Well... My first mead and looks like I screw up on OG....

[bolepa]

Thank you for the clarification, BD!

 

[bushpilot]

Bentonite in primary, and time In secondary usually gets it done for me. If not, I also cold crash.

 

[bolepa]

Cold crashing can also do wonders

I also cold crash.

Thank you, Gentlemen! Cold crush option is not for me - I don't have room in my fridge for two 3-gallon vessels...
I do have bentonite on hand but as much as I could learn it creates a lot of sediment in carboy and thus decreases amount of mead in it.. Isn't it? I have another agent - Super-Kleer and heard it works like a charm but I would like to hear your opinion on this first, before I start using it...

 

[DBhomebrew]

I have not used Super-Kleer. Yes, bentonite creates a big fluffy cloud of sediment. I find cold crashing helps it compact. If that's not available to you, time will do it with our without finings. Time will make a better tasting mead, too.

 

[bolepa]

I have not used Super-Kleer. Yes, bentonite creates a big fluffy cloud of sediment. I find cold crashing helps it compact. If that's not available to you, time will do it with our without finings. Time will make a better tasting mead, too.

Got it. Thank you, Sir!

 

[MightyMosin]

Super-Kleer (Kieselsol & Chitosan) works very well. You will want to let it sit a week or after it clears to allow let all the fining agents drop out to the bottom and avoid the funky taste.

You will want to make sure you have degassed it well before using these.

I typically will add the Kieselsol and stir it in for a minute or two. An hour or two later, I add my Chitosan. I have done this where I added the Chitosan about 24 hours later but I then need to be very careful about not stirring up what has settled to the bottom as my experience has had it not clear up again very fast without having to add a bit more of the Kieselsol.

 

[bolepa]

Super-Kleer (Kieselsol & Chitosan) works very well. You will want to let it sit a week or after it clears to allow let all the fining agents drop out to the bottom and avoid the funky taste.

You will want to make sure you have degassed it well before using these.

I typically will add the Kieselsol and stir it in for a minute or two. An hour or two later, I add my Chitosan. I have done this where I added the Chitosan about 24 hours later but I then need to be very careful about not stirring up what has settled to the bottom as my experience has had it not clear up again very fast without having to add a bit more of the Kieselsol.

Great info, MightyMosin! Thank you. I think I will be using Super-Kleer when time comes - at the end of secondary fermentation....

 

[MightyMosin]

I do have bentonite on hand but as much as I could learn it creates a lot of sediment in carboy and thus decreases amount of mead in it.. Isn't it?

If used at the beginning of fermentation, by the time fermentation is done, Bentonite will form a mud like cake at the bottom that will tend to trap the sediment that it dropped out of suspension and does a pretty good job of keeping it trapped there. You don't lose any more or less as the Bentonite is displacing your mead. I find that I can often rack out more as the sludge is trapped within the Bentonite.

Whether it is Bentonite with Sparkolloid or Super-Kleer, you will generally see quite a bit drop out of your honey is pretty raw and only lightly filtered. Either way you are racking the cleared Mead that is above it all. Bentonite and Sparkolloid have been my general go to fining agents though I have started to use Kieselsol and Chitosan more now as there is less prep involved. I still use Bentonite in primary.

 

[bolepa]

If used at the beginning of fermentation, by the time fermentation is done, Bentonite will form a mud like cake at the bottom that will tend to trap the sediment that it dropped out of suspension and does a pretty good job of keeping it trapped there.

So.... I am close to end of 4th week of primary fermentation. It may or may not take one or two more week which would conclude primary fermentation... Then mead will be racked for secondary one.... This is my understanding that I can add finning agents during secondary fermentation. Is this correct?

 

[MightyMosin]

Add them at secondary. To my Knowledge, Bentonite is the only one that can be used in both.

Tannins in primary also help with clearing, but they aren't considered a fining agent. Experience also seems to show that oak in primary might have some benefit for speed of clearing; though I only use it in primary on mead that I know for sure I want oaking with.

 

[bolepa]

Add them at secondary

Perfecto! Thank you for the clarification.

 

[Maylar]

Add them at secondary. To my Knowledge, Bentonite is the only one that can be used in both.

Tannins in primary also help with clearing, but they aren't considered a fining agent. Experience also seems to show that oak in primary might have some benefit for speed of clearing; though I only use it in primary on mead that I know for sure I want oaking with.

Oak in secondary also aids in clearing. Bentonite in primary, cold crash, rack to secondary. Stabilize, back sweeten. The sweetening honey adds some honey haze. Sit on oak for 3 months and watch the mead take on a golden glow and clear nicely.

 

[bolepa]

MightyMosin said: "Experience also seems to show that oak in primary might have some benefit for speed of clearing"

Maylar said:"Oak in secondary also aids in clearing"

Now my head is spinning.... So, is i it OK to add oak to secondary or I had do it for primary? Like I mentioned above, I think I have only one and a half or maybe two weeks left till primary comes to it's end...
Secondly, talking about adding oak to the mead (which I was thinking about before).... I am a little hesitate doing that because I afraid that oak can mess with taste of honey. Don't get me wrong - I love oak taste in wines but mead is a different animal with it's own, distinguished taste... Also, if I decide to add oak - what would you recommend: oak infusion spirals or oak cubes? Also, what type of oak: American, French or some others types? As always, I really appreciate your help! Thank you!

​

 

[Maylar]

Oak adds tannins and complexity. Unless you overdo it it doesn't overwhelm the honey. I oak all my meads for 3 months in secondary. Never done primary. Cubes at about 0.6 oz. per gallon. Medium + toast American seems to be best with a traditional. Melomels and other flavored meads might benefit from French or Hungarian but I have no experience with them. Avoid chips, they're one-dimensional. My current preference is with Xoaker spheres, 4 per gallon for 3 months.

