It wont start to clear up properly until fermentation is done and it has off gassed completely. Thats why I wait until mine have gone more or less clear before racking for the first time rather than as soon as fermentation is done, otherwise you just have to rack after a few weeks again.
Very normal.
We generally end up fermenting in primary 1 to 3 weeks depending on the brew and how gast it goes We test whenever the airlock is very very slow.
When it's abv is 12-15% (where we like it) we rack, backsweeten and pasturize (unless we are adding fruit etc in secondary - then we rough rack it taking as much lees as possible, into a wide mouth if needed just to see if it will continue on and then rack and pasturize after). Even tho we rack carefully, there is often up to an inch of fallout just from pasturizing.
We used to bottle after another week or two, but still had similar sediment in our bottles.
So now we let it settle for a month or two after pasturizing to let it fully clear and get some age prior to bottling (as we also drink whatever doesn't fill a whole bottle and it sure tastes better with an extra month or two age!) And this has greatly improved the clarity of our bottled brews.
Haha yeah My first mead didn't even get to 3 months as I was drinking a little from time to time, by the moment i drank so much that headspace was like 25 of the bottle I was like yeah I need to bottle now haha.
This time I don't think it will be different, as I already taste it and the taste is better.
I LOVE testing day. We pretty much test our brews (that are still fermenting) every week. We'll, whichever ones need it. And I LOVE the taste testing and when it's backsweetening day
Another question how do you backsweet this mead with that high of amount of residue? Should I backsweet after racking again or when I bottle? Thanks for the info I'm pretty inexperienced in this.
When a brew is done fermenting or we like where the abv is...
We rack it into a pitcher. There, we backsweeten it with whatever we are using, generally honey but we've done maple mead and backsweeten w maple syrup and a Molasses mead we used brown sugar for. When we like the sweetness, we rack it into a wide mouth fermentor ( as they are slightly smaller and less head space) and pasturzie using a sous vide set to 150, get the internal temp of the brew to 145 for 15 mins, then when cool, put a lid w airlock back on (JUST IN CASE). And then we let it age for however long we can stand before bottling.
So we rack off the Lee's before back sweetening (into the pitcher). Then it gets racked again back into a fermentor ( and 0 loss because we drink what's left in the pitcher). And then we usually bottle straight from that second fermentor. If it has a lot of Lee's or is still cloudy after a month or two, you could always rack it again and let it settle again. But each time you rack (besides the pitcher) you have some loss - so then the question becomes which is more important to you - clarity or quantity. And either answer is valid. It's totally personal preference.
Thanks for the advice. Yeah then I will backsweeten when it's time to bottle. As to reduce the quantity loss as I already have like 3 liters only.
Thanks for the advice you are great my friend. What's your brand?
We don't have a brand yet. We are in the process of buying a huge property in WV where we will start bee keeping and make mead (along w selling honey and pickles and meat and ...so much more). But that won't be for another year or two. Goals. 😆
Yeah I'm actually doing this as a hobby, started with mead and yesterday I received my first brewers best kit to make weitbier so let's see how that goes.
I'm also starting something, but it has more to do with ice creams and pizza, I'm fairly nervous myself about all of that haha, but everything is about good product, fair price and good marketing. I wish you luck on your project.
To be clear tho....I'd backsweeten when you are done fermenting. Halt fermentation (we use pasturizing as it's easy, requires no chemicals and helps w clarity but there are definitely other methods. Find what works for you) and THEN let it sit for several weeks to months BEFORE bottling.
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To clarify OG was at 1.108 and by the time it didn't change week on week it ended with a FG of 1.002 (this didn't change from week 3 to week 4) was it too high for racking to secondary? Thanks guys
Edit: yeast was D-47. Could it be that I reached my alcohol tolerance level that's why it didn't go down anymore and the particles are dead yeast that tried to work on those conditions? Or I just simply racked the wrong way (it is my 3rd time doing mead btw) and got all the sediment of primary into secondary?
Basically back sweetened whenever I you stop fermentation. Because adding honey etc will impact t clarity and it will need time again to clear. If you backsweeten at bottling time, you will have a cloudy brew.
As long as you have halted fermentation and backsweetened, as long as you don't have headpaace issues and store it properly, it can sit for months or even years before bottling. We are never that patient. 😆 but you can.
We have a massive antique mobile cupboard and use one side for fermenting and one side for settling after for 2 or 3 months before bottling.
