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carbonating mead

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G

GBearn

NewBee
Registered Member
Jul 24, 2013
3
0
0
Sudbury Ontario
I have made mead for the first time and made a two gallon batch. My mead has completed fermentation and the final gravity ended up at about .996. I have not bottled yet as I intend to let it age in gallon jugs. It has been one week since I racked it and I've decided I would like to carbonate a gallon's worth. Is it too late carbonate? Do I need to add more yeast or is there enough residual yeast to get the priming honey started?

Thanks
 
I would doubt it is too late, yeast is hardy. I would suggest you check and double check the amount of priming honey or sugar you use to bottle carbonate. I have about three gallons of questionable to dangerous bottles that are chilled because they are over carbonated because I failed in my procedures. I need to pop everyone open and let off some pressure and hope that it is enough.
 
From what I've seen in my research I will probably use about a 1/6th of a cup of honey to prime. This is based on 2/3 cup for 5 US gallons. (I'm working in imperial gallons) The mead is quite clear but I'd like to wait a bit longer to allow it to get even more clear. Just wondering how long I can wait to bottle.
 
What would you consider to be an extended wait? I was thinking about one or two more weeks making it a total of three since racking. I'm worried about more sediment developing if I add more yeast. Thanks for your input.
 
Maybe someone else can give you a more definitive answer, but not knowing what yeast, what recipe, what ingredients, I can't offer any better advice. If the mead has indeed worked dry and has cleared completely, a little yeast and priming aren't going to add much in the way of sediment. As young as yours is, it has not done that. Wines shed sediment for years. I have had what appears to be the color fall out. I wish you good luck.
 
I've successfully bottle-carbed stuff that's sat around for a couple months, but much longer than that and I add some yeast just to be safe, usually a bit of whatever I'd used for the batch.

And don't bother waiting for it to clear to crystal if you're bottle-carbing, you will end up with sediment from the renewed yeast activity whether you add yeast or not. If I can read the newspaper through the carboy, it's clear, if I can shine a flashlight through the must and not see a column of sediment in its light, it's crystal clear... "clear" is good enough, since it's going to have yeast multiplying in there and settling out anyway.

As for sediment from adding more yeast, it hasn't seemed to matter that much for my batches, all of them have ended up with a light dusting of sediment on the bottom of the bottles whether I added yeast or not.

I use about 1/5 of a cup of honey per US gallon and that seems about right.
 
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