to check the sg just to see where you're at. If it's sweet, it's not done. I'd suggest leaving it alone rather than racking it. Unless you have a ton of gross lees (and you shouldn't if you didn't put anything in it except honey), there is nothing to be gained by racking except to remove it from the yeast. If you really want to do something, you could add some yeast nutrient. I wouldn't do another yeast addition unless you take an sg today and one next week and they're the same. Then you know it's stuck. It's probably just slow because of the lack of nutrients. I didn't see that you racked really early- that's probably what slowed it down.