Need Help

[KudaPucat]

By fresh I mean no harsh after taste in the mouth and it just goes down smoothly, once you swallow the mouthful, the mouth is clear and clean, like having a mouthful of a good, chilled 'Sauvignon Blanc'. The effervescence on the tongue while you have it in the mouth I put down to the Co2 bubbles bursting in the mouth. There is a slight honey aroma, but most of it is gone.
This drop is not for drinking now, but for my wife's' birthday later in the year, so it is going to age.

Could you please inform me about stabilising and back sweetening as mentioned.
I read somewhere in this forum that mead has a habit of oxidizing, so to counteract this, the only empty space left in the storage container is in the neck of the container. To increase the 'volume' in the container, sanitised marbles are added to take up the extra space!

Thanks for the help, it has been invaluable.
athomas550

If it's 'hot' due to fusels (ie you ghad a hot ferment, and the yeast made higher order alcohols that burn heaps) then it could take years, but otherwise 5 months should start tasting interesting.
If it's a snappy bite on the aftertaste, this usually fades over the first few months, but it depends on how dry it is.

How many months until the birthday celebrations?

Stabilising:
Buy some K-meta and K-sorbate if you don't already have some. Na-meta will work, but no body needs the excess sodium this will add to the brew.
Option 1
So when it's at the required gravity, whack it in the fridge to stall it.
Then add a measured amount of k-sorbate and k-meta.
this will stop the yeast multiplying and inhibit their metabolism respectively
wait for it to clear and bottle
Option 2
Ferment it out dry.
Then add a measured amount of k-sorbate and k-meta.
this will stop the yeast multiplying and inhibit their metabolism respectively
Now add honey to taste.
wait for it to clear and bottle

be aware that meads will gain 'perceived sweetness' at 12 months or so, especially dry meads, so backsweetening should be held off if you can. Remember to leave time for it to clear again, as the honey will cloud up the mead.
If you don't wait, you may find with aging, that it becomes sickly tasting.
Backsweetening should be done in a glass until you find the desired sweetness, then measured for SG and then dose your batch accordingly. You can't take it out if you overdo it.

As with any sweet mead, beware of bottle bombs, stabilising doesn't always work. Take precautions, keep temps low if you can, place them in a cupboard or box to reduce glass schrapnel, and always listen to you gut when you pick up a bottle... usually you'll know if something's odd and it's overpressure.

Yep, marbles are the way to go, just be careful, some can leech dies or paint, so it's better to get the old standard "cat's eyes" or clear marbles

 

[athomas550]

If it's 'hot' due to fusels (ie you ghad a hot ferment, and the yeast made higher order alcohols that burn heaps) then it could take years, but otherwise 5 months should start tasting interesting.
If it's a snappy bite on the aftertaste, this usually fades over the first few months, but it depends on how dry it is.

How many months until the birthday celebrations?

Yep, marbles are the way to go, just be careful, some can leech dies or paint, so it's better to get the old standard "cat's eyes" or clear marbles

Her birthday in in late October

Date: Wednesday 10 August 20114.30pm
Noticed on Sunday 7 August 2011 that the bubble rate had slowed, the airlock showed fluid on the mead side.
Monday 8 August 2011 it slowed even more, the airlock indicating a 1/4" difference in water height.
By Tuesday 9 August 2011 there was only a 1/16" difference in height between the mead side and the atmosphere side of the airlock, even agitating the demi gently (agitated gently, just sufficient to move the surface liquid), produced no air bubbles.
Today, (Wednesday) 10 August 2011 there was no discernible difference between the two sides, even agitating the demi produced no air bubbles, the levels remained the same. Removed the paper sleeve that I had around the demi and saw that the yeast had formed a cake at the bottom of the demi, and did not appear to disperse when I agitated the flask (agitated gently, just sufficient to move the surface liquid), that is how the airlock has remained all day.
Sanitised a demi, marbles and the equipment necessary to syphon the mead off the lees, into this clean demi.
Syphoned the mead off the lees, being careful not to disturb the yeast at the bottom of the demi, into the demi with a number of marbles at the bottom and refitted the airlock. I was somewhat concerned about the aeration as I syphoned, but on fitting the airlock, the mead side of the airlock indicated the release of carbon dioxide, actually quite a lot as the chamber on the mead side has practically no water in it.
Took the SG. of this lot and found it to be 1.025, put it into the dark, quiet spot leaving the paper sleeve off.

Tasted the residue and found the same fresh flavour as mentioned on the previous occasion, again with no off flavours, no off smells, just the faint honey odour. I will keep an eye on this lot for a day or two, see what the levels in the airlock are like.

athomas550

 

[athomas550]

Today, Thursday 11 August 2011, the levels on both sides of the airlock has settled and are even, does this indicate that the ferment has ended?

athomas550

 

[KudaPucat]

Sounds good!
I wouldn't bottle this until the week before her birthday.
Personally I'd say it's stalled if you think it's stopped... monitor it a bit, I'm assuming it's still a little 'too sweet' tasting?
keep monitoring the SG, it will probably continue to drop... Keep monitoring the 'sweetness of the taste, as this will continue to drop.
then refridgerate and stall it as soon as it's right. Sorbate and sulphate then clear and bottle. Allow 1 week for clearing. maybe stall it at the end of september at the latest.
Backsweetening will cloud your brew temporarily... in the interest of time, I'd not backsweeten if you could help it, so watch that SG.
Good Luck, and remember to put a couple of bottles aside for her birthday next year... it'll be worth the wait.

