question about clearing

[TimKonn2]

I have a traditional 5 gallon mead i started on 11/19/17. 71b yeast, OG 1.115 and did SNA with fermaid-o. transferred to secondary on 12/10. looked at it today and it has not even begun to clear. decent amount of sediment on the bottom, and what i would assume is yeast floating at the top.
I have not taken a reading for about 2 weeks, but when i did, it was at 1.010.. same gravity when i racked it.

MY question is, should it take longer then 2 months to begin to clear with a 5 gallon traditional? should i rack it of sediment end of this month (as originally planned) or wait it shows signs of clearing?

 

[bernardsmith]

If you are not degassing during active fermentation then the lack of clarity might be caused by the CO2 keeping all kinds of particles in suspension (as well as forcing the yeast to float towards the surface). Looks like your SG suggests that the yeast would have produced more than 7.5 lbs of CO2.
If this is a traditional then there is little likelihood of pectins being involved. I would try degassing.

 

[TimKonn2]

If you are not degassing during active fermentation then the lack of clarity might be caused by the CO2 keeping all kinds of particles in suspension (as well as forcing the yeast to float towards the surface). Looks like your SG suggests that the yeast would have produced more than 7.5 lbs of CO2.
If this is a traditional then there is little likelihood of pectins being involved. I would try degassing.

i degassed twice a day until 2/3 sugar break.. my local supply store sells a pump that attaches to your airlock.. would this be what i want to use? or just stick i long spoon in their and stir?

 

[bernardsmith]

I don't know about pumps that you can attach to an airlock. I think you need something that can pull about 22 inches of vacuum if you are degassing with a vacuum. You may also want to raise the temperature a few degrees as the warmer the liquid the less gas it can absorb.

 

[TimKonn2]

I don't know about pumps that you can attach to an airlock. I think you need something that can pull about 22 inches of vacuum if you are degassing with a vacuum. You may also want to raise the temperature a few degrees as the warmer the liquid the less gas it can absorb.

im going there after work, the owner said he uses it to degas his wines in secondary (5gal).. do you have any recommendations for something i could look into purchasing?

 

[bernardsmith]

I am not a shill for anyone but on https://www.winemakingtalk.com/ there is a fellow, Steve, Vacuumpumpman, who makes and sells Allinone pumps. These can be used for degassing and for racking. The advantage is that when you use a vacuum to to transfer wine you do not need to use gravity and that means you do not need to lift heavy fermenters a height high enough to enable a siphon to operate.

 

[TimKonn2]

I am not a shill for anyone but on https://www.winemakingtalk.com/ there is a fellow, Steve, Vacuumpumpman, who makes and sells Allinone pumps. These can be used for degassing and for racking. The advantage is that when you use a vacuum to to transfer wine you do not need to use gravity and that means you do not need to lift heavy fermenters a height high enough to enable a siphon to operate.

I ended up picking up that hand pump that makes a vacuum my wine guy had for sale for 12 bucks to see if it would do anything.. It definitely worked, as it started bubbling like crazy and fizzing up.. Would basically pump for 4 seconds let fizz die down, then pump again for a solid 20 minutes. it never seemed to slow down in about of gas it was releasing.. if it was degassed, it should not be fizzing up anymore, correct? looked at it this morning, no progress towards clearing.. Im gonna use the pump again tonight...

I also picked up a thing of superclear.. if i dont see it clearning up in about a week would you recommend using this and then racking? plan on having it in new carboys till april when i bottle

 

[flyboy]

I have a one gallon batch I started back in November that just now starting to clear after racking it three times every 30 days. Patience, young padawan.

 

[CKuhns]

I would definitely rack anytime after primary you get more than 1/4" or so of junk at the bottom of your carboy or bucket.

Then try the following
1. - As FlyBoy suggested - Patience. Let it set for another couple of weeks to a month. Some of my mead takes up to 120 days to settle out.
2. KC Super Kleer or any such fining agent.
3. Cold crash - Put it in the garage (if winter time.) or a fridge. Let it set for a week or two.

I tend to do all three and unless pectin haze never had one i could not clear up.

With that said:
Haze can be caused from neutrally buoyant suspended particles. The only real option other than filtering is to wait them out. Given enough time (and chilling helps) they will settle out.

Haze caused from Positively or Negatively charged particles (Yes you can have both) You must use a fining agent if time does not work or you are impatient. There are lots of options out there.

Oh and haze in my opinion has little to do with flavor and other than aesthetics really does not have to be addressed. This last statement is definitely open for debate. I have found that if you don't clear it up then your bottles given enough time will have some sediment and if decanted leaving the "trub" then the "trub" at the bottom does taste differently than the mead. (I am leaning towards the belief that then it must impact the flavor when suspended too.)

 

[TimKonn2]

I have a one gallon batch I started back in November that just now starting to clear after racking it three times every 30 days. Patience, young padawan.

quick question for you.. when you rack that many times, why is your go to for filling head space?

 

[TimKonn2]

I would definitely rack anytime after primary you get more than 1/4" or so of junk at the bottom of your carboy or bucket.

Then try the following
1. - As FlyBoy suggested - Patience. Let it set for another couple of weeks to a month. Some of my mead takes up to 120 days to settle out.
2. KC Super Kleer or any such fining agent.
3. Cold crash - Put it in the garage (if winter time.) or a fridge. Let it set for a week or two.

I tend to do all three and unless pectin haze never had one i could not clear up.

With that said:
Haze can be caused from neutrally buoyant suspended particles. The only real option other than filtering is to wait them out. Given enough time (and chilling helps) they will settle out.

Haze caused from Positively or Negatively charged particles (Yes you can have both) You must use a fining agent if time does not work or you are impatient. There are lots of options out there.

Oh and haze in my opinion has little to do with flavor and other than aesthetics really does not have to be addressed. This last statement is definitely open for debate. I have found that if you don't clear it up then your bottles given enough time will have some sediment and if decanted leaving the "trub" then the "trub" at the bottom does taste differently than the mead. (I am leaning towards the belief that then it must impact the flavor when suspended too.)

thanks for the advice.. i def need to rack it this weekend to get off junk.. but if i would want to avoid racking a third time (mainly due to loosing more product, and filling head space) could i use super kleer and then rack of my mountain of junk? my gravity has not really moved in weeks.

 

[flyboy]

quick question for you.. when you rack that many times, why is your go to for filling head space?

I don't worry about it. I haven't found it to be such a big problem that everyone makes it out to be. I'm not losing half a gallon but maybe half a glass. A 1/4" or less off the bottom of the one gallon jug is not as much as one might think. I'm still starting and I might change my tune down the road but I haven't noticed it when I brewed beer for years and I'm not noticing it on my fourth batches of mead I just finished. But, time will tell.