# Fermenting time..



## Beta_Grumm (Aug 10, 2009)

I only have experience with my current mead, which is still in the primary.
Its taken a lot longer to ferment then my other wines. like 8 -9 days compared to 3-4 for the other wines. I even re pitched with champagne yeast. Didn't speed up at all.
I was just curious if this is generally the case? I'm not worried. Smells great and is fermenting steadily. I should be able to rack it here tonight or tomorrow.


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## Wade E (Aug 10, 2009)

Meads can sometimes take a month or more so just be patient and let her go. You will be rewarded in the end though, I love meads. Wish I had a good free or discounted source of honey.


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## St Allie (Aug 10, 2009)

Yeast finds fermenting honey more difficult than fermenting granulated sugars and corn syrups, so yes it will take longer,

Allie


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## Nubz (Aug 10, 2009)

Wade E said:


> Wish I had a good free or discounted source of honey.



me too
i was going to try a mead till i saw the price of honey
and i dont have a one gallon secondary or id try a little batch rather than find out i dont like it and throw away $40 worth of honey in a 5 gallon batch


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## Tom (Aug 10, 2009)

Know any bee keepers?


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## Wade E (Aug 10, 2009)

Obviously not or I would be all over them like white on rice!


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## Tom (Aug 10, 2009)

Wade E said:


> Obviously not or I would be all over them like white on rice!


Now I dont make mead BUTT, I did make some Honey Nut Brown Ale and got my honey (real cheap) at Sam's. 
Have you tried theirs?


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## Wade E (Aug 10, 2009)

I have used BJ's but really wanted to use some really good Honey, Bj"s is the cheapest around though and thats why I used it and it did come out good but stillexpensive when using 18 lbs per 6 gallon batch.


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## Malkore (Aug 11, 2009)

sam's club honey isn't bad if you're doing a melomel or heavily spiced metheglin, where you don't expect much in the way of honey aromas due to the other flavors dominating.


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## Leanne (Aug 11, 2009)

Just as a point of interest. Over here we are all being encouraged to keep bees as they are becoming a bit rare. Sometimes it is even subsidised a bit. They are happy little chaps. If you have a garden or even a deck/balcony it might be worth having a hive or two.


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## Leanne (Aug 11, 2009)

Beta_Grumm said:


> I only have experience with my current mead, which is still in the primary.
> Its taken a lot longer to ferment then my other wines. like 8 -9 days compared to 3-4 for the other wines. I even re pitched with champagne yeast. Didn't speed up at all.
> I was just curious if this is generally the case? I'm not worried. Smells great and is fermenting steadily. I should be able to rack it here tonight or tomorrow.



Honestly, just let it do it's own thing. I make mead a lot and it takes as long as it takes. So worth the waiting though.


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## Beta_Grumm (Aug 11, 2009)

Tom said:


> Now I dont make mead BUTT, I did make some Honey Nut Brown Ale and got my honey (real cheap) at Sam's.
> Have you tried theirs?



confucius say: "Mead butt make for sticky chairs."
(sorry I couldn't resist.)


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## Leanne (Aug 11, 2009)

beta_grumm said:


> confucius say: "mead butt make for sticky chairs."
> (sorry i couldn't resist.)




 .


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## Nubz (Aug 15, 2009)

this reminds me of my girlfriend(of 10 years now)asked me how long to cook chicken
she thought i was trying ot be funny saying "till its done" being fairly knowledgeable about cooking and knowing the zillion variables there can be with cooking and knowing chicken has to be cooked good to kill the nasty stuff

but anyway

wine mead beer anything like that goes the same way

its done when its done lol


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## Leanne (Aug 17, 2009)

I have a little sign above my wines and meads. "Leave 'er be". I read this every time I get a bit impatient.


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## turbo0001 (Jan 3, 2010)

*keep waiting?*

First off, I have been enjoying this forum for a couple of months now. I've successfully made a couple of Winexpert kits, but I thought I'd try my hand at a non-kit based beverage.

I'm fermenting my first mead using the very basic recipe from Mother Earth News (apparently I can't post a link because I'm new ). It's been almost a month and it's still in the primary. Below are some of the measurements.

starting SG: 1.1
current SG: 1.026
air lock bubbling about once every 7 seconds

I'm wondering how much longer I should wait before racking it. It seems the general rule of thumb is when SG hits around 1.010 and/or air lock bubbles slow to about once every 30 seconds.

Any additional advice?


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## Luc (Jan 3, 2010)

If there is fruit, or fruit parts, in it you should rack it now. 
If it is just juice with honey you could let it go till it has finished and then rack to a secondary.

There is NO rule when transferring from primary to secondary.
It depends on the kind of wine you are making and the judgement of the winemaker.

Luc


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## Wade E (Jan 3, 2010)

This is a tough one because if anyone follows the Joe Mattioli Ancient mead recipe it doesnt have yoy rack off that fruit for months. I typivally pull the fruit out of the game after 5-8 days depending on the fruit and the speed of fermentation.


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## Allen (Jan 5, 2010)

Leanne said:


> I have a little sign above my wines and meads. "Leave 'er be". I read this every time I get a bit impatient.



Shouldn't that sign read "Leave 'er _Bee_"


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## Allen (Jan 5, 2010)

Nubz said:


> me too
> i was going to try a mead till i saw the price of honey
> and i dont have a one gallon secondary or id try a little batch rather than find out i dont like it and throw away $40 worth of honey in a 5 gallon batch



Using the "Honey Locator" website: http://honeylocator.com/search.asp I was able to find a honey farm about 45 miles away, and I bought a 30 gallon jug of honey for about $64 including tax. That computes to about $2.19/pound.

If you add the water & fruit costs, I have a total of $50.20 in a 5 gallon batch, and expect to get 23-24 bottles. That computes to $2.09 to $2.18 per bottle.


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## Mike (Jan 5, 2010)

Luc said:


> If there is fruit, or fruit parts, in it you should rack it now.
> If it is just juice with honey you could let it go till it has finished and then rack to a secondary.
> 
> There is NO rule when transferring from primary to secondary.
> ...


What about autolysis?


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## Malkore (Jan 6, 2010)

Autolysis is not a myth, but its not something you're going to develop in a month or two.


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## Mike (Jan 6, 2010)

Are you referring to mead, wine, and/or beer?


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## gaudet (Jan 10, 2010)

Allen said:


> Shouldn't that sign read "Leave 'er _Bee_"



I was thinkin the same thing Allen


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