Too soon to rack?

[growlrr]

I started two 1 gal batches 8 days ago with 3# raw Texas honey in each. One was Blood Orange using D-47 with SNA and a SG of 1.083. Checked this morning and the SG is 0.997. Second batch was Lingonberry (dried berries and a Lingonberry concentrate) and used 71B-1122 with SNA. Starting SG was 1.086 and today it is 1.000. I plan on adding 1 oz bitter orange peel (which has been steeping in vodka for a week) and half a Vanilla pod to the Blood Orange, and another 8-10 oz of the Lingonberry concentrate along with 1# crushed frozen/thawed cranberries to the Lingonberry. Sorry for the long story but my question is, seeing how it appears the yeasties have done their job, is it too soon to rack off the lees and into a secondary and add the secondary ingredients?

 

[aspiffymofo]

I don't know what everyones thoughts on this are, but do you need to rack off the lees before adding secondary ingredients?
My thoughts are that you lose a little volume with each racking, and with smaller batches 5G and less, that can make a difference in the amount of final product you get.

 

[Drewed]

That's a pretty fast ferment, are you able to keep your temps down there in Texas?

I'd leave them in the primary for another week or two. Honestly, the race to get the mead of the lees is something I never understood. Sure you can get some autotosis (sp?) but that wont happen for months, especially with the 5 gallons and under batches. Its not like the must is full of grainy nasty like a beer is.

 

[growlrr]

I'm in CT actually, (the honey was from Texas) but the temp was a pretty consistent 72F. I was shocked too when I took the readings a week later - with two different yeasts no less. I actually opened up a new hydrometer and rechecked because I thought maybe my old one was inaccurate (how that would be I have no idea...paranoia is a beautiful thing...lol). I think I'm going to follow your advice and just add the secondary ingredients into the buckets for a couple of weeks and then rack them into carboys, stabilize then and put them away until Christmas...I'm thinking even though they are in the buckets still, as long as I dont agitate them too much, a couple more weeks in there won't cause any oxidation issues - Does that make sense?

 

[Yooper]

I usually reach FG in a week or so also. I rack when I get there, or just before if possible. It sounds on track!

Mead is supposed to be less susceptible to oxidation than regular wine, but I treat it as wine and don't leave it in buckets after fermentation has stopped. You probably won't do harm, but I dont' see the advantage to leaving it there, either.

 

[Drewed]

Ahh, see I also ferment in carboy, or little big mouths, not buckets, so I'm pretty low on the oxidation front and what head space there is should be full of co2.