Hello all, was hoping to get some general beginner advice/questions answered - I just bought a 1 gallon mead kit from amazon. I'm 1 week into primary fermentation with some honey I brought back home with me from the Philippines. It was quite expensive and I don't want to ruin my first attempt! When exactly should I de-gas, and should I stir or shake the must and how often? And when is the earliest I can consume it after racking/secondary fermentation? I don't care about acquiring a high alcohol content, I want it closer to beer levels than wine, if possible. I also plan to try a metheglin recipe upon secondary, and was hoping to also maybe get some pointers on that proecdure as well. Is it best to put the herbs/spices directly into the bottle? Or use a kind of tea bag or coffee filter bag? And how long should they remain inside? I also read a bit about pectic enzyme to help clear up the mixture, is this recommended/necessary to use also? Thank you..