Bottling Mead?

[Culln5]

So my first attempt at a mead was unintentional, lol. A buddy of mine has talked for sometime about brewing and making meads. So, to get him motivated, I brewed a Habanero Capsicumel with his homegrown habaneros that he gave me!... Which leads me to my question....

It was a basic with honey, Water, Habaneros, and Montratchet yeast. It was in a primary on the habaneros for 2 months and has been in a secondary for about 6 weeks. I assume it is ready to be bottled but not being a mead guy, I'm not sure what the process is. I know from my homebrewing that I don't want oxygen in my bottles, but for this mead it isn't going to be carbonated, so what do I do? It's only a gallon and a half and I planned on putting it in 16oz grolschs that I have sitting around.

Do I just sanitize, fill, and seal?

TIA!

 

[roachvaliek]

Pretty much, just sanitize, fill, and seal. Though, you might want to use some potassium metabisulfite to stabilize.

 

[bmwr75]

And you might want to go buy some ice cream to consume along with it.

A little bit of habanero goes a long way. I use about 1/2 of one in a gallon batch for two weeks and it still turns out pretty spicy.

 

[Maylar]

pretty much, just sanitize, fill, and seal. Though, you might want to use some potassium metabisulfite and sorbate to stabilize.

Fixed it for ya.

 

[roachvaliek]

I don't use sorbate. Using it puts a definite shelf life on your mead. It degrades after a while, leaving off flavors. And, if there are any lactic bacteria present, it metabolizes it, making your mead taste like geraniums. Learned that one the hard way.
The combo of habeneros (capsaicin is a natural preservative) and potassium metabisulfite should do the job

 

[Culln5]

Thanks! Do you think it's ready for bottling at a little over 3 months? Should it be drinkable now?

 

[JJack887]

Bottling, yes. Drinkable? That's for you to decide. I wait 6-8 months before pulling a bottle.

 

[Culln5]

Bottling, yes. Drinkable? That's for you to decide. I wait 6-8 months before pulling a bottle.

Ok, I can wait till March! Should I store the bottles at room temperature or cold?.... I was also thinking of cabonating a few of them. I have some carbing tablets (1 per bottle of beer) and priming sugar laying around. Any idea how much to use? So I have to worry about bottle bombs or continuing fermentation?