Mead step 2

Just finished racking my mead to secondary, and made sure that I remembered to add the 6 vanilla beans. Tasting it, I found it interesting that it was actually slightly fizzy. I wonder if this is something that is dealt with with making wine, or because by using an airlock, it creates a pressure problem that keeps the CO2 in suspension. No matter, when I go to bottle I'll give it a hearty shake before I siphon into the bottling bucket, then another couple shakes after it's in the bucket. Then again, in three months, the CO2 might end up dissipating anyway. We'll see.

The taste was as expected, as it's fresh out of the fermenter it's still got a raw taste. In three months it should take on the flavor of the vanilla beans and be a bit more refined. Two months after bottling it'll be drinkable.

In addition to racking the mead, I took a sample of the yeast and put it in a sanitized flask, and sealed it as best I could with tinfoil. Hopefully the gross smell of the fridge doesn't get in over the next couple days. On Tuesday or around there I'll be purchasing a stopper for the flask and some DME so to make a stable starter for the next batch of mead, which is going to be pomegranate mead. I'll post again then for I'll be excited at making my first starter and getting to use the stir plate that I made.