Still mead problem

So I made my Cranberry/Blackberry Melomel and bottled it about a year ago.

I had used both sulphite and metabisulphite in the secondary to shock the yeast and keep my mead still.

The bottles were still up until a couple of months ago. Now they are fairly carbonated. I'm not sure where the carbonation came from. Any ideas?

Also any suggestions on how to stop them from carb'ing anymore. I don't want any explosions.

I was thinking of uncorking and then recorking in order to let the pressure out.

Thoughts?

Go into the cider section and look at the sitcky to stovetop pasteurize. That should do it.

just curious; was the mead clear when you bottled it? If so, is it still clear now or has it become cloudy? Is there yeast sediment on bottom of the bottles?

I am thinking that maybe your mead is not carbonating but as residual CO2 from fermentation may be coming out?

I would imagine that the cork would be pushed out before the bottle burst. There is actually a wine opener that injects CO2 past the cork to push out the cork.
http://www.amazon.com/Cork-Pops-Original-Bottle-Opener/dp/B0002S6BNU

Funk!

You have absolutely nailed the conditions. The wine was perfectly clear when bottled and now there is a cloudy haze floating in suspension. When I pour the mead it is still very clear, but it does look a little strange in the bottle.

Also we have had a bottle where the cork has pushed out even though they are shrink wrapped.

I'm glad to know it is residual co2 and not actually carbonation. Any suggestions to alleviate this issue. Would opening the bottles and corking allow the co2 to escape?

the slight appearance of sediment suggests it's still fermenting. you're lucky if one of the corks has pushed out, it's better than the bottle exploding.....

matalec1984 said:

S
.................I had used both sulphite and metabisulphite in the secondary to shock the yeast and keep my mead still.

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Sulfite and metabisulfite are exactly the same thing. You may have doubled the dose, but wine yeast is amazingly tolerant of sulfites. That's why winemakers use sulfites all the time- it's a great preservative and antioxidant that has very little affect on the yeast.

If you weren't completely done fermenting when you bottled, that would explain the now "carbonated" bottles. Did you take hydrometer readings before bottling?

If it was me, I'd pull out the corks before the bottles explode.

Did you happen to backsweeten your mead?

Man, don't do that stove top pasteurization bologna. It's dangerous if there is pressure in the bottle as the pressure increases a lot when heated

Instead, if it is still fermenting, put them in a fridge to put the yeast to sleep. I've had to do that before with cider/apfelwine

vespa2t said:

Man, don't do that stove top pasteurization bologna. It's dangerous if there is pressure in the bottle as the pressure increases a lot when heated

Instead, if it is still fermenting, put them in a fridge to put the yeast to sleep. I've had to do that before with cider/apfelwine

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Pasteurization is safe and kills the yeast, and yes you do this when the bottles are carbed. Chilling them only works while they are chilled. They will become active again once they warm up.

I meant sulphite and sorbate, it was a typo and yes I had taken my readings, the mead finished at .996 which was actually lower then what I had planned. I backsweetened with a pound of buckwheat honey and then let it age in tertiary for 5 months after that. It was bottled for another 5 months or so before any sign of this carbonation creeped up.

matalec1984 said:

I meant sulphite and sorbate, it was a typo and yes I had taken my readings, the mead finished at .996 which was actually lower then what I had planned. I backsweetened with a pound of buckwheat honey and then let it age in tertiary for 5 months after that. It was bottled for another 5 months or so before any sign of this carbonation creeped up.

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Did you degas the mead? If not I would suggest this for any future wines. This might also be behind what was suggested earlier, that it was residual CO2

tom_gamer said:

Pasteurization is safe and kills the yeast, and yes you do this when the bottles are carbed. Chilling them only works while they are chilled. They will become active again once they warm up.

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Pasteurization is only safe when conditions are known and its planned for. If you have wine bottles with fermenting mead, the. The risk goes up considerably. Don't assume the people reading understand the risk over pressurization of in sufficiently strong bottles

PVaT & Charles' law dictate caution when heating liquids (and associated dissolved gasses) in a bottle

matalec1984 said:

I meant sulphite and sorbate, it was a typo and yes I had taken my readings, the mead finished at .996 which was actually lower then what I had planned. I backsweetened with a pound of buckwheat honey and then let it age in tertiary for 5 months after that. It was bottled for another 5 months or so before any sign of this carbonation creeped up.

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Very strange. It sounds like the the sorbate didn't work very well. But after that length of time, it's hard to imagine it starting up again.

I'm wondering if Tom is correct and it was simply an issue of poor degassing. I suppose it is the only reasonable explanation why the co2 crept up after so long...

funkadelicturkey said:

just curious; was the mead clear when you bottled it? If so, is it still clear now or has it become cloudy? Is there yeast sediment on bottom of the bottles?

I am thinking that maybe your mead is not carbonating but as residual CO2 from fermentation may be coming out?

I would imagine that the cork would be pushed out before the bottle burst. There is actually a wine opener that injects CO2 past the cork to push out the cork.
http://www.amazon.com/Cork-Pops-Original-Bottle-Opener/dp/B0002S6BNU

Click to expand...

This guy said it first. But yes I am correct