Traditional Mead Question about my Secondary Fermentation

[Reww]

Hey guys!, so a little bit about the mead I'm making, it was a 1 gallon to 3lbs orange blossom honey with a EC-1118 yeast strain, nothing else. going into primary it was reading about 1.110 OG on August 16th 2019. on Sept 13 2019 I put it into Secondary and topped it off with spring water because I thought there was too much head space for oxygen. At that point it read 1.002 FG. During Secondary it kick started up again a little fermentation I think(not sure though), there were bubbles also the pressure in the airlock is high. Also there is some residue at the top of the secondary and also on the bottom(cake batter like stuff, same as the stuff left over in primary). It is Oct 9 2019 now and I'm wondering...
the question is,
Is this a bad thing for my secondary? and how long should I wait before I open it up to check on the fg?
Also I'm planning on putting oak into it, when should I add that into the mead?

P.S this is my very first Mead and it has been around the 70F-77F degree range for the whole time and these pictures I will show you all are the mead in Secondary fermentation, thank you guys!

 

[Blacksmith1]

The pancake batter is what they call lees. It is the yeasts that have done their thing and dropped out of suspension. If you have more than 1/4 inch I'd rack it, there are others who would wait.
At 1.002 it's getting close to finished. Give it a week, check it again.
From the pictures I'd say perfectly normal fermentation.

 

[Reww]

The pancake batter is what they call lees. It is the yeasts that have done their thing and dropped out of suspension. If you have more than 1/4 inch I'd rack it, there are others who would wait.
At 1.002 it's getting close to finished. Give it a week, check it again.
From the pictures I'd say perfectly normal fermentation.

Was it ok that a fermentation happened in secondary?
should I add the oak in the secondary with the lees?

 

[Seamonkey84]

Yes it’s fine. its not uncommon for it to restart if there’s residual sugars. If you top off with water, it lowers ABV below the yeasts tolerance which allows any yeast to start working again. Unfortunately loosing some volume is expected at every racking. Try to save some from one batch to top off the next with. I now make my batches in buckets, and try to make more than one carboy can hold. I use quart or half gallon bottles with airlocks to hold the excess, then combine again when racking time comes.
Your batch looks really clear now, once it’s completely clear, rack it again and add the oak then. If you need to, top off with sanitized glass marbles.

 

[Reww]

Yes it’s fine. its not uncommon for it to restart if there’s residual sugars. If you top off with water, it lowers ABV below the yeasts tolerance which allows any yeast to start working again. Unfortunately loosing some volume is expected at every racking. Try to save some from one batch to top off the next with. I now make my batches in buckets, and try to make more than one carboy can hold. I use quart or half gallon bottles with airlocks to hold the excess, then combine again when racking time comes.
Your batch looks really clear now, once it’s completely clear, rack it again and add the oak then. If you need to, top off with sanitized glass marbles.

What are your thoughts on me fermenting at the 70f-77f range during primary and secondary? I used EC-1118

 

[Seamonkey84]

I’m still pretty new to this, but from what I’ve read, those temps may produce some off flavors during fermentation, depending on your nutrients and degassing. But at this point your just waiting for it to finish clearing and off gassing. Keeping it 65-72 would aid in gas coming out of solution, but you’ll want to age it at a cooler temp during/after you do your oak.

 

[Reww]

I’m still pretty new to this, but from what I’ve read, those temps may produce some off flavors during fermentation, depending on your nutrients and degassing. But at this point your just waiting for it to finish clearing and off gassing. Keeping it 65-72 would aid in gas coming out of solution, but you’ll want to age it at a cooler temp during/after you do your oak.

I did not degas the mead at all, was this a bad choice?, should I degas if so when do you degas your meads?

I did use yeast nutrients, is this one ok to use in meads?

 

[Seamonkey84]

Not absolutely necessary to degas during fermentation, but it helps the yeast to prevent off flavors and make it drinkable sooner. It’ll gas out on its own as long as you have an air lock on.

 

[CKuhns]

No not necessary to degass/ release the CO2. But a good practice in my opinion if you want a cleaner quicker ferment.. Nutrients you used are perfectly acceptable. EC 1118 has a pretty wide temp range is pretty neutral (doesnt contribute much to the flavor) and will drive everything to completion and down to less than 1.000. Its really designed ss a champaign yeast to about18% if i remember correctly.

 

[Reww]

Thank you guys!

 

[milleruszk]

Reww, I mixed up a batch using EC1118 and got exactly the same 1.110 OG as you did. My batch is only 2 weeks old.

 

[Reww]

other thing guys. I had these oak spirals to use in oaking the mead. Should i put them in a bowl with starsan for about 1min before putting it into the mead?

 

[Reww]

Reww, I mixed up a batch using EC1118 and got exactly the same 1.110 OG as you did. My batch is only 2 weeks old.

Nice man, what temp do you have it fermenting at? will you be oaking it as well?

 

[milleruszk]

Nice man, what temp do you have it fermenting at? will you be oaking it as well?

Temp fluctuates between 65-75. I do not intend to oak it but I am very interested on your technique and results.

