> > Been making mead since 1978; let it go still, ...
>
> I assume that you are speaking now about letting it clear after the
> final racking for bulk conditioning.

"Still" means that there is no carbonation


> Questions:

whether you rack, how many times you rack and whether you fine or not
is really dependant on the recipe and your own preferences. If you do
fine your mead with gelatin, make sure you add some tannin to the
batch 24 hours before you add the gelatin, or you might end up with
jellyfish floating in your bottles a few years from now (you might
anyway, even with the tannin). Generally speaking, all fining will
strip some of the body and other good stuff, but if you do not go nuts
with it, you won't destroy the batch.


> How do I outgas without aerating (risking oxidation)? Is there a
> special tool? ... And what is the "etc" that you indicated?

Usually you use a long handled spoon and just stir it, right around
the time the yeast are ceasing activity. I just shake the primary
(6.5 gal carboy) about a week before racking to secondary...but that
probabally is not the best way to do it.

You can make your mead sparkling, like you would a beer or by not
stabilizing and bottling before it ferments to dryness (a much riskier
way to go).

> Others have said that crown caps are okay, so that's what I plan to use.
>
> > ... It takes at least a year to make good mead, sometimes two or three
> > years.


You can make "quick" meads that are ready to drink in a few
months....generally you cut some of the honey with sugar...and use
light flavored honeys. Even then they improve vastly with age, just
like nearly every wine worth making. Crown caps are fine for meads
that you plan to drink within a short peroid of time...but I
personally wouldn't let anything sit under a crown cap for 20 years
and expect it to be any good.

Besides, is 12 oz of mead really a single serving?

Droopy wrote:

snip

> You can make "quick" meads that are ready to drink in a few
> months....generally you cut some of the honey with sugar...and use
> light flavored honeys. Even then they improve vastly with age, just
> like nearly every wine worth making. ...

I made a melomel by combining honey with apple and grape juices
(something like 10 pounds of honey added to about 6 gallons of combined
juices, plus yeast nutrient and spices), then pitched two packets of
yeast -- one was for ale and the other for wine (what I had on hand).
Do you think that the 'sugars' in that much juice, which I assume is
mostly fructose and sucrose, will be enough to 'cut' the honey and
possibly make this drinkable by Christmas (three months after making).

> ... Crown caps are fine for meads
> that you plan to drink within a short peroid of time...but I
> personally wouldn't let anything sit under a crown cap for 20 years
> and expect it to be any good.

Well, with rare exceptions, I guess that most meads, etc., are consumed
with 5 or 6 years, aren't they? If so, are crown caps likely to be good
for that length of time?

> Besides, is 12 oz of mead really a single serving?

I have never had a mead, cyser, perry, melomel, etc., so I don't know
what a 'single serving' size would be. Are you suggesting that I should
be able to re-cork the bottle after pouring a small glass? If so, I
guess I could still do that with some sort of a small cork or cap, even
with a small bottle. Either that or split the bottle with someone or
else _force_ myself to drink the whole thing. ;-)

Thank you to everyone for all of your help.

Cheers.

Bill Velek

Droopy wrote:

snip

> You can make "quick" meads that are ready to drink in a few
> months....generally you cut some of the honey with sugar...and use
> light flavored honeys. Even then they improve vastly with age, just
> like nearly every wine worth making. ...

I made a melomel by combining honey with apple and grape juices
(something like 10 pounds of honey added to about 6 gallons of combined
juices, plus yeast nutrient and spices), then pitched two packets of
yeast -- one was for ale and the other for wine (what I had on hand).
Do you think that the 'sugars' in that much juice, which I assume is
mostly fructose and sucrose, will be enough to 'cut' the honey and
possibly make this drinkable by Christmas (three months after making).

> ... Crown caps are fine for meads
> that you plan to drink within a short peroid of time...but I
> personally wouldn't let anything sit under a crown cap for 20 years
> and expect it to be any good.

Well, with rare exceptions, I guess that most meads, etc., are consumed
with 5 or 6 years, aren't they? If so, are crown caps likely to be good
for that length of time?

> Besides, is 12 oz of mead really a single serving?

I have never had a mead, cyser, perry, melomel, etc., so I don't know
what a 'single serving' size would be. Are you suggesting that I should
be able to re-cork the bottle after pouring a small glass? If so, I
guess I could still do that with some sort of a small cork or cap, even
with a small bottle. Either that or split the bottle with someone or
else _force_ myself to drink the whole thing. ;-)

Thank you to everyone for all of your help.

