tenchu_11

Recipes 

I've had some habiscus, cinemon & dried orange peel mead fermenting for 2 weeks. Everytime i open the bucket it seems clear until i get some out with my wine theif only to find it cloudy. Most of the loose particles, of orange peel zest have settled to the bottom but i'm afraid when i transfer to a secondary the particles will get sucked up. I was thinking of sterilizing a white t-shirt cutting it up and using a patch of it as a filter on my siphoning hose (its finer than cheese cloth which the particles escaped from during fermentation). I was thinking of using a rubberband to hold the t-shirt in place around the mouth of the siphoning hose...question one will the rubberband give an off taste? If so is there a way to avoid it? Second question (this is my first mead that isn't just honey) how long before my mead clarifies? Do I just need to let it sitt longer or leave it out over night in my 40F to make any particles sink. Thank you

malkore

Recipes 

at 2 weeks you have a ways to go before you do anything.

Time is the best clarifier, and some crash cooling isn't a bad idea.

I wouldn't filter it at all.

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Malkore
Primary: English Mild
On tap: Pale Ale, Lancelot's Wheat, English Brown Ale, Steam Beer, HoovNuts IPA
Bottled: MOAM, Braggot, Raspberry Melomel, Merlot, Apfelwein, Pyment, Sweet mead, Cabernet
Gal in 2009: 27, Gal in 2010: 34, Gal in 2011: 13, Gal in 2012: 10

MedsenFey

Recipes 

Malkore is right. Most of it will drop out with time, but first fermentation must complete and de-gassing must take place. When you do run into a batch with particle or seeds that need to be strained out, I find nylons stockings works wonderfully, and they are easy to sanitize. It helps if you have a wife/girl-friend to purchase them. Otherwise the sales person may give you some strange looks or make some comments - "Sir, I don't think those are your size."