foamy?

So I just bottles a batch of meade i did back in September... and it was foamy, kinda like it was carbed..... any ideas why this would happen?

Actually thinking on it... its more like its fizzy..... carbonated in the carboy?

If you didn't degas it, it will still hold CO2 in solution. It's normal.

Wait, you bottled a mead that was started two months ago??? O_O

yeast produce CO2 during fermentation. Some of this CO2 will stay dissolved in the liquid, more so if the fermentation temperatures are cool. You must degas the mead before bottling or you will have mead that is slightly spritzy.

Most meads really benefit from extended aging. I don't usually bottle any mead until it is 6 months old. Many mead makers wait for over a year. 2 months sounds very young for a mead and is probably a contributing factor in the carbonation.

Craig

You really shouldn't bottle a fizzy wine or mead. I'm concerned that in some temperature changes you can blow the corks. Like when it warms up a couple of degrees in the bottle.

How fizzy is it? If it's just a tiny bit, you can just decant before you serve. If it's more than a tiny bit, I'd uncork, pour gently back into a carboy, sulfite it and get it to 70 degrees or so. (Warmer temperatures help disperse the co2). After a couple of weeks at 70 degrees, if it's still fizzy, you can degas.

I rarely degas wines or meads that don't come from kits- usually extended aging will allow the wine to degas naturally. But I would never bottle a fizzy wine for the reason mentioned above.

You bottled 2 month old mead? If so, I'll bet it's still slowly fermenting. Beware of bottle bombs! Good luck, GF.

Yeah, I needed the carboy

Its hit its target gravity....

Its pretty fizzy, but the temp in my basement fluctuates wildly between 64 and 66

How do i degas?

claphamsa said:

Yeah, I needed the carboy

Its hit its target gravity....

Its pretty fizzy, but the temp in my basement fluctuates wildly between 64 and 66

How do i degas?

Click to expand...

Stir, stir, stir.
Try to do so without splashing too much. You should see and hear the gas escaping. A wine degassing tool is very helpful here. It is basically a couple paddles on the end of a long rod that can be put in a drill. The paddles fold up so it can fit in a carboy. Wine degassers are also great for mixing and aerating the mead.

Or even better is allow the mead to age. With a racking or two and enough time it will degas naturally.

Craig

Thanks

FYI, Im kinda glad i bottled this... we went through a modest 11 bottles at Turkey day

And since I bottled it, we didnt drink the stuff, that is aging properly (although this was trez yummy!)

I thought I was pushing it by bottling after 4 months yesterday. But it had gone from primary, to secondary, crash cooled, kegged for two months, crash cooled then bottled. Still taste like kerosene and needs to age and I only corked three bottles, maybe a little fizz would be nice but I be opening the corked ones for the first couple of tries.