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Stabilizing, Clearing And Degassing

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G

gnome

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 29, 2006
9
0
0
Hello All
I Homebrew the Wine, but this is my first Batch of Mead (See Potential Alcohol content). My S.G. dropped to .990 and burps slowed to 1/15 sec. So I racked to secondary Carboy. Looks pretty murky. My question is when or should I stabilize and or clear. With wine at the stabilizing point I'll use a Lee's stirrer to Degass the Wine.Should I do this with Mead?
Secondary currently chilling in cool bath with pump, dripline and fan @70 deg. (Homebrewing in Arizona)
 
Gnome,

I'd say you could stabilize at any point now -- though, personally, I'd wait until 1 to 2 blips per minute. You'll definitely want to stabilize if you don't wait for it to stop on its own (and even then let it sit 3 to 6 months to be sure). Many people bottle safely and successfully without stabilizing, but the trade-off is in time. You can bulk age during this period, if you have the room and the extra carboy, but otherwise, you'll want to make sure all fermentation is done before bottling. I assume you're after a dry mead? If you backsweeten, you absolutely HAVE to stabilize, or you'll be making a batch of bottle bombs.

As for degassing, yes, do this when you stabilize. If you choose to just let it sit, then you'll want to wait to degas, because the mead might be producing small amounts of CO2 for some time, and you'd just have to do it again at bottling time.

BTW, where are you in AZ? In the Valley? I'm in Navajo County, in the White Mts. region. Daytime temps are +/- 95 degrees.

-David
 
Thanks Dave,
I'm in Apache Junction. I can let it bulk age, will it clear itself with time? Room temp is 75 deg (coolest room in house), would this be OK for bulk ageing or should I keep it in the cool bath @ 68-70 deg? At this time the plan is to backsweeten at Christmas and bottle then, if all seems well with the taste test.
 
Gnome,

This should clear nicely on its own, but you can use standard clarifiers if you want to hurry things along (I like bentonite, but there are other great products out there as well).

For the future, avoid the gypsum and Irish Moss -- these are beer ingredients, and don't really do anything for mead. Especially regarding clarity, the Irish Moss is designed to remove the large amount of proteins and other particulate matter in beer worts, but most mead musts, aside from braggots, do not have these things.

I don't pasteurize my honey musts at all, as I believe this can damage the flavor and body of the finished mead -- however there are many opinions on this topic, and it's best to use whatever works for you.

Even after letting it sit until Christmas, definitely stabilize with sulfites and potassium sorbate before backsweetening, in order to avoid renewed fermentation in the bottle.

Good luck, and keep us updated!

-David
 
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