Primary vs. Secondary Fermentation: What's the Difference? 

Hate to be the one to tell you, when it comes down to home brew mead making, you are becoming one of the professionals.

Chris Evans after 25% Super Soldier Serum

I have a lot of questions, I have made mead many times before but I am just now trying to understand the processes, I really appreciate videos like this

Thanks for this. I've done beer, ale, cider but not mead... yet. Very informative.

Hi! I'm a Brazilian man. Your channel is very good. Congratulations and thank you for sharing your knowledge. I'm starting to produce hydromel and its tips are very useful.

"I'm no professional" I beg to differ. I've learned a lot from you.

That was really helpful thank you I haven’t done a fresh fruit mead yet but have done dried fruits but I am ready to graduate

Not sure I totally agree about your use of the term "secondary fermentation". It's not always the case that any active fermentation is taking place in the secondary. I suspect the expression "secondary fermentation" is a misnomer that has arisen because you have racked from the primary FERMENTER into the second fermenter. The yeast is now cleaning up and removing all kinds of compounds they have produced but they may not be actively transforming any sugar into ethanol. True secondary fermentation is a process found in wine making when certain bacteria are added to a red wine to transform malic acids into lactic acids (a far less strong acid) and this is called MLF or malo-lactic fermentation. Malic acids are not typically found in honey so MLF is not a typical process associated with mead. But during MLF your airlock will be bubbling away. The other thing is that this also points to the problem of using your airlock to determine whether any activity is going on. Changes in ambient temperature or air pressure can force CO2 out of solution but that does not mean that any active fermentation is on going. The only useful way to know if yeast is producing alcohol is to see if the gravity is dropping. MLF , for example produces gases that will bubble through your airlock but not one gram more of alcohol is produced.

Hey dude, I got a workaround for aerating the mead or wine before pitching the yeast. Instead of shaking the bulky jar and risk dropping it, we can use aquarium pump, airline and a stone bubbler (same arrangement to dissolve oxygen in fish tank). I think this will be double effective method than just shaking. Just 20-30min of running would dissolve maximum amount of oxygen.

Thanks for the info!

Excellent videos

So i just found your channel yesterday, i love it, super informative! Im planning on whipping up a batch of just some traditional honey mead at the end of the month here, though iv got one question. When it comes to aerating and degassing, how often do you do it? Do i simply shake/stir the bottle every now and then during the first few stages of the fermentation? Id like, if possible, to have a dry mead, with little CO2. Does simply shaking/stirring the bottle (with the stopper off, i assume?) also aerate the mead? Thanks man, keep doin what your doin!

Are there any chemical differences between the yeast reaction in primary and secondary? At first I thought primary is mainly aerobic(as evidenced by the emission of carbon dioxide) and secondary is mainly anaerobic but from what I have seen online that doesnt seem to be the case. If so, what are the benefits of doing secondary fermentation instead of dumping all the sugars directly during primary(aside from preventing fruit rot in melomels)?

thank you

you have good info videos very interesting

if you add fruit at the primary stage would the sugar content help prevent the fruit from spoiling while it ferments for 2 months? I used regular active dry bakers yeast.

Hi there, I'm so glad I found your channel. I'm in the process of making my first mead where I added fruits and left it for two weeks. If I want it to stay on the sweeter side, should I skip the secondary fermentation and jump to the racking stage? Or should I let it ferment a bit more? Thank you so much for your time and content!

How do you know once its ok to add fruit to secondsry my possible abv is 15% og so not sure what to look for to know when primary is done completely im guessing thats when id add the fruit

If im going into a secondary fermentation do i need to stabalize before i rack into the secondary container from primary fermentation

What is the purpose of a secondary fermentation (other than maybe adding fruits), I've just started trying to make mead and I just leave it until its finished fermenting then I'm done and I don't understand what I would gain by doing a second fermentation and adding more sugar to make it start again. Also I don't use fruits I buy very good quality juice from a farmers market and use that mostly instead of water which seemed like a good idea to me, 4l of Cherry juice in my Cherry mead and 4l of Apple & Pear Juice in my Apple mead. I just mix it all together, ferment it then its done.

From my understanding, adding fruits changes your water:sugar ratios, thus changing the total alcohol outcome but is there an easy way to measure this difference for calculating the SG/FG?

