Toggle sidebar

Cloudy bottoms

  • PATRONS: Did you know we've a chat function for you now? Look to the bottom of the screen, you can chat, set up rooms, talk to each other individually or in groups! Click 'Chat' at the right side of the chat window to open the chat up.
  • Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
  • We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
Barrel Char Wood Products
C

columbiacritter

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 30, 2012
20
0
0
A straight dry mead
10lbs medium dark wildflower honey
4 gallons water
1 tsp nutrient
d47 yeast, I think


sat in fermenter carboy for 1 month.
racked to secondary for 2 months. was very clear.
read at 1.0 when bottled.
now after 3 months in a 55 degree basement there is a haze in the bottom 2" of every bottle. :confused:

Do I have bottle bombs ready to blow or do I just need to let it sit? :eek:
 
Maybe just sediment, carefully open a bottle and see if it's carb'd or petulant (slightly fizzy) and do a sanity check on the gravity while you are at it.
If no fizz and no change in gravity it's just dropping debris, my limited experience tells me that a "very clear" mead can still drop a remarkable amout of stuff. If you can spare the carboy and space I'd suggest several months to a year of aging for future batches, if not to get it where you want it, at least to drop everything out, us really lazy types can make benign neglect into an art form! LOL
 
Carefully opened a bottle, no fizz, checked another that was in a mason jar and the lid isn't popped up. So I will just give it time. I told everyone it wouldn't be drinkable until next Thanksgiving anyway. Thanks for the reassurance.
 
This happened to me with my first traditional. It annoyed me so much that I bought a wine filter that I use on all my 5 gallon batches before bottling.
 
Good article on on numerous fining agents.

The_Bishop said:
This happened to me with my first traditional. It annoyed me so much that I bought a wine filter that I use on all my 5 gallon batches before bottling.
Click to expand...
Even filtered wine can drop sediment. I have a buckwheat traditional which was bulk aged for 8 months, then clarified with Sparkolloid for 4 weeks, and finally filtered through a 0.5 micron (nominal) filter before bottling.

It remained crystal clear for about 18 months but now has some dropped some sediment in the last 6 months. I recently found this article: Using Fining Agents: Techniques that recommends fining 3 to 6 months when using Sparkolloid.:eek:
 
The_Bishop said:
This happened to me with my first traditional. It annoyed me so much that I bought a wine filter that I use on all my 5 gallon batches before bottling.
Click to expand...

Happens to me now and then, but my wine filter's such a pain to use and I do so many 1-gal batches where it's really not worth getting the filter set up that I just got used to the sediment. :p
 
Last edited:
hey as a fun side note, D47 is supposed to be good for on the lees aging. You've got sur lie in the bottle, maybe you should give each bottle a shake every month or so.

/Z
 
Come to think of it, that could be fun-- I'd even keep "cloudy bottoms" as the name to draw attention to the sur lie character. If you dont take it, I will ;)

/Z
 
Wolfie said:
hey as a fun side note, D47 is supposed to be good for on the lees aging. You've got sur lie in the bottle, maybe you should give each bottle a shake every month or so.

/Z
Click to expand...

I thought D47 was NOT good for sur lees aging...I could be mistaken...looking for feedback from the more experienced Mazers.
 
D47 is excellent for lees aging.

Filtration alone is not the answer. The protein chains and yeast cells (or parts) that can cause sediment can make it through even sterile filtration. Ultrafiltration is required.

Fining and protein stabilization will greatly reduce the problem. On the other hand, the sediment is harmless and may be nutritious. so as long as you decant or pour carefully it is no big deal.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
Medsen Fey said:
Fining and protein stabilization will greatly reduce the problem.
Click to expand...

Can you (or anybody else who knows) explain how and with what to do this?

I've gotten 6 little pots of chemicals with my wine kit and I don't know what they are for. (I don't need them atm, because I'm making JAO)
 
It's right in the Newbee Guide under troubleshooting,

"“How do I get the Mead to clear?” – The first thing to do, if you can, is to cold crash the Mead. This means putting it into a cold environment (around 38ºF) for a week. This usually drops it clear. If this does not work, or you cannot do this, then the next easiest thing to do is to use a Fining agent such as Polyclar, Bentonite, or Sparkolloid. Rack off of the Lees and let the Mead settle for a few weeks after clearing to make sure everything drops out before bottling. If each of these still fail, including a combination of them, then you can purchase a filter system and use a 0.5 micron filter to scrub all matter out of the Mead."

There are bunch of other fining agents that work too, like chitosan and kieselsol, but I usually start with bentonite and if that doesn't do the trick, follow up with sparkolloid, I've only had one batch that this one-two punch didn't work on. Another possible source of cloudiness could be pectic haze if you used fruits (especially if they were heat processed in any way) and didn't use pectic enzyme.

Let us know what your pots of chemicals are and maybe we can tell you what they're for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Barrel Char Wood Products

Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns

Top Bottom