when to bottle my session mead?

[fluketamer]

i have a session mead that still tasted sweet at 1.004. its now very dry at .9950

and will need backsweetening a little . thats ok because i plan to darken the color anyway with sweet cherry juice or perhaps a mix.


do you usually bottle a mead when its done or leave it on the lees an extra week like i do with my beers?
i know most mead makers reccomended taking mead off the lees early in the past but that was before tosna, before most beer makers stopped using secondary and this is a session mead.

thanks

 

[MightyMosin]

Mead is generally moved off of the gross lees once fermentation is done. It's up to the individual and the yeast used to determine if leaving if on fine lees will be used. In general, staying on the gross lees for a week or three shouldn't affect the flavor of the mead.

Bottling can be done immediately or you can let it bulk age in the carboys before bottling. I don't like bottling and put it off.

 

[fluketamer]

thanks im going to get it off the lees and bottle it with some dark cherry juice.

 

[MightyMosin]

If you don't stabilize it ahead of time, it will likely ferment that added juice and might end up in bottle bombs

 

[fluketamer]

yeah . i planned to kill the yeast before backsweetening