Mine turned into vinegar, couldn't figure it out what did I do wrong, even using the airlock. 🤔😔

Hey ! Thanks so much for your videos and info - super helpful !!! I'm making mead for the first time, and looking to start second fermentation and transfer the mead from buckets to DJs...It has however been about 9 weeks since I made it.. Do you recon it's too late, and can I still save my mead ? Thanks x

Hi! ive been using your videos as a refrence on my second attempt at mead making-- i do have two questions though: 1) am i supposed to rack / go to second fermentation BEFORE or AFTER the mead clears up? and 2) would i still need an airlock if i have a flip-top seal on my growler (second fermentation) / bottles after racking?

I have 2 questions: 1. Do we need to add something else in the secondary fermentation stage apart from the additional flavour ingredients.(like yeast or honey) 2. What quantities of flavour ingredients do we need to add to our mead?

Sorry beginner here been watching a lot of videos you're awesome! So from primary fermentation to secondary you need rack and then you could add fruit to start fermentation again? But i thought you needed to stop the fermentation immediately after racking to prevent any damage to the mead?

Where do you keep the mead during second fermentation? I just finished my first fermentation and racked it an placed it in my cool basement. Can it stand on the concrete floor or do i need to make shelfs?

I want to make Mead in these 10 gallon food grade plastic barrels that I already put airlock holes and spigots on them, My question is when I make Mead in the 10 gallon barrels and the fermentation has gone it's course, Could I just leave the Mead in the barrels and just drink from the barrels ? and in time would it change the over all taste of the mead if left in the barrels with the air locks left on them to stop the air from entering the Barrels ? I would like to skip the bottling stage and just do everything from beginning to end in one container, then once it's all drank over time I could start a whole new batch of two barrels at ten gallons a barrel. let me know what you think.

What would be better method? Adding the fruits towards the end of primary or just after racking? Towards the end of primary, there would be plenty of yeast available to ferment the fruit. Racking removes most of the yeast from the must.

I'm attempting to start a blackberry mead soon, my first mead ever! Would you recommend whole berries into secondary, or juicing and straining? Thanks for the great content!

Do you treat your fruit with anything (potassium metabisulfite) before you add it to your secondary? Do you have a video on adding fruit to secondary? Do you process the fruit (mash it up)?

I just started my first batch of traditional mead in 1 gallon carboys. I want to put apples and small sticks of cinnamon in at least two of the five gallons I made in the secondary. My initial reading was 1.100 and my fermentation is very active. When should I rack into secondary with apples and cinnamon and will I have to do anything to restart fermentation? Thank you, Bill B.

My first attempt at making mead. I did two batch’s, both made the same way and with the same yeast lalvin d47. I let set for two weeks when bubbling had slowed way down I racked. The one that was real clear I put in to another carboy. The other was still cloudy but bubble was slower then the clear one. I put this one in a bucket and added blueberries. It’s been about 24 hrs and there are no bubbles is this normal? Will my mead still turn? Do I just let it to continue to sit for a couple weeks?

How long does secondary fermentation take?? I have my first batch ever should be coming out of primary soon. I have several empty bourbon bottles I was going to possibly rack into for a traditional. But I also got some apple juice and was thinking of experimenting and add that to the other carboy I have and try to make a Cyser. Is this even something I should try or just stick to the traditional. Another note the honey I use I got from Costco. It was their raw unfiltered honey. I know it’s more of a value honey so I’m tapering expectations but wanted your thoughts on it.

what about using raw unfiltered honey? will just raw honey and water take longer or even catch at all?

Would you recommend to stir my mead during fermentation? ( just like wine producers do) Im concerned about contamination or too much oxygen in the container and turn it to vinegar instead of doing malolactic ferm.

hey mate, I want to ask you two questions if you don't mind! the first question is do my racking vessel have to be glass? where I live, glass bottles that size is really expensive so can I not rack my mead into something like a water jug? and the second question is, will too much headspace be a problem for the first fermentation. because I brew beer at home I have a 25 liters brewing bucket but my mead is only 16 liters. will 9 liters of air be a problem? thanks.

I read that it is best to rack when the fruit sinks to the bottom, is this waiting too long?

How long do you leave your fruit in a secondary before racking again

So you don't have to rack the mead after the primary fermentation if you put in fruit right?

Can i use natural year that made from grapes for making mead?

