by: Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
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Ok, now that the must has been cooking for a month or two, we are ready for the next step. Notice that icky brown layer at the bottom of my carboy in the picture? That is the yeast graveyard. You see, when yeast cooks, it eats the sugar in the honey and produces 3 things, carbon dioxide (those bubbles that float to the top), alcohol and baby yeasts.
But eventually the yeast die, and when they do, their little yeast bodies sink to the bottom of the bottle. That brown sludge is the bodies of millions and millions of dead yeasts who gave their lives so that you could toast the Gods. Now would be a good time to stop and say a Passing Prayer for their sacrifice.
…..
Ok, WHEN the must stops bubbling, and you know this because the airlock doesn’t have any bubbles in it anymore, the alcohol content of the must has reached close to 24 proof or 12%, which is so high that it kills the remaining yeast. You can add yeast all you want but all you are doing is to put living yeast into a toxic environment so that they die. Don’t even bother. If you are that concerned with a couple percentage points, I recommend AA.
CAREFULLY lift, with your legs, not your back, the carboy to the counter top. You need it higher than the secondary fermenters into which you will transfer the must. Try not to shake it up as you want a good solid division between the must and the graveyard.
Remember that this carboy will be heavy! Really heavy!!. First of all, glass is heavier than plastic which is why the water companies switched to plastic and second, honey is heavier than water. So be careful. FYI, they now make a carboy handle that clamps around the carboy and has a handle on both sides to enable two people to lift the carboy. You may wish to invest in one though considering how heavy that bottle now is, I wouldn’t trust any handle on that neck. Come to think of it, the handle is to carry the empty bottle only.
After you have moved the carboy, now is a good time to collect the rest of your materials. Those minutes will give the must time to settle again.
Lay a towel on the floor to soak up whatever you spill and to provide a cushion between your secondary fermenters and the hard floor.
The secondary fermenters can be almost anything but I prefer one gallon fruit juice bottles. They have a handle for ease in carrying and they have a narrow neck to avoid too much air (which turns wine to vinegar) and they are small enough that 5 or 6 will hold your entire carboy. Plus they are clear so you can watch the Mead clarify. This is important.
You will also need a length of plastic tubing. If, like me, you are a gadget freak, then you will also want a siphon pump ($20) and a length of hard tube with a gravity valve ($5). These make the job so much easier.
#1, The cheap way is to stick one end of the plastic tube into the must (being careful to keep it above the muck layer), stick the other end into your mouth and suck! No! not like that you perv! Like if you were stealing gas from your neighbor’s car. And as soon as the must flows, stick your end of the tube into the secondary fermenter until it is filled to within an inch of the top.
Then you cover the top with a piece of plastic wrap, seal it in place with a rubber band and place somewhere to either ferment again or clarify.
#2
The good way is to actually buy a siphon pump and a gravity valve to go on opposite ends of your siphon tube. Stick the siphon pump into the must (again being careful to avoid the muck layer) and the valve end into the secondary fermenter. Then you give one pump and the must flows. When the must is AT the top of the secondary fermenter, you lift the valve tube and the flow immediately stops. When you remove the valve tube, the must layer drops to almost exactly the right level.
Again, seal the top with plastic wrap and allow to ferment or settle.
Now you again learn patience. Either the must will start to ferment again, the transference exciting the remaining yeast, or it clarifies, the yeast being dead and the alcohol having reached 24 proof.
The important thing to remember here is that there is a lot of muck suspended in the must. Although you CAN drink the mead at this time, it s better to allow the suspended muck settle to the bottom of the secondary fermenter. Either the must will bubble as before or it won’t. Either way, you wait!
Over the next few weeks the bubbling will cease and the must will begin to clarify as the muck settles to the bottom. When you can read a newspaper through the secondary fermenter, the must will have clarified enough to be called Mead.
At this point, we bottle which is the next section so check back around Litha or so for that section.
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To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
Return to the Home Page.
Return to the Misc page.
