Cloudy Mead

[drillsergeant]

My mead has been in secondary for about 3 month. I took it out thinking of bottling but it's cloudy. A dark amber color. Should I be worried? What should I do? It is my first mead. Thank you in advance for help.

 

[loveofrose]

I have a meadowfoam mead that is 10 months old and cloudy.
I will do absolutely nothing. Mead is ready on its own time!

I choose to wait but there are other options:
You could hit it with benzonite or some other clearing agent.
You could bottle and drink it if it doesn't taste bad (think wheat beer).
I've done both with good results.

 

[Bearmaul]

Unless you're sure its just a protein haze, I'd definitely hold off on bottling until its clear. If there are yeