Started my mead Jan 17, 2017

[FL_Bill]

I have not done anything to it but watch it, refill the air lock with star-san and keep it in a cool dark place. And it looks good. But what do I do now? It is still in the original carboy with fruit and what ever else.

I am told rack it, drink it...is that all?

Honestly I have not touched it because I am fearful it will taste bad. I did a large carboy, 5 gallons. So I need to do something.

Help!!

FLB

 

[Boomer]

I'd rack it and drink it

 

[FL_Bill]

I will take some fresh pictures of it tonight and share them.

FLB

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi FLB - and welcome.
Do you have a wine thief? An unused sanitized baster will do. Pull a sample and taste it. You won't know what to do with it unless you know how it tastes - so taste it. Is it too sweet?* Too dry?** Just right? Then bottle it. Is it too "hot" (too much alcohol)? Then you might need to leave it for another year and in the meantime you might want to read some trade published (rather than self published) books on mead making. But taste it. That's what you gotta do... and I know that that is a terrible job, but someone's gotta do it and my money is on the fact that you are the best person to make that awful sacrifice...

* Too sweet? It may have stalled . You will need to restart the fermentation but best to post us your recipe and method and we can see what you might need to do to get the yeast up and running (if it's stalled it could be that the yeast reached its tolerance for alcohol so there may not be very much you can do here except perhaps blend this with a bone dry mead)
** Too dry? You may need to back sweeten this but to do that you must first stabilize the mead to prevent the yeast from treating any added sugar as theirs and not yours.

 

[FL_Bill]

see if that worked...

 

[FL_Bill]

So I pulled a pint out tonight and drank it. I do not know how to describe what I drank. But I felt it was ruff. It has a strong scent. If you inhale it, it is very strong. I guess you could say it was hot, sweet and strong. I really do not exactly know what "hot" really means, but it fits, I guess.

I tried to ask my wife what she thought and she replied it was not bad, but something is off with it. It kind of left my taste buds in shock.

So now what? Should I move it to a clean carboy minus the fruit? It is very clear and has a pleasant color to it.

Oh, and starting SG was 1.055, I did not measure it tonight, but will pull another sample tomorrow.

I tried to upload pictures but I could not.

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

Sounds like it's time to rack it

 

[FL_Bill]

I have a wine siphon. Do i rack into a second carboy or into bottles?

FLB

 

[FL_Bill]

So I racked tonight. I moved it into another carboy. I did this because I did not want to bottle sediment. The first picture is 2 bottles filled right from original carboy. My siphon dropped too deep during the second bottle and it pulled some sediment from main carboy. The second picture is the fresh racked carboy, then a close-up. Last picture is from the bottom of 1st carboy in a half gallon mason jar. Not sure what to do with it. I figured I’d let it settle and drink it...at least the top. You can see layers forming. Racking has seemed to kick off the fermentation again as I hear the air lock bubbling again. It had slowed down to a bubble ever 4 or 5 mins or so and now is about 2 mins. I think it will taste better chilled, but I’m not a huge fan yet....lol my current sg is .996. I started at 1.055. If I did it right....

Thoughts?

FL Bill

 

[karch]

Hi Bill,

A couple of thoughts for you...

1. I would move your mead into a smaller carbory(s), if possible. With that amount of headspace you run the risk of oxidation.
2. With a sg of 0.996, I doubt fermentation restarted. Did you de-gas during the initial fermentation? If not, that is probably what is happening now. Nothing to worry about.
3. If you're not a huge fan... yet, you can experiment with stabilizing and backsweetening.

 

[FL_Bill]

Thank you Karch!
1-understood. I may get 4 smaller 1 gallon carboys or I think I saw 3 gallon ones at local brew shop...I will call them tomorrow!
2-umm..how would I know if I de-gased or not? Is that just having an airlock on top of brew? I did. If that is not about the air lock then I have no clue...
3-not a fan..yet, hoping to be soon. How do I stabilize? I know about back sweetening.

Thank you for the feedback!

FL Bill

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

Degassing is done when you rack or with a wire whip. Guessing you didn't do it. Not a big deal. Stabilize by chemicals. Camden tablets and k-meta.

 

[FL_Bill]

I took a sample to our local brewer and he approved! He thinks AC is prob around 9% or higher. I did mess up when i measured SP initially.

I was drinking it last night and have to say it does grow on you.

I think next batch will be a cider for the wife.

Thanks

FL Bill