pdhirsch
Well-Known Member
So I started a 1.5 gallon batch of traditional mead about six weeks ago. OG was 1.122, which is higher than I intended. Yeast is K1V and I used SNA in the beginning. Ambient temperature in my basement brewery has ranged from 61 - 63 degrees.
I started it in an open fermenter and I racked to a one-gallon jug and a half-gallon growler about 4 weeks ago. Since then the SG has been dropping slowly but steadily; it's at 1.025 right now. (It was 1.030 a week ago.)
I considered adding more water when I took the OG measurement, but I decided to see how it would turn out, since K1V is supposed to have high alcohol tolerance. The must is about 13% ABV right now and if it finishes at 1.000 it will be around 16%, which is higher than anything I've made before.
This is the longest fermentation I've seen, but I've never started with an OG as high as 1.122 so maybe this is expected? It seems to be doing OK, but I'm wondering whether I should rack it again, to get rid of the old dead stuff that's settled to the bottom. I think I've read that K1V is OK to age on the lees, but even so, I wonder if racking it might be good for general health, and maybe would help speed things up.
Any thoughts?
I started it in an open fermenter and I racked to a one-gallon jug and a half-gallon growler about 4 weeks ago. Since then the SG has been dropping slowly but steadily; it's at 1.025 right now. (It was 1.030 a week ago.)
I considered adding more water when I took the OG measurement, but I decided to see how it would turn out, since K1V is supposed to have high alcohol tolerance. The must is about 13% ABV right now and if it finishes at 1.000 it will be around 16%, which is higher than anything I've made before.
This is the longest fermentation I've seen, but I've never started with an OG as high as 1.122 so maybe this is expected? It seems to be doing OK, but I'm wondering whether I should rack it again, to get rid of the old dead stuff that's settled to the bottom. I think I've read that K1V is OK to age on the lees, but even so, I wonder if racking it might be good for general health, and maybe would help speed things up.
Any thoughts?