Cloudy After 2 Months

[Dmichels]

Been making beer for years so familiar with the basics. I have this batch of mead that is 2 months old and does not to be clearing. I have racked it twice. Lets start from the begining
14 lbs of pumkin honey
made a soup with ginger and orange peal boiled it for 20 min used the liquid only
added city water to 5 gal
5 teaspoons Fermax
1 1/2 package of Red Star champaine yeast
I did not boil the must
I just mixed it all up added the dry yeast dirrectly
no starting gravity reading as I do not own a hydromiter (I know, just trying to keep things simple)
Got off to a slow bubbling in the airlock in about 2 days Stayed slow and steady for a week to 10 days Then it stopped regular bubbling and slowed to about a bubble every 5 min then slower yet. I racked it when it was 20 days old and again when it was 40. I tasted it it has a strong alcohol taste which I think will mellow in time. There is a thin white ring that is up at the top where it touches the carboy. I do not think it is an infection as it is not growing. I think this the cause of the haze and will not drop clear. I was going to ad some Would Campden tabs help clear it? Will mead store without a preseritive? I do not want it to turn on me I hope to enjoy it for the next few years.
Thanks Dave

 

[WRATHWILDE]

Dmichels, Welcome to GotMead!!!
..There are some things you can add to force it to clear, but I prefer time. I've had batches that I've bulk aged for 2 years without spoilage ~ no preservatives. I've also had plenty that haven't cleared in 6 months, and a few that have taken more than a year.

..You'll find your mead is much better with a year of bulk aging. My advice is let it be for another 6 months minimum... unless you have more lees build up, in which case rack again and let it continue to bulk age. Patience is the best course of action for meads that are done fermenting and already twice racked.

Cheers,
Wrathwilde

 

[Dmichels]

Can I age the mead in my basment at 60 to 65 degrees? Or do I risk throwing the yeast in hibernation only to cause problems latter? The dinning room is starting to look like a meth lab I need to move them out to keep the wife happy and to make room for more beer wine and cider.

 

[wayneb]

I think that 55 to 60 F is just about the perfect temperature for long-term aging of mead... it also happens to be the temperature range of the "mead closet" in the basement of my place. Once fermentation is done, long-term aging will allow the vast majority of yeast left in after early racking to go dormant and fall to the bottom of the carboy.

If your mead has fermented dry, or if you have met or exceeded the rated ethanol tolerance of the strain that you used, it will very likely be stable after this long-term aging, although for sweet and semi-sweet meads there is always a chance that long-dormant yeast can reawaken. The only sure cures for that are 1) sub-micron filtration to remove all the yeast, or 2) treatment with a combo of potassium metabisulfite (campden) and potassium sorbate.