Techniques and timing for moving mead to secondary

[Brandon M]

I suppose this post would apply to wine also (yeah, I know, mead is just honey wine) but I'm making mead this time, so there's no fruit lees involved.

The forum has a lot of advice on primary-to-secondary, but it's quite widely varied. I have a few questions about which I can't seem to find consensus. There's a lot of discussion about avoiding oxidation, versus protective CO2, and the effects of sulfites.

- When to rack to secondary? Opinions vary widely: do it at 2/3 the sugars... do it at 1.020 or so... let it go dry... whenever it stops bubbling...

- Adding k-meta/campden tablets when racking to secondary? If so, how much?

- One more dose of nutrient/fermaid, or not? I've seen mentions of bad flavors from nutrient. Any benefits?

I started the simple mead at 1.100, it's down to 1.016 (Brix 11.8), for a computed ABV of about 11.3. The fermentation rate just started to taper off. It's still producing a little bit of foam, but not enough to overflow an airlock.

 

[Hazelemere]

I'd treat it with bentonite right now while it is still fermenting to pull out protein haze at 2 2tsp per 2 cups scalding water stirred for a minute and then restirred into your mead per 5 Imperial gallons. When it clears you can add 3/8 tsp non-lumpy potassium metabisulphite per 5 Imperial gallons which should give you about 30 ppm free sulphite. If you decide to leave out the bentonite you can rack it now to get a bit of air into it to reinvigorate the yeast and then rack and sulphite it when it starts to clear and drop yeast solids.

 

[winemaker81]

I have a few questions about which I can't seem to find consensus.

Other than use of a hydrometer, I doubt you'll get consensus on anything. There are numerous paths, often times conflicting, that are all valid.

When to rack to secondary? Opinions vary widely: do it at 2/3 the sugars... do it at 1.020 or so... let it go dry... whenever it stops bubbling

It totally depends on the situation. I racked the Metheglin I started in August at 1.030, a test to see if that helps preserve aroma. In the distant past I often racked all wines at 1.010, as I traveled a fair amount and the wine was safely in secondary storage if I had to travel unexpectedly. I got used to doing it, and did it a long time.

For red grapes and a lot of fruit, I currently press at 1.000 or below.

There are numerous choices, and good reasons behind all of them.

Adding k-meta/campden tablets when racking to secondary? If so, how much?

It depends on activity -- if the wine is fermenting, I normally do not add K-meta until it's done. The one exception is if I detect H2S.

My standard dosage is 1/4 tsp K-meta in 19-23 liters, which has been demonstrated to result in 25-30 ppm free SO2. There are many variables that affect SO2 levels, and I don't consider the cost of SO2 testing to be valuable to me. YMMV

One more dose of nutrient/fermaid, or not? I've seen mentions of bad flavors from nutrient. Any benefits?

I normally don't add nutrient if the SG is below 1.020, although with high nutrient requirement yeast, I might, to avoid H2S. This is based on the SG, and rack-or-not doesn't influence it.