Help with clearing mead?

Hi everyone,

I have finished the fermentation stage of my first mead, and am having issues with clearing it. It has sat done fermenting for about 3 weeks, and I have run a round of sparkolloid through it, but it didn't help much. I did use lemonade concentrate in the recipe, which is why I'm thinking my mead resembles, well, lemonade in both color and opacity. Should I cold crash it? Run another round off sparkolloid? Is it impossible to clear it?Any help will be appreciated! I want this mead to looks as good as it tastes.

Lemon mead can clear well but will just take time. Cold crashing helps but once most of the sediment is racked off of then I leave the mead for a couple months. I don't consider the mead ready for bottling till at least the 4 month mark.

I just did a 3 gallon batch of sweet mead and had a similar problem. Used super clear and it still did not clear. Long story short after a 45 min degassing session it is cleared nicely.

P.S. very new to wine/mead making this was my first batch. I am in no way shape or form qualified to give advice but this is what worked for me.

My mead has been sitting since the middle of February, so I'm at about 3, maybe 3 1/2 months. I have not tried degassing (again, this is my first attempt), so I will give that a shot tomorrow. Thanks to both of you for the helpful suggestions.

A bentonite slurry has helped clear mine.

So at least part of the issue was degassing - I didn't know that I needed to do it, so after reading about it, I've been stirring the crap out of the must to agitate and free up all the CO2 I can. I don't have one of those fancy drill things, but the back end of a plastic mash paddle seems to do the job. I'll just have to let it settle again before I bottle. Or before I try to degas some more. I'm assuming I'll know when it's been degassed because it will be more or less nice and clear? Thanks all!

Well your not alone. Like I said I am new to mead and wine. Every one forgets to mention the degassing. After 2 days mine is now clear enough to read through.

tacks said:

So at least part of the issue was degassing - I didn't know that I needed to do it, so after reading about it, I've been stirring the crap out of the must to agitate and free up all the CO2 I can. I don't have one of those fancy drill things, but the back end of a plastic mash paddle seems to do the job. I'll just have to let it settle again before I bottle. Or before I try to degas some more. I'm assuming I'll know when it's been degassed because it will be more or less nice and clear? Thanks all!

Click to expand...

One thing to bear in mind when degassing is that CO2 comes out of solution MUCH easier above 75 degrees F. If you have or can borrow a brew belt (or put the mead in a room which is warm enough), you'll have a much easier time degassing. Just be careful! The first time I warmed a wine and degassed, it was a gusher! Bubbles and wine came out of the carboy for almost two minutes straight, with no stirring past my first (heavy) pulse. So go gently at first.

-Rich

There's lots of info about degassing around........

Personally I use a vacuum pump and apply just enough to get the bubbles appearing at the surface.

Oh and it doesnt really work with plastic fermenters......

fatbloke said:

There's lots of info about degassing around........

Personally I use a vacuum pump and apply just enough to get the bubbles appearing at the surface.

Oh and it doesnt really work with plastic fermenters......

Click to expand...

Im sure that works a lot better. Spent 30-45 min on mine with a Mix-Stir
I just cant talk the wife into a 150+ dollar vacuum pump right now

I just cant talk the wife into a 150+ dollar vacuum pump right now

They sell these things to get air out of opened wine bottles for storage if you don't finish one.
If you find the right kind, they can fit right over a bung with a hole. Then just start pumping, it can take a while, but it reduces the chances of oxidation occurring.

Didn't know about these other options! Thanks everyone! I will probably pull my batch out of the basement to warm it up since its been in the mid 80's here in metro Detroit. I've kept it at a steady 63/64 for the last few months. It's in a better bottle right now and I have no empty fermenter to move it to but I intend on making another batch in the future so it's good to know about the vacuum approach too. Happy brewing all and if anyone has more suggestions keep em coming, there is no such thing as being too educated.

There's always the SuperKleerKC (aka chitosan/kieselsol).

Super clear didnt work for me until i degassed now you can read through it.