Greetings, semi-experienced brewer & cider maker who recently decided to try his hand at brewing up a mead, here...
I seem to have successfully made it through a month-long primary fermentation, with my mead still intact. (Thanks to the wealth of information here and elsewhere, not to mention the amazing Compleat Meadmaker.) I'm anticipating racking to secondary pretty soon, possibly this weekend, and I wanted to see what advice I could glean on a few outstanding questions.
Relevant info:
"Brew" date: May 1 (31 days ago)
3.2 gallons in fermenter
OG 1.104, 9 lbs. honey (L.R. Rice, local Washington, from Costco)
No-heat method
yeast: Lalvin D-47, 2 packets (10 g), rehydrated with GoFerm
meadmakr.com/TOSNA 2.0 nutrient additions, which went off without a hitch
starting pH: 3.8
current pH: 3.2
current SG: ~0.998 (refractometer line is pretty fuzzy)
1) I've been fermenting in the garage, which held pretty steadily in the low 60s during the bulk of the primary. The last week or so, the temp climbed into the low 70s, then dipped to 68, but basically I think I'm looking at ambient temps of 70-72 for secondary unless I a) bust out the fermentation chamber, or b) bring the carboy down into the crawl space. I realize that drastic temp swings are a bigger concern than overall higher temps, but assuming I can keep a somewhat steady temp for secondary, is somewhere around the low 70s OK? Would cooler temps be preferable?
2) My last SG measurement of 1.002 was 5 days ago, but airlock bubbling has since slowed down drastically (now >1 minute between bubbles). The mead is still very hazy but there's a clear, solid layer of lees on the bottom of the carboy. I've read everything from "rack before primary is over" to "wait a few weeks after primary ends to rack". I was comfortable waiting until I thought primary fermentation was finished before racking, and I don't really expect SG to drop much more. Is there any advantage to waiting a while longer before racking? Should I stir the lees back up into suspension?
3) Is my pH OK? I was initially worried when it appeared to drop down to 3.4 a couple days into primary, then read a bit more and decided to leave it alone. I'm not exactly sure what the recommended threshold is for adding potassium carbonate; I think Schramm recommends keeping it 3.6 or higher, but many others suggest that lower pH is OK. Clearly I didn't get a stuck fermentation, but I'm wondering if the yeast might have been stressed at this pH.
4) Would the use of sulfites be recommended for this racking? I'll be racking to a 3 gallon carboy with minimal headspace. Wasn't going to use it but just curious if anyone else does.
5) Ummm... anything I'm forgetting? Right now it tastes really good, but could stand a bit of mellowing. I figured the first batch would be mostly a learning experience, with the production of good mead being a potential bonus. Yes, the next step is to start another batch ASAP.
Thanks for reading!
I seem to have successfully made it through a month-long primary fermentation, with my mead still intact. (Thanks to the wealth of information here and elsewhere, not to mention the amazing Compleat Meadmaker.) I'm anticipating racking to secondary pretty soon, possibly this weekend, and I wanted to see what advice I could glean on a few outstanding questions.
Relevant info:
"Brew" date: May 1 (31 days ago)
3.2 gallons in fermenter
OG 1.104, 9 lbs. honey (L.R. Rice, local Washington, from Costco)
No-heat method
yeast: Lalvin D-47, 2 packets (10 g), rehydrated with GoFerm
meadmakr.com/TOSNA 2.0 nutrient additions, which went off without a hitch
starting pH: 3.8
current pH: 3.2
current SG: ~0.998 (refractometer line is pretty fuzzy)
1) I've been fermenting in the garage, which held pretty steadily in the low 60s during the bulk of the primary. The last week or so, the temp climbed into the low 70s, then dipped to 68, but basically I think I'm looking at ambient temps of 70-72 for secondary unless I a) bust out the fermentation chamber, or b) bring the carboy down into the crawl space. I realize that drastic temp swings are a bigger concern than overall higher temps, but assuming I can keep a somewhat steady temp for secondary, is somewhere around the low 70s OK? Would cooler temps be preferable?
2) My last SG measurement of 1.002 was 5 days ago, but airlock bubbling has since slowed down drastically (now >1 minute between bubbles). The mead is still very hazy but there's a clear, solid layer of lees on the bottom of the carboy. I've read everything from "rack before primary is over" to "wait a few weeks after primary ends to rack". I was comfortable waiting until I thought primary fermentation was finished before racking, and I don't really expect SG to drop much more. Is there any advantage to waiting a while longer before racking? Should I stir the lees back up into suspension?
3) Is my pH OK? I was initially worried when it appeared to drop down to 3.4 a couple days into primary, then read a bit more and decided to leave it alone. I'm not exactly sure what the recommended threshold is for adding potassium carbonate; I think Schramm recommends keeping it 3.6 or higher, but many others suggest that lower pH is OK. Clearly I didn't get a stuck fermentation, but I'm wondering if the yeast might have been stressed at this pH.
4) Would the use of sulfites be recommended for this racking? I'll be racking to a 3 gallon carboy with minimal headspace. Wasn't going to use it but just curious if anyone else does.
5) Ummm... anything I'm forgetting? Right now it tastes really good, but could stand a bit of mellowing. I figured the first batch would be mostly a learning experience, with the production of good mead being a potential bonus. Yes, the next step is to start another batch ASAP.
Thanks for reading!