Mead question

[Deep End]

My last two batches of mead have been sitting in the cupboard waiting to clear for a few months now and are still cloudy as, one has a little white stringy gank around the top of the demi. I tried to rack it using a racking can but it failed miserably and only succeeded in aerating one demi of mead. Hopefully both are still ok. Any ideas on the length of time it might take to clear as its a standard type mead, not JAO. I'm wondering and getting a little impatient. Its been racked once, sulphited and is still cloudy....well not clear anyway.
Cheers

 

[TimT]

I wouldn't worry about cloudiness. I'd be more concerned about issues with taste, the mead must not properly fermenting out, etc. The 'white stringy gank' you talk about does sound a little concerning... maybe go to the infection thread on AHB and see if you've got one of those? Or post a picture here.

 

[Airgead]

I've had some take years to clear. Especially when using unfiltered honey. There are some really fine particulates or proteins in there that take frickin ages to settle out.

It does happen eventually though. I just bottle when they taste ready regardless of cloudyness and they will clear eventually in the bottle.

 

[Grainer]

you could always use some bettonite to pull out the yeast etc. or chill it.. although chilling could potentially lead to haze.

 

[Airgead]

I've found that its usually not a yeast haze in meads. The yeast drops pretty quickly (depending on the strain of course but my 71B drops very nicely). I'm not exactly sure what the haze is, but I know that bentonite doesn't help settle it. I suspect its a really fine protein haze due to pollen in unfiltered honeys but I'll need to do some more experiments to see.

 

[Deep End]

Well attached are some pictures of the two brews in question, also my Parsnip Wine, which is slowly clearing. The Parsnip wine is the one that looks like a bottle of Urine! The other two are a semi sweet and a sweet mead. They fermented out and have been racked off the lee's and are a few months old now, smelling meady/winey/ Probably can't see the white gank, its a few strand like, stringy threads at the top of the bottle with plastic wrap over the lid, as I ran out over seals. Maybe residual wax or proteins from the honey, I dont really know.

 

[TimT]

Parsnip wine! I'd love to make some of that, it's apparently delicious!

 

[Deep End]

I'll let you know in 12 to 18 months LOL

 

[TimT]

I hear you. We made some elderflower wine last year about this time - another one of those old-time recipes that everyone raves about. For the first few months, we had no idea what all the fuss was about. And then, magic happened. It settled down into a beautiful, golden wine. Pity there's only one bottle left, probably not for long too!

If it's only a 'few strand like, stringy threads' at the top of your mead it doesn't sound like an infection. I certainly can't see anything just looking at the photo. (Infections tend to be more noticeable, a pellicle spreading over all or most of the surface.) Maybe something from the honey as you suggest. Is it your own? A friend's? Organic? Do you know if it's filtered honey or not, if it was removed from the honeycomb using an extractor, or if it was crushed out using a press? Certainly, if the latter, wax and even bits of bee will get into the bottled honey.

 

[Deep End]

Unsure to be honest, it was Lake Pedder Wildflower Honey I bought at a country show, so there is a fair chance it hasnt been fiddled with too much

 

[Deep End]

Thinking about racking the Parsnip Wine once more, as its still not as clear as I'd like it to be.

 

[jphowman]

I've been making mead with Red Gum honey and that took about 3 months to begin clearing. I've just tried orange blossom and coastal wildflower honeys, the former taken only 2 months, the latter still not clear after 4 months. You might be right about it being wax or protein, since that would explain why it's different between the honeys.
I would suggest you wait for them to clear in the secondary. I made the mistake of bottling before my mead was clear which resulted in a beautifully clear mead on the shelf which became turbid instantly after the slightest movement. It also took months to clear again once stirred up. Very annoying.

All my meads have had something similar to what you are describing on top. The first time I noticed it was after I bottled and I assumed it was an infection. I cracked one to tip it out and did a taste test and couldn't detect any infection. I've now got meads a few years old and still no sign of infection.

 

[superstock]

I've been making mead with Red Gum honey and that took about 3 months to begin clearing. I've just tried orange blossom and coastal wildflower honeys, the former taken only 2 months, the latter still not clear after 4 months. You might be right about it being wax or protein, since that would explain why it's different between the honeys.
I would suggest you wait for them to clear in the secondary. I made the mistake of bottling before my mead was clear which resulted in a beautifully clear mead on the shelf which became turbid instantly after the slightest movement. It also took months to clear again once stirred up. Very annoying.

I had a similar experience. I attempted clearing in the demijohn, after several rackings, using eggshell. This made a considerable difference so I bottled. After several months the mead was beautifully clear but had a sediment that swirled up at the slightest disturbance and took months to resettle. This sediment looked like very fine brown dust.
I then carefully decanted the bottles back into a demijohn saving the sediment and washing it several times, then put some into a saucer and let the liquid eveporate. The result is the pic.

 

[Airgead]

My guess (but lacking a microscope so can't tell) is that its very fine particles of wax and pollen. Plus bee spit and other junk. Varies from honey to honey. I have also noticed that the honeys that are slowest to clear are also the fastest to crystalise. So the fine particulates could be acting as nucleation sites.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Deep End]

Funny you say that Dave, as this honey crystallized within 2 months of purchase, and its taking its time to clear.

 

[NickyJ]

I find bentonite to be a good remedy for impatience

 

[Airgead]

Bentonit works a charm with some hazes... but not the ones I get in mead.They stubbornly refuse to clear. I've used bentonite, gelatine and the old egg white. I might have to give one of the high tech ones like polyclar a go and see what works. If I can find a fining that binds it that should give me an idea of what it is.