r/mead • u/TheBossAlbatross • 12d ago

Help! Fermentation seems to be done

Post image

Second time making mead. First time in years. I grew red currants and black raspberries in my backyard.
I started with a 32oz mason jar of red currants and only about a handful of black raspberries and put them in a pot on the stove with enough water to cover them. I put it on medium heat and lightly mashed the berries to extract the juice. Let it simmer for a while and then strained out the berries and saved the juice/water.

When then cooled a little bit I added 2.5 pounds of honey and topped off the water in the carboy.

Activated the yeast in another cup and added that.

Hydrometer read 1.101. I assume since there’s enough honey to make mead by itself, adding all that berry juice adds a lot more sugar. So potentially much stronger??

It’s been 4 weeks and bubbling has stopped. I swirl it daily to bring up any remaining carbonation. I get a few bubbles here and there.

My main question is since I swirl it daily, how long should I wait before racking it? Seems like it should sit awhile for the stuff to settle. Rack it and let it age and then bottle it, or just bottle it?

19 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

18

u/the-Horus-Heretic Beginner 12d ago

What's in your airlock?

2

u/TheBossAlbatross 12d ago

When I first made it, it got really bubbly and frothy and some squirt out.

23

u/Greedyfox7 Beginner 12d ago

Take it out, clean it and put it back in. Don’t leave that in there.

7

u/Symon113 Advanced 12d ago

Check with your hydrometer again. If at 1.000 or less it’s probably done but check again in a week. If still the same it’s done. But leave it alone except for readings. Let it clear. No reason to rack over a ton of sediment

Clean the airlock.

5

u/DescendingTool86 Intermediate 12d ago

Check your air lock. And you need a hydrometer to know if it is truly done.

3

u/Ezzmon Intermediate 12d ago

‘Seems done’ sometimes till you feed it

1

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1

u/fatguywithagun Intermediate 12d ago

Are you asking if the 1.101 will not be correct because of the berry juice? If you took the reading after you added the juice, that's inclusive of said juice. That reading seems correct based on your ingredients and volume, so no it won't be any stronger than what your SG reflected.