 

[Tanga]

When I made sweet mead what I did to stabilise was put the glass bottles of mead (without the lids on, but covered in alfoil) in water that was 70 degrees (bought the temp up in a big pot on the stove). I then put the lid of the pot on and left them. When they'd cooled I capped them straight away with caps that had been sterilised (in the same hot water).

I didn't have any problems doing this - but potentially there could be problems, so I'm not going to guarantee it. Worked for me though.

 

[KudaPucat]

When I made sweet mead what I did to stabilise was put the glass bottles of mead (without the lids on, but covered in alfoil) in water that was 70 degrees (bought the temp up in a big pot on the stove). I then put the lid of the pot on and left them. When they'd cooled I capped them straight away with caps that had been sterilised (in the same hot water).

I didn't have any problems doing this - but potentially there could be problems, so I'm not going to guarantee it. Worked for me though.

what was the duration you pasteurised for? And what was the alfoil for? just a loose cap?
Would you ever pasteurise a 5L jug, prior to bottling?

 

[athomas550]

Sounds good!
I wouldn't bottle this until the week before her birthday.
Personally I'd say it's stalled if you think it's stopped... monitor it a bit, I'm assuming it's still a little 'too sweet' tasting?
keep monitoring the SG, it will probably continue to drop... Keep monitoring the 'sweetness of the taste, as this will continue to drop.
then refridgerate and stall it as soon as it's right. Sorbate and sulphate then clear and bottle. Allow 1 week for clearing. maybe stall it at the end of september at the latest.
Backsweetening will cloud your brew temporarily... in the interest of time, I'd not backsweeten if you could help it, so watch that SG.
Good Luck, and remember to put a couple of bottles aside for her birthday next year... it'll be worth the wait.

Checked it again this morning, the airlock fluids are still even on both sides and there are no air bubbles rising to the surface.

The flavour is 'dry', has lost most of honey sweetness and has an evervesance on the tongue. The flavour is fresh with no yeast or unpleasant flavours or odours and has been like this since the 1 August 2011, when I did the first SG. test at the 1/3 break.

I was surprised to find that the ferment had slowed and stopped, would have thought that it would have continued for a while longer, seeing that the last SG. reading on the 10 August was 1.025 was hoping to go down to about 1.00 or even 990, making it a nice wild drop, anything up to 12%, as it is, it is now just over 7%! Does seem to be a bit weird as the ferment was going along at a good pace.

Would appreciate some input into this saga.
athomas550

 

[athomas550]

Date: Friday 19 August 2011 11.00pm
Had a look at the demi this morning, the water levels on both sides of the airlock are the same, with no air bubbles rising through the liquid, will check the SG. - after 8 days of sitting idle giving it an SG. of 1018. The flavour is 'dry', has lost most of honey sweetness and has an evervesance on the tongue. The flavour is fresh with no yeast or unpleasant flavours or odours

athomas550

 

[KudaPucat]

Date: Friday 19 August 2011 11.00pm
Had a look at the demi this morning, the water levels on both sides of the airlock are the same, with no air bubbles rising through the liquid, will check the SG. - after 8 days of sitting idle giving it an SG. of 1018. The flavour is 'dry', has lost most of honey sweetness and has an evervesance on the tongue. The flavour is fresh with no yeast or unpleasant flavours or odours

athomas550

This is still going. I doubt it will get to 1.000 but it may go further. Without acid or tannin or something, I would probably find 1.015 sweet. It's interesting you say it tastes dry... it should still be a little sweet, but then in-ferment tastings are always odd to me, so it could be it's just how you describe "odd" ;-)
Are you shaking every day? (with the airlock still in place - don't add oxygen) There's no bad aromas or anything?
Why did you want it to go to 1000 or 990? I thought you wanted sweetness?
Be aware after 12 months this will develop 'perceived sweetness'.
The drier you take this, the longer it will need to age.
As I recall you wanted it ready for October? I'd cold crash now then stabilise. Add acid or tannin to balance the sugar should it be needed, but wait as long as you can before doing that. Add honey to a glass to see if sweeter is actually what you want, before backsweetening. Usual range of mead FG is 996-1040 from ultra dry to dessert. So you're in the semi-sweet spot atm.

 

[athomas550]

An agitate - make the surface liquid move, no vigourous shaking is all I have done, the levels in the airlock remain the same, no visible air bubbles rising to the surface.

The missus is not keen on sweet drinks, prefers it 'dry' as in 'Cab Sav' or 'Sav Blanc' etc.

Will put the goodies in the fridge today - leave the airlock in place and see what happens.
Could you tell me about 'stabilise' and the tannin/acid thing please.

Thanks for the help.
athomas550

 

[KudaPucat]

Well, I can tell you, a dry mead wont be ready, so you'll have to leave it a bit sweet, sweetness covers a multitude of sins.
OK, when you're sure it's stopped (minimum 4 days in fridge, look at how it begins to clear), rack it over potassium Sorbate and potassium metabisulfate, colloquially known as KSorbate and KMeta.
There will be instructions on the pack for how much to use. Use the maximum, I'm too inexperienced to offer advice on narrowing the required quantities. Plus you'd need a "Free SO2" test kit.
After you've done this, leave an airlock in just in case we're not successful.
Then in October, near the start, taste it. Buy some acid blend and/or tannin from your LHBS. Add in small increments per day, tasting as you go, until it's drinkable.
I fear on this timeline, drinkable is the best you'll achieve, so make sure you save some for next year, so you can see just how much better it can be. Also. Put on a new batch the day after her birthday for next year, and this time, take your time about it ;-)
Good luck, and keep us informed.