Making mead, do I need a glass carboy?

[Gayle]

Sorry if this doesn't fit in here, wasn't sure where to put it... but anyhoo...

I'm hoping to make a gallon of mead soon, using about 3lbs of local honey (does that sound like it will be enough?) and some champagne yeast (which seems like it will be the easiest one I could get, no local homebrew shops round here )

The recipe in the book I have says that since mead needs to sit in the secondary fermenter for such a long time (I hope to leave it 6 months at least), only glass or stainless steel carboys are suitable. I don't have either, nor the funds to purchase one for the sake of a gallon of mead. If I put it in a plastic brewing bucket for it's secondary fermentation for a couple of weeks, and then bottle in glass bottles, will that work just as well?

and is there anything else I should be aware of while making mead? TIA for your help :)

 

[oldbloke]

I don't really see why food-grade plastic isn't OK, but your idea should be fine.

 

[Moley]

First off, there's no such thing as primary and secondary fermentation, it's all part of the same process.

In brewing, secondary fermentation is used to refer to the extra bit of fermentation within the bottle or keg which gives it the fizz. The same might apply if you primed and bottled a wine to give it a sparkle.

I assume your recipe is suggesting you start it off in a bucket (primary fermenter) and then rack to a DJ or carboy (secondary fermenter), but if there is no solid matter to strain out, there's no need to use a bucket phase.

The idea of the DJ or other closed fermenter is that your wine or mead sits in that for a length of time to clear, for all the harshness to fade away and for the flavours to mellow.

If you bottle after a couple of weeks you're going to end up with a massive sediment in your bottles. If you leave it in a bucket for any length of time it will oxidise.

Get yourself a couple of 5 litre plastic mineral water bottles and drill a hole in one of the caps to shove an airlock into it. Keep the other cap intact, you can use that after racking when fermentation is completely finished and you hide it away for a few months to mature. I've left wines in plastic bottles for anything up to a year with no ill effects, they might not have been an option when your book was printed.

 

[cleslie]

Hmmm just read this thread and realized I may be making a mistake with my brews.
I have just been transferring my beer (20L batch) from the Primary FV to another 30 L FV, and leaving to clear for the second week. I never really clicked that perhaps this is not the way to go. If I used this method instead of a carboy does this mean that with all the extra oxygen in the FV that I may be ruining my brew in some way? So far my beer has been ok but many of my brews are coming out flat with little fizz.

Is the whole Idea of a carboy so that a) you can see it clearing and b) so that less oxygen is present in the top?

If so how much of a gap should be left at the top?

 

[oldbloke]

The reason for the transfer is to get it off the trub, as much as owt.
Whatever you put it in you want minimal headspace, to get decent carbonation and to minimise oxidation risk.