On to the next step

[Havoc2617]

Continuing from my previous thread: Fermenting with Lalvin K1-V1116
Okay so update as of Friday 10/9/2020.
I took my specific gravity reading and the ABV is 15.22%. I know the yeast can go higher but my wife and I feel this is a good first attempt.
I was a little worried didn't know what to expect it to taste like. As of right now my wife and I absolutely love the taste. There's a good sweetness to it so I don't believe I'm going have to do any backsweetening.
I went ahead and stuck the gallon into the refrigerator to start the cold crash. And I will check it probably Sunday to see if it's ready to rackover and stabilize.
The next question I have is once I rack it should I stabilized and age in the refrigerator? Or in a dark spot in the house?
As I said in an above post the temperature of the house around 78 degrees.
Finally before bottling how long should I age it? (Am I doing this just for clarifying or for taste as well?) Or is the aging process only done after bottling?
Again Thank you all for bearing with all the questions and the awesome help/suggestions.

 

[videojunkie1208]

I would just bottle it after you cold crash (refrigerate). Do you know what the current SG is? That will tell you if you need to stabilize before bottling.

Racking a 1 gallon batch seems like a waste of good mead, and opens up all kinds of opportunities for ruining the batch.

 

[SteveO820]

Sounds like great progress! And congrats on the first mead!

- After stabilizing, keep in which ever you prefer.

- If you think it tastes great why age it? Time helps smooth out the mead (can be harsh young), can also help clarity and continue to meld the flavors but it's all personal preference. If you and your wife love it the way it is, why not drink up and start the next batch If you two are curious maybe hide a small bottle and see what it's like rested a while. Then if you find that made it better make the next batch with some aging.

-Racking can open up the wrong opportunity for bacteria and oxygen so be careful and make sure everything is clean and sanitized. Do you have a good syphon? Try to have no splashing, stirring, or anything that could dissolve more oxygen into the mead. You will also loose a little mead at the bottom. It's the sacrifice for clarity.

 

[JimRausch]

I do 1 gallon batches and I like my meads to be clear. Following the advice from Yooper, and from others in the Mead Makers group, I rack everytime the lees get about 1/4 inch until she's producing no more lees and the mead stays clear, using metabisulphite at every other racking. Usually it's 3 rackings, occasionally 4 over a 3 month time period before it's clear enough for bottling. How do I compensate for the racking loss? I start off with about 1.25 gallon, and at the first racking I store that extra quart in the fridge to use for top-offs.

 

[videojunkie1208]

I rack once (technically twice?) on a 5+ gallon batch.

I rack from primary fermentation after the mead hits 1.020 or so to get off the bulk lees. This is usually about 3 weeks after starting the batch. This rack goes into a glass carboy, where the mead sits for anywhere from 3-9 months to clarify and bulk age. I check the airlocks about every other week or so.

When I am happy with the bulk clarity, I will pull a sample for flavor and check aging. Then I will rack again, into a keg. I basically use the keg as a bottling bucket, using a tap to fill bottles, and leaving the rest for immediate consumption from the keg. (Some meads don't get bottled, I just drink them straight from the keg.)

If you are only doing 1 gallon batches, you can reserve some of the original must (make 1.25 gallons) and freeze it. Rack after primary, add more of the original must (from frozen) and clarifying agents, you'll have some refermentation. If the sediment gets to be more than 1" or two, you could consider racking again and adding the rest of the original must (after sulfating if you're trying to backsweeten).