Maybe I shouldn't of Bottled It

I recently bottled a mead that was in the carboy for 2 months. It was my first mead and I figured it was pretty clear and it looked like fermentation was slowing down. I probably should have used a hyrdrometer, but I didn't. I'm thinking I might crack open a bottle and check the gravity.

Since I did not know what I was doing, I did not use any yeast nutrient or energizer. How likely am I going to wakeup to bottle bombs?

Anyways this is the recipe:

3 gallons of Motts Apple Juice
5lb of honey
Montrachet Yeast
3 cinnamon sticks
orange zest
3 cloves
raisins

Really hard to tell without gravity readings. Did you taste it when you bottled? Was it sweet? What was your starting gravity?

bubbachunk said:

Really hard to tell without gravity readings. Did you taste it when you bottled? Was it sweet? What was your starting gravity?

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It was rocket fuel at the bottling stage so hopefully most of the honey fermented out.

I didn't measure the starting gravity, but I'm thinking I will crack open a bottle and do a gravity check tonight.

As you pop open the bottle, listen carefully for any hissing sounds. Also, note if there is any carbonation in the liquid. Finally, look for evidence of any solid lees on the bottom of the bottle. If you have none of the above, then the mead is "probably" stable even if it has a little residual sweetness. From your earlier description ("rocket fuel") I suspect that it is dry, and not likely to cause you any pressure related problems in the future.

What do solid lees look like?

Solid in the sense that there is something "not clear" in the bottom of the bottle. Just as with bottle conditioned beer, you'll get a layer of spent yeast in the bottle -- and depending on the flocculation characteristics of your particular yeast strain, it will appear to be more solid, or more loose and "cloudy." I should've just said "lees" to avoid the confusion!

im a little worried you bottled about 10 months to soon. typically you rack off the yeast after about a month. then rack every 3 months till its clear enough to read through.

In hindsight, it was a bit early, but I figured I just would have a bit of sediment. Wouldn't fermentation pretty much be done after 2 months? Yes, I'm now aware that could be a dangerous assumption.

Two months is enough time to ferment everything, but there are cases when it isn't. I had a batch that I sulfite/sulfated and backsweetened and after a few months it started fermenting again. I'd say just start drinking them regularly and as long as they aren't becoming carbonated, you have nothing to worry about.

In OBC's mead experiment, none of the meads reached the final gravity in less than 10 months. At 3 months, they all had enough unfermented sugar to explode a champagne bottle.

I would open a bottle and check the gravity. If it is over 1.010, it would be a good idea to loosen the caps on all of them.

david_42 said:

In OBC's mead experiment, none of the meads reached the final gravity in less than 10 months. At 3 months, they all had enough unfermented sugar to explode a champagne bottle.

I would open a bottle and check the gravity. If it is over 1.010, it would be a good idea to loosen the caps on all of them.

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Yikes! I will be checking tonight.

Hey David,

In the event that it is > 1.010 should I try pouring them back into a fermenter?

Thanks,
Mike

Yes. Slowly. Add some campden tables to fight oxidation, and 24 hours later repitch the yeast.

If your alcohol level is high enough, it kills the yeast. Having SG readings would help in determining this, but since you don't, you'll have to go by the alcohol taste. It's not a perfect measurement, but since it tastes like rocket fuel, the alcohol is likely pretty high.

And as for what the SG is now, it can be above 1.01 and not ferment anymore. I've bottled various meads at 1.01, 1.015, 1.020, even a batch of JAO that petered out at 1.031, and none ever started up fermentation again. If your alcohol is high enough or if the nutrients are all gone, then the yeast is done. So you might be ok. I'd pop a bottle open (carefully), and if it's not fizzy you should be alright with the rest.

TipsyDragon said:

im a little worried you bottled about 10 months to soon. typically you rack off the yeast after about a month. then rack every 3 months till its clear enough to read through.

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I've had crystal clear mead in 6 weeks. Its all variable.

Considering there was only 5lbs of honey in 3 gallons of liquid, it should have fermented to attenuation in a month.

I think OP is fine to have bottled. Now just wait a year for that lighter fluid flavor to subside

While it is true that a high enough ethanol concentration will kill off the yeast, unless you know with certainty that you have exceeded the normal ethanol tolerance of your yeast, or you are sure that there are no fermentable sugars left in the mead, it may spontaneously re-start fermentation after weeks to months of inactivity. Even being higher than the ABV tolerance of the yeast strain that you used is no guarantee that fermentation will not re-start. Sometimes all it takes is a change in temperature, or mixing a fine layer of lees back up into the liquid in the bottle, to get the yeast to take off again. As long as there is sugar to ferment, some hardy individual cells may still be in there to ferment it.

The only sure-fire way to stabilize a semi-sweet or sweet mead is to treat it with metabisulfite (campden tabs) AND potassium sorbate. Even metabisulfite may not be enough in itself. Again, from your description of the flavor it is likely that you are fermented to dryness, but only a hydrometer reading can confirm that. Taste is not a good enough indicator.

OK. I cracked open a bottle and the FG was ~1.000-1.001. It's a bit rough, but somewhat drinkable. I'm a happy camper. No impeding bottle bombs.

Thanks everyone.

Crack one open on Christmas Eve and see how it is. Then try one next summer. And get another batch going now if you haven't already.

(there really needs to be a smiley like that, but with two wine glasses for the wine and mead forums)

ChshreCat said:

Crack one open on Christmas Eve and see how it is. Then try one next summer. And get another batch going now if you haven't already.

(there really needs to be a smiley like that, but with two wine glasses for the wine and mead forums)

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Heh. Luckily I have more than enough to drink. I have a filing cabinet full of beer, and 4 cases of apfelwein.

I did start another 3 gallon mead though. The same recipe minus the orange peel and raisins. I am also using D47 plus yeast nutrient instead of the Montrachet. This one I plan on fermenting 2 months and then transfering to another vessel and bulk aging for 6 months. Is there any reason to transfer again? I just feel it is a waste of time. Maybe I'm missing something.