 

[bolepa]

Great! Thank you, Maylar. I may go with cubes because it's easier to order them from Amazon (they don't have Xoaker spheres) or I have to drive to my local MoreBeer store to get Xoaker spheres.... Anyways I have some spare time for this...

 

[Maylar]

I think they only sell direct. They're not cheap:

American Oak Xoakers - XTRAOAK

 

[bolepa]

Maylar, I just checked this site and looks like it's even cheaper then if I go with More Beer (considering coupon discount 15%)... Shipping cost of $16 is a killer.... Thank you for the tip!

 

[bolepa]

Hi everyone! I am not sure if I should open another thread as more questions building up from me.... On the other hand this is the same batch (my first one) I started this thread with...
Here is my question for you and I hope you'll help me out on this: I am close to the end of primary fermentation which is left to last for one-two weeks but this is my assumption. Hydrometer readings will show. When fermentation is complete I will be racking mead from two 3 gallon carboys into six one-gallon ones... As you can see from the picture, there is extra headspace in both carboys which is not a problem for primary fermentation.

When I rack the mead into one gallon carboys there will be too much of headspace in two out of six carboys and this is not OK for secondary fermentation.... After I made some research on Google and this forum I found that there are few methods I can use and a few I cannot:
1. Adding glass marbles
2. Adding some more liquids (juice, water and vodka (3:1 ratio)
I cannot add CO2 because I don't have proper equipment
I cannot use All-in-one pump because I don't have it and it is kind of costly to buy...
I am looking for your advice and.... Thank you!

 

[bushpilot]

I would top with another mead, or with juice or must.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Fill 5?

 

[bolepa]

I would top with another mead, or with juice or must.

This is what I would prefer at this moment... What juice would you recommend? I was thinking about Concord grape. What say you?

Fill 5?

This is what I would like to avoid: in this case I will loose about two and a half quarters of mead - this is what will be left over... Of course, I can just drink it but this is not going to be real mead - just foggy alcoholic beverage. If I have any other options I definitely prefer top use them as a fist remedy.

 

[DBhomebrew]

The 6th, the very yeasty leftovers, will continue to compact down and you'll be able to draw more mead off it.

 

[bolepa]

The 6th, the very yeasty leftovers, will continue to compact down and you'll be able to draw more mead off it.

Thank you, DB but... I am sorry for my ignorance - I am just a beginner with a limited theoretical knowledge and zero experience....
Would you mind to explain a bit more on how I will be able "to draw more mead off it"? Do you mean I should just leave so called "leftovers" (it's about 0.75 gallon) in one gallon vessel with a lot of headspace and let it ferment further?

 

[DBhomebrew]

If out of 3G you can rack off 2.5G of clean clear mead, you will be left with lees swimming in 1/2G of murky mead.

Take both of the leftover 1/2Gs (leave the solid mass at the bottom behind) and put them in the same jug to continue its conditioning (not fermentation, that's over and done with). Over time, the lees will continue to compact and eventually you might get an extra 1/4G of clean clear mead. This can be bottled and drank, or it becomes your top off mead for a future batch.

 

[bolepa]

Oh, I got it. Actually, I like your idea to rack the leftovers from both 3 gallon carboys (approximately 1/2 g from each) into 1 gallon carboy....
The only thing I have to ask is - I used different type of yeast for each of 3 gallon carboy - would it be OK to mix those two different yeasts together in one gallon carboy? I assume it will impact the taste of the final product but not much ABV... Correct?
Thank you for your patience with me!

 

[MightyMosin]

Oh, I got it. Actually, I like your idea to rack the leftovers from both 3 gallon carboys (approximately 1/2 g from each) into 1 gallon carboy....
The only thing I have to ask is - I used different type of yeast for each of 3 gallon carboy - would it be OK to mix those two different yeasts together in one gallon carboy? I assume it will impact the taste of the final product but not much ABV... Correct?
Thank you for your patience with me!

At that point fermentation is done and the yeast will not be competing with each other. You will be mixing the flavors and any other esters produced by the yeast; so it will be a blend of those flavors and ABV if different

 

[Maylar]

This is why I start with more than I need, to accommodate racking. It's also why I have some 1/2 gallon glass jugs.

 

[MightyMosin]

This is why I start with more than I need, to accommodate racking. It's also why I have some 1/2 gallon glass jugs.

This is the way!

My "5 gallon" PET carboys are actually something like 5 3/8+ gallon, so if I want to fill into the neck area I have to have made more than a 5 gallon batch to start with and I need to account for racking loss as well as displacement if I intent to add honey to back sweeten. It is the same thing with my 3 gallon batches.

I think the 1 gallon FerMonsters are 1.25 gallon to get into the neck area.

 

[bolepa]

At that point fermentation is done and the yeast will not be competing with each other. You will be mixing the flavors and any other esters produced by the yeast; so it will be a blend of those flavors and ABV if different

Perfect! Thank you.

This is why I start with more than I need, to accommodate racking. It's also why I have some 1/2 gallon glass jugs.

Thank you, Maylar! This is called "Experience"... and I am not in this area just yest but.... lesson learned. I will definitely take this in consideration for my next batch!
So, from what you all advised me to do, adding fruit juice or placing glass marbles in a carboy shouldn't be considered as a "good" or "preferrable" option and you are advising against it? Is this correct?

 

[DBhomebrew]

Adding fruit juice will make it a different drink. Go for it it's that's what you want. Marbles are a perfectly acceptable method to fill space. As is accounting for losses and making a bigger batch, but that opportunity is past on these 6 gallons.

It's home brew. Each brewer figures out what they prefer. It's how it's supposed to be!