Hey guys, Fining question

[nzkiwinorse]

Hey guys well its been about 2 months from my mead being in a bottle. its still very cloudy, and to my suprise went to crack about and its fizzed heavily and started bubbling up, now im presuming because when I siphoned the ust from the secondary still that i left over some yeast. So its still going right? Its been months from primary so sorry guys have forgotten my specs...So whats are my options? Put back into carboy and siphon more yeast/sediment out? Put in bucket and put fining agent in? put back in carboy and leave for longer?

btw I used champagne yeast about a gallon water, 200gs strawberrys 4 2 kgs honey and added a few shots of vodka for extra bite!

 

[GntlKnigt1]

Sounds like you have created "bottle bombs", which happens when the mead is still fermenting when you bottle it in conventional bottles (not champagne bottles). The safest thing would be to open all your bottles and put it back in the carboy with a fermentation lock on it and either let is continue fermenting, or use some stabilizer and campden tablets on it to stop the fermentation, and then either let it clarify naturally for a month or two, or add a clarifying agent.

 

[Medsen Fey]

Carefully put the bottles in the fridge and get them cold before opening them and pouring in back into a carboy. That will lower the pressure and reduce the risk of a bottle exploding in your face.

 

[nzkiwinorse]

thank you for your reply guys. does the fact they have been in the bottles for about 2 months make a difference i thought they may have exploded by now if that was the case? considering it was also in secondary for a few months. I have some fining/clearing agent will that stop the process ?

 

[GntlKnigt1]

Usually stabilize and claarify before you bottle. Even if no more erupt, you will have a sediment n the bottom of each bottle that will require you to either decant it or drink it cloudy. If youre opening it anyway, it makes sense to be certain the yeast are sead. It might help clarify if you live in a cold climate and put it outside in cold but not freezing weather.

 

[nzkiwinorse]

I really didnt understand that, So im gonna chuck it back in the carboy and see what happens, Im moving in 2 weeks so hopefully its finished before then as I cant afford a stabilizer due to saving up for moving. so might have to haul the carboy with me!

 

[Medsen Fey]

You can pasteurize it and rebottle.

 

[GntlKnigt1]

Stabilizer isn't very expensive. If you tell us where you live, we can probably find a listing in a brew shop near you. It's okay to move the carboy, but the agitation of the bottle will mean you will have to let it settle again.

Medsen, how could he pasteurize it without evaporating the alcohol in it?

 

[Medsen Fey]

Put it in a pot and bring the temp up to about 160°F for 5+ minutes. To lose a significant amount of alcohol, you'll have to boil it and reduce the volume by a considerable amount.

If it is fully degassed, you can rebottle and put the sealed bottles to stand in a pot of water and raise the temp to 160. There will be no losses, but if you try this with a mead that is carbonated it may cause bottles to explode.

The concern with pasteurizing is not alcohol loss, it's flavor changes. However that impact on flavor may not be that big in a mead.

 

[Dwhite]

Did this once. Had a few bottles explode. I pulled all the bottles and made a point to "burp" them once a week. This involved just cracking the cap enough to let the pressure off then re-crimping with the capper. It's a little work but not a big deal.

Didn't want all the air exposure pouring it back in a carboy. You'll still have sediment but you won't have bombs.

All the Best,
D. White