Malolactic fermentation

[Medsen Fey]

A sweet mead that develops haze will most likely have some organisms at work, either the yeast reactivate, or a spoilage organism. It could be a malolactic bacteria because even though a traditional mead has little or no malic acid, they can eat sugars in a sweet batch. Usually the spoilage organisms cause it to smell bad and/or taste sour.

You can also get haze from pectins in batches made with fruit, and you can develop protein haze or haze due to metals (iron or copper). This usually won't cause an odor or flavor problem.

 

[Smarrikåka]

Well I know the honey would have been raw, since it came directly from a beekeeper, and the mead is still quite young, so that could explain the haze.

And the fact that you leave all your meads to age while dry before doing anything else, makes me confident, that it, at least, is not an awful idea

Thanks.

Edit: And thanks Medsen for the additional explanations. So I guess malolactic bacteria could have been responsible for the off-taste after all. That puts all the confusing matters at bay.