 

[CKuhns]

You certainly can drop them in star san if your concerned about any nasties they might carry. Some folks boil them in a s all amount of water or soak them in vodka. Personnally i just drop them in with no prep and have had no issues. They will impart a lot of flavor in a relatively short period of time. For your first run with these i would check them after 7-10 days and every 3 or4 days after until you hit the flavor profile you like.

 

[Reww]

So its nov 17 now, My mead is still going. I racked it into another glass fermenter and added oak. I went to taste it and it seems too thin for my liking. Is there anything i can do to give it a little body?

 

[CKuhns]

The water addition you mentioned in your original post probably is the culprit. Couple of things that might help - Yes, Oak will help, consider adding a quarter tsp acid blend and if still not happy whit it hit it with some fruit. Fruit flavor can sometimes help as it will round out the flavor some or you could stabilize and sweeten it with additional honey.

If you don't want to do the fruit or stabilize just add some honey and let the yeast do their thing again.

Good luck, let us know how it comes out.

 

[Reww]

thanks bud I will keep posting as I keep going in for my taste tests

 

[Reww]

tasted the mead today, seem like some acidity has started to appear in the mead, it was not there when i tasted it earlier this month. I believe the oak is definitely working the mead and changing it for the better, still seems thin as far as body goes, as well as still has a strong alcohol smell on the nose as well as a strong alcohol taste.

since the winter is here and my room has become warm(above 75 degrees F) I decided to put the fermenter into my frig(probly around 44ish degrees F) to keep it cool while I still have the oak in it. I got about two week left till I transfer off the oak and age/drink.

Think putting it in the frig is a bad idea?

 

[Maylar]

The cooler temp would aid clearing. I've never used spirals, but cubes take about 3 months for full extraction. The oak will add some tannin and complexity. You could also consider a couple of Lalvin's yeast derivatives like Booster Blanc and Opti-White for body and mouthfeel. Look them up on Scott Labs' website.

https://scottlab.com/content/files/Documents/Handbooks/ScottlabsHandbook2018.pdf

 

[Reww]

Think putting it in the frig with the air lock on it is ok? I want to leave it for another week with oak.

 

[Maylar]

Yep.

 

[Reww]

ok ty

 

[Seamonkey84]

Another trick for adding body to a wine/mead is to add some raisins. Most people put them into primary, but will add some more flavor in secondary. Use golden raisins to keep it from adding too much color to you batch.

 

[Reww]

should i keep an air lock on my mead if im bulk aging? its been under air lock for about 4 months now. any tips for aging?

 

[Blacksmith1]

Always keep an airlock on it. It keeps out things you don't want if nothing else.
If to are sure it has degassed and is done fermenting you can plug it.but keep it closed to the outside air, flies,etc

 

[Reww]

Always keep an airlock on it. It keeps out things you don't want if nothing else.
If to are sure it has degassed and is done fermenting you can plug it.but keep it closed to the outside air, flies,etc

im pretty sure there is no gas left in the mead, i have tasted it a few times now and it was pretty still. i have a bung and airlock on it. think i can leave the bung and airlock on it for another 4months with a problem? it has been about 4months already. or should i plug it and age it?

 

[Reww]

its been in my refrigerator, is it ok to age it in the cold refrig with an airlock for a year?

 

[Maylar]

Aging is best at cellar temperatures - typically 55F.
Mine age at whatever temp my basement brew room is.

 

[Seamonkey84]

Keeping it cold slows the aging.

 

[Reww]

so my mead has been aging in my frig with the bung and air lock on it for about 9 months now in secondary and i been tasting it along the way, i never added potassium metabisulfite or potassium sorbate. i want to back sweeten and bottle now, should i take this mead out of the secondary and add both potassium meta and potassium sorbate let it sit another day and then bottle?

 

[Seamonkey84]

There could still be viable yeast if it was in the fridge, how long was it in secondary before you put it in?

 

[Reww]

i didnt add anything yet, i wanted to add them both, is that fine? its been in secondary in my frig for like 8months without any potassium metabisulfite.

 

[Seamonkey84]

If your going to add the stabilizers, then yea you’ll be fine. rack off any lees that May have settled over time, then let it warm it up and add your sulfite and sorbate, wait a day, then sweeten.

 

[Reww]

ok cool thank you, also why do i need to let it warm up? what will happen if i put the sorbate and sulfite in and put it back into my frig for a day?

 

[Seamonkey84]

I haven’t done it at all myself, but RPH says it won’t dissolve or comes out of solution in cold

 

[Reww]

ok guess im going to follow you on that lol, think it will be bad if i let it warm up since its been in the frig for like 9months?

 

[Seamonkey84]

No, you’ll be fine, just add your sulfite first if your worried about oxidation, but mead is very forgiving to that.

 

[Reww]

how long do you think i should let the sorbate and sulfites sit in the mead before bottling?

 

[Reww]

so i took out the mead to let it get to room temp and these little foamy white spots are sitting on the top of the mead. anyone know what this might be? i dont want to keep opening it up and tasting, there are no sulfites in it yet or sorbate, also about 3weeks ago i made a tea with raisins and orange peel(boiled it and let it steep for about an hour) that i added to the mead.