Cheers.

Bill Velek

Bob wrote:

snip

> NB: After adding anything that impairs clarity by virtue of floaters, I
> rotate the carboys 1/8 turn daily, till the ones that are going to sink have
> done so, and the ones that never will still remain. This takes a few weeks.

snip

I had meant to ask about the "1/8 turn daily". Is that just for the
purpose of some slight motion to try to sink any floaters?

Thanks.

Bill Velek

Bill Velek > wrote:
> > ... Crown caps are fine for meads
>> that you plan to drink within a short peroid of time...but I
>> personally wouldn't let anything sit under a crown cap for 20 years
>> and expect it to be any good.
>
>Well, with rare exceptions, I guess that most meads, etc., are consumed
>with 5 or 6 years, aren't they? If so, are crown caps likely to be good
>for that length of time?

Um, yes. Even winemakers who've done or read the research
will tell you that crown caps (twist-off, in their case) actually
give a much better seal than traditional corks. It's no secret.
If you've ever had Thomas Hardy's Ale, you'd have experienced a
very wonderful ale that really needs 5 years of age, and can
continue to age gracefully for 20 years. OTOH, I've had bad
experiences with corked beer like Gales Prize Old Ale getting
completely flat, corky, and oxidized after a few years.

>> Besides, is 12 oz of mead really a single serving?
>
>I have never had a mead, cyser, perry, melomel, etc., so I don't know
>what a 'single serving' size would be.

It depends on how much you want and how much alcohol is
in the mead. Twelve ounces of what I view as a standard
mead (12-15 pounds honey in 5 US gallons) would be two
"glasses" of mead, and fine for a mild evening.

>Are you suggesting that I should
>be able to re-cork the bottle after pouring a small glass? If so, I
>guess I could still do that with some sort of a small cork or cap, even
>with a small bottle. Either that or split the bottle with someone or
>else _force_ myself to drink the whole thing. ;-)

I tend to bottle in a variety of sized bottles, from 6 ounce
nips to 22- and 25-ounce bottles. If I know (or strongly suspect)
the whole thing will not be consumed at a sitting, I'll carefully
decant the portion that will be left over into a smaller bottle--
from a 22 into a 12, fo example-- filling it to the rim and
crown-capping it.
The problem with recorking an open bottle of mead is that you
*will* get oxidation, just like with wine. Capping a very full
secondary bottle will leave less air in the headspace.

>Thank you to everyone for all of your help.

Just remember to take free advice for what it's worth.
I've read some doozies out here in cyberspace. ;-)
--
Joel Plutchak "Eat everything. Have fun." - Julia Child.
plutchak at [...]

> Um, yes. Even winemakers who've done or read the research
> will tell you that crown caps (twist-off, in their case) actually
> give a much better seal than traditional corks. It's no secret.

I though the main reason that crown caps were thought, by some, to be
superior to corks is because of TCA. And for my 2 cents, twist off
crown caps give a horrible seal.

> >> Besides, is 12 oz of mead really a single serving?


And I was joking on this point. I bottle all my meads in 750 ml
bottles, if there is some left over I just re-cork and finish it in a
day or two.

Droopy > wrote
> Besides, is 12 oz of mead really a single serving?


NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!

Bill Velek > wrote in message
...
> Bob wrote:
>
> snip
>
> > NB: After adding anything that impairs clarity by virtue of
floaters, I
> > rotate the carboys 1/8 turn daily, till the ones that are going to sink
have
> > done so, and the ones that never will still remain. This takes a few
weeks.
>
> snip
>
> I had meant to ask about the "1/8 turn daily". Is that just for the
> purpose of some slight motion to try to sink any floaters?

After I wrote that post I realized I had missed a good explanation for
this. Yes, it gets the floaters gathered on the surface of the wine, but
also, most carboys have that design in the side that is square ridges every
10cm/4" and the slight indentations inside the bottle sometimes act as
ledges for accumulating yeasts. It makes sure spare yeasts AND wax/fillers
from campden/benzoate/sorbate tabs go down too.
HTH,
Bob<><
>
> Thanks.
>
> Bill Velek
>

Joel > wrote
> The problem with recorking an open bottle of mead is that you
> *will* get oxidation, just like with wine.

Doesn't ascorbic acid added during the brewing process remain and stop a
lot of that???