Mead still in primary for 1.5 years

Ok so I made a batch of Mead on Haloween 05'

I used 1 gallon blackberry honey
1 tsp Nutrient
1 tsp Energiser
a couple of packets of Lavlin 71b-1122 yeast
and I shot pure O2 into it for 15 mins.

My concerns.........
I HAVE COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT THIS BATCH IN MY SPARE BEDROOM CLOSET.

It has stayed in the primary carboy, I never racked it to a secondary. Did I ruin my mead by not transfering it to secondary?

I moved residences twice in 06' once in March 06' and one in July 06', both transports were in the back of my truck on the freeway with the rest of my household goods. It got shaken up both times really good during transport. Although the airlock has always been full of vodka, and it has never been exposed to air.

I never added an acid bled for flavoring.

I also have a ring of yeast around the top layer of the carboy. Like the bottle rings that homebrew beer gets when there may be an infection present.

I guess the test will be to try a sample, but I want some input of what I should do before I crack the cork on my carboy.

I have never made mead before.

So my plan is to put frozen fruit in the secondary (a berry of some sort) if it tastes ok and isn't vinegar by now. What sort of additives should I add at this point.

How long should it be stored with the fruit, and when should I rack again? How long should I age the third fermentation?

Any advice would be helpful.

I think that I would take a sample, see how it tastes. If it tastes right (ie. not infected) I would consider bottling. I have concerns about infections, aeration, and autolysis.

Let us know how it turns out.

- magno

You've probably had some autolysis take place too. So you might have some bready or astringent flavors from that.

thanks guys.......Im gonna rack it tomorrow, and I'll try a sample then.

So I really want to rack it ontop of some frozen organic rasperries. does a pound per gallon sound good? Should I add another pack of yeast? Or just rack and let it do its thing.

How long should it sit with fruit in the secondary?

I haven't brewed a mead yet. That's next weekend's project.

The recipes I have indicate about 1 lb per gallon. I'd re-pitch. What ever yeast you had in there to begin with, probably settled out completely.

If the only unfermentables are the fruit, I'd say a month. If the mead ferementation stuck and there are still honey sugars to convert, who knows.

After letting it sit for over a year, I would probably add more yeast. One pound per gallon should be fine, you might get away with a little less if you want. It could easily take another month on the fruit. Let it ferment, and settle back down. Once it is clear again it is ready to bottle. You may want to look into som pectic enzyme.

How do you plan to prepare the fruit? Id recomend steeping or steaming, NOT BOILING. Id also mash them up, so the yeast gets pulp, not whole fruit.

Good luck.

- magno

thanks for the help guys. i'm getting addicted to this forum again.

Hi

OH Wow, 1.5 years in a primary...I dunno..

Send me a bottle and I'l check it for you! Better safe than sorry!!

Clayton

1.5 years in the primary?
How clear is it?