Melomel question

I started a strawberry melomel at the beginning of March. It was in primary for 1 month, and has been in secondary ever since... well actually racked a couple of times.

The hydrometer readings aren't dropping any more and it's nice and clear, has a great strawberry aroma. I'm not sure when I should consider bottling. From what I can tell bulk aging has its benefits, but I also want to free up the carboy.

My hesitance in bottling lies in a blueberry melomel I made using the same general process/recipe. I bottled it and it was tasting fantastic. Nice and clear, hydrometer readings were no longer dropping. But a few weeks later it burst all over my kitchen. And the bottles that didn't burst were ridiculously carbonated... even more than champagne.

This new batch seems to have a lot of C02 in it. If I shake the carboy it bubbles and foams. Not sure what to do from here... just wait? degas?

Any thoughts?

Well for one, give us more details. What was your starting gravity and your final gravity, and which yeast did you use. You do need to let it de-gas. Usually a gassy batch will still have a lot of particles to drop out of suspension. That will usually leave it clear enough to read newspaper through. If you've been keeping it cool, letting it sit a room temp will speed the degassing, and may encourage the yeast to chew up anything else that they ultimately will.

MedsenFey said:

Well for one, give us more details. What was your starting gravity and your final gravity, and which yeast did you use. You do need to let it de-gas. Usually a gassy batch will still have a lot of particles to drop out of suspension. That will usually leave it clear enough to read newspaper through. If you've been keeping it cool, letting it sit a room temp will speed the degassing, and may encourage the yeast to chew up anything else that they ultimately will.

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My starting gravity was 1.19 and final gravity is 1.01. It is clear enough to read newspaper through and isn't dropping any more lees.

I've been keeping it at room temp which has varied from 68-85. I know that's a big range... don't have AC. It just seems to have a lot of bubbles.

I used Red Star Cotes de Blanc champagne yeast, which if I'm not mistaken, can take a while to finish up?

Did you mean 1.119 for the starting grav? I don't think Cote des Blanc would be able to get started at 1.190. It is always good to use 3 decimals for gravity to prevent confusion.

If you have gone from 1.119 to 1.010, then the yeast is very close to its alcohol tolerance and the chance of it fermenting more is low, but I would age it under airlock until fully degassed and check the gravity again in a couple of months just to be certain it is finished. If the gravity remains stable, and it is clear and de-gassed, then it's time for bottling.

Yeah I meant from 1.119 to 1.010. Sorry, I'm kind of new at this. Thanks for the input, sounds like I just need to give it more time before bottling... I don't want any more exploding mead