First Batch of Mead ready to bottle - everything sunk

[AleLover]

We made a batch elderflower mead for the first time...and we plan to bottle it later today as it has been 5 weeks. Up until 3 days ago the elderflowers were floating at the top of the fermentation vessel...but we noted that all have sunk to the bottom with just the majority of the very plumped up raisins floating at the top. Is this to be expected, or when we open it up later to bottle are we going to be disappointed with a batch gone bad?

 

[Seamonkey84]

Thugs sinking when fermentation stops is normal, there’s no more co2 being generated to stick to the particles to get them to float. Have you used elderflowers before? There’s a thread in the wine section that someone got sick after drinking theirs. The flowers are edible from what I’ve read, but you have to be careful of how much stems get into anything your consuming as they contain toxins.

 

[CKuhns]

Thats expected. Fruit, flowers etc often drop to the bottom near the end of fermentation.

 

[bernardsmith]

I make elderflower wine and mead several times a year - elderflower is our favorite wine and to date no-one who has drunk this has ever been sick because of the wine... If you forage for plants you need to know what you are doing.. and if you don't know what you are doing then you need to look for pre-packaged plants from trusted sources...

 

[JimRausch]

I would rack it off all that and let it sit for another month or more before bottling. Otherwise, you will probably have a ton of sediment in the bottles. 5 weeks is nothing....

 

[AleLover]

Jim thank you for that tip. The recipe I found said to allow fermentation 4 weeks or as one wishes...since we have never made I could only guess that 4 weeks or shortly after. We can wait until Sept when we are less busy. I would be interested in your wine recipe..

 

[JimRausch]

The fermentation may have been done within a week or two at the most. The rerackings are predominantly to get rid of the sediment. You really want it to be clear when you bottle. And something I didn't mention- every time you rack it you do run the risk of oxidizing it. Oxidation at this point=bad. So, use 1 Camden tab per gallon at every other racking to prevent oxidation. I got that trick from Yooper who has done a ton more wine than I'll ever do.
As far a wine recipes go- check out jackkeller.com. (got that suggestion from Yooper too) He has hundreds of recipes of all kinds of fruit wines, grape wines, and a few meads. If I get an idea of something I might want to try, I check out his site first.

 

[Immocles]

The fermentation may have been done within a week or two at the most. The rerackings are predominantly to get rid of the sediment. You really want it to be clear when you bottle. And something I didn't mention- every time you rack it you do run the risk of oxidizing it. Oxidation at this point=bad. So, use 1 Camden tab per gallon at every other racking to prevent oxidation. I got that trick from Yooper who has done a ton more wine than I'll ever do.
As far a wine recipes go- check out jackkeller.com. (got that suggestion from Yooper too) He has hundreds of recipes of all kinds of fruit wines, grape wines, and a few meads. If I get an idea of something I might want to try, I check out his site first.

Whats the best process for adding the camden? I've got a cyser and a mead planned for later this month that will probably require a few rackings. Is it best to crush, add, stir in fermenter prior to racking, or dissolve in a bit of mead/water and rack the mead on top, in the new fermenter? As I'm typing I feel like I'm overcomplicating myself haha.

 

[JimRausch]

Whats the best process for adding the camden?

I crush a tablet between two spoons, and dump it into the jug. Then rack on top of it. I don't bother to stir or shake, it dissolves well, and I don't want to introduce more O2 by agitating.

 

[Blacksmith1]

I use a similar method to Jim, except I use a morter and pestle to crush mine.

 

[bernardsmith]

If you are racking on top of added K-meta (Campden tabs) - that is you are adding the K-meta to an empty carboy that you will be filling then this is not really a problem but if you add powders to a wine or mead which is saturated with CO2 then you can expect that much of the gas will fall out of solution and collect as large bubbles around those particles and when it does the energy that is then released from the gas will force the CO2 to the surface taking with it the column of liquid that is above each bubble. This "nucleation" will result in a volcano of liquid that has enough energy to paint your ceiling with most of the contents of the carboy - especially if it uses the neck of your vessel as a rifle. Best practice , in my opinion, is always to dissolve any powder in a little water before adding it to a mead or wine. I say water because , in fact, K-meta does not really dissolve very easily in alcohol.

 

[Brett_Bellmore]

I use a similar method to Jim, except I use a morter and pestle to crush mine.

I just use two spoons and dump it in the new jug before I rack. I've never had a problem with overflows. I think my bad technique with the stream hitting the bottom causes the CO2 to be released long before the jug is nearing full.

 

[Blacksmith1]

I male sure my tube is on the floor of the carboy unless I need to do a major degas.