So you don’t add any fruit or natural sugar in the primary stage ? It’s just yeast water and honey ?

Could you just wrack it, stabilize it and then add your extra ingredients after?

Hey, Is it ok if i add my melomels to the mead that has all the yeast dead from the alcohol concentration? Will i still get the flavor even if there is no second fermentation, just the fruit sitting in the mead?

How do you clear mead? Thanks

I'm a noob but am wondering why honey can take weeks to ferment and something like apple must takes only days. Btw my first batch of mead ever is bubbling away now! :) I boched 1/5 of the honey to a caramel color and the rest as is. Can't wait to try it.

Secondary Fermentation questions - This is done with out an airlock? No aerating? Degas when done? Thanks!

Hey man! question: How will my mead get more fruit flavor, if I put the fruit on primary or secondary? Thanks!!

In the secondary fermentation you should add more yeast?

Dear..which is best level achchol giving yeast in your knowledge.. I want to know.. How to make wine with more alcohol in wine.. and normal ratio for sugar water and yeast.. pls tell it in grams.. and litter. Thanks

Fortifying your wine/ mead....?topic for discussion. I'll bring to discord. However I'd like to see a video on the topic as yourself and DC have yet to discuss it.

Can you rack into secondary vessel for awhile and then flavor in a third rack?

Have a question. I just made my first batch of mead I did honey water yeast cinnamon. let it ferment for about 40 days I filterd and strained out the bottom gunk and out it back in a container. now i may have fucked up because i added fruits and some sugar but also put in some more yeast.. which i assumed woul be fine am i wrong for doing this and will this mess up my mead batch? please let me know and if i did mess it up what could i do to help it so i dont have to restart my batch? thanks

It's been a month and a week and my primary is done and it's started to clear already. There's a nice cake of sediment on the bottom and i'm about to rack into my second carboy. I put a stick of cinnamon in the primary stage and it also sunk to the bottom. Do you reckon i should put another stick of cinnamon in to get the secondary kicked off again?

I'm making red wine for the first time.. I've started making and I'm on the first stage of fermenting... when do I start the second one? Do I have to wait till my airlock thing stops bubbling?

Okay but then how do you know the "secondary" fermentation has ended?

The temperature where I live is between 90 and 96 degrees daily. I do not have central ac in my home. Can I still make mead safely?

I don't watch my airlock because it seems like my meads never start rapidly bubbling. It's just a slow burn where I still end up with alcoholic mead at the end. - So now I'm over here waiting for the bubbles to slow or stop in my carboys. Lol

My man, it's been like 4 or 5 weeks and my airlock is still bubbling nearly every 45 seconds, I didn't use any nutrients or anything, just honey water and ec 1118, is this normal?

So.. when you are making your melamel mead BUT not putting your fruit (say cherries or blackberries) in during the secondary Fermentation are you using the yeast for traditional mead or are you still using the ones that are better for the melamels?

So when my reading hits 1.00 I'm done fermenting ?

This is Woman Made Mead so hopefully you still answer my question 😊 I’m on my 3 batch of making mead and the 1st two turned out great! This 3rd batch I’m concerned about. I waited till the 1st fermentation slowed down to rack it and add my fruits. But the fermentation never started back up again- no bubbling CO2 out the top... any advice? I’m thinking of adding more energizer and nutrient and hopefully the remaining yeast wake up. Thanks for advice

What if i want my mead to have gasification?

A bubble every three to ten minutes?? I had heard every minute! Have I racked my mead too soon??

On average how long does secondary fermentation take?

Hey awesome info, really like your post, but please what you have to understand, real mead was made to purify the water the Vikings had. If you are a true mead maker, make it like they did not the Nurdy way your making it. That's what I do, actual river water and wild yeast, have you Tried that. The Vikings had not yeast, bad water, the honey had bees and shit in it, try that, but not knocking what your saying for this modern Generation. Cheers

Anyone hear him fart in this video lmao 😂 around 9:30 minutes and seconds into this video shocking good fruity

*Has it ever occurred to you that for centuries people have fermented Mead & Wine in everything from clay pots covered with cloth, to animal stomachs & bladders to non sterile wooden barrels? We modern folk have a really bad habit of over think this stuff. Unless you're a commercial winery, in it to make a living & protect your liability, you need to loosen the knot in your panties a bunch..*