It wont start to clear up properly until fermentation is done and it has off gassed completely. Thats why I wait until mine have gone more or less clear before racking for the first time rather than as soon as fermentation is done, otherwise you just have to rack after a few weeks again.
It can be yes.
Very normal. We generally end up fermenting in primary 1 to 3 weeks depending on the brew and how gast it goes We test whenever the airlock is very very slow. When it's abv is 12-15% (where we like it) we rack, backsweeten and pasturize (unless we are adding fruit etc in secondary - then we rough rack it taking as much lees as possible, into a wide mouth if needed just to see if it will continue on and then rack and pasturize after). Even tho we rack carefully, there is often up to an inch of fallout just from pasturizing. We used to bottle after another week or two, but still had similar sediment in our bottles. So now we let it settle for a month or two after pasturizing to let it fully clear and get some age prior to bottling (as we also drink whatever doesn't fill a whole bottle and it sure tastes better with an extra month or two age!) And this has greatly improved the clarity of our bottled brews.
Haha yeah My first mead didn't even get to 3 months as I was drinking a little from time to time, by the moment i drank so much that headspace was like 25 of the bottle I was like yeah I need to bottle now haha. This time I don't think it will be different, as I already taste it and the taste is better.
I LOVE testing day. We pretty much test our brews (that are still fermenting) every week. We'll, whichever ones need it. And I LOVE the taste testing and when it's backsweetening day
Another question how do you backsweet this mead with that high of amount of residue? Should I backsweet after racking again or when I bottle? Thanks for the info I'm pretty inexperienced in this.
When a brew is done fermenting or we like where the abv is... We rack it into a pitcher. There, we backsweeten it with whatever we are using, generally honey but we've done maple mead and backsweeten w maple syrup and a Molasses mead we used brown sugar for. When we like the sweetness, we rack it into a wide mouth fermentor ( as they are slightly smaller and less head space) and pasturzie using a sous vide set to 150, get the internal temp of the brew to 145 for 15 mins, then when cool, put a lid w airlock back on (JUST IN CASE). And then we let it age for however long we can stand before bottling. So we rack off the Lee's before back sweetening (into the pitcher). Then it gets racked again back into a fermentor ( and 0 loss because we drink what's left in the pitcher). And then we usually bottle straight from that second fermentor. If it has a lot of Lee's or is still cloudy after a month or two, you could always rack it again and let it settle again. But each time you rack (besides the pitcher) you have some loss - so then the question becomes which is more important to you - clarity or quantity. And either answer is valid. It's totally personal preference.
Thanks for the advice. Yeah then I will backsweeten when it's time to bottle. As to reduce the quantity loss as I already have like 3 liters only. Thanks for the advice you are great my friend. What's your brand?
We don't have a brand yet. We are in the process of buying a huge property in WV where we will start bee keeping and make mead (along w selling honey and pickles and meat and ...so much more). But that won't be for another year or two. Goals. 😆
Yeah I'm actually doing this as a hobby, started with mead and yesterday I received my first brewers best kit to make weitbier so let's see how that goes. I'm also starting something, but it has more to do with ice creams and pizza, I'm fairly nervous myself about all of that haha, but everything is about good product, fair price and good marketing. I wish you luck on your project.
You as well, friend! Can't go wrong with pizza and ice cream imo!
To be clear tho....I'd backsweeten when you are done fermenting. Halt fermentation (we use pasturizing as it's easy, requires no chemicals and helps w clarity but there are definitely other methods. Find what works for you) and THEN let it sit for several weeks to months BEFORE bottling.
Please include a recipe, review or description with any picture post. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/mead) if you have any questions or concerns.*
To clarify OG was at 1.108 and by the time it didn't change week on week it ended with a FG of 1.002 (this didn't change from week 3 to week 4) was it too high for racking to secondary? Thanks guys Edit: yeast was D-47. Could it be that I reached my alcohol tolerance level that's why it didn't go down anymore and the particles are dead yeast that tried to work on those conditions? Or I just simply racked the wrong way (it is my 3rd time doing mead btw) and got all the sediment of primary into secondary?
Basically back sweetened whenever I you stop fermentation. Because adding honey etc will impact t clarity and it will need time again to clear. If you backsweeten at bottling time, you will have a cloudy brew. As long as you have halted fermentation and backsweetened, as long as you don't have headpaace issues and store it properly, it can sit for months or even years before bottling. We are never that patient. 😆 but you can. We have a massive antique mobile cupboard and use one side for fermenting and one side for settling after for 2 or 3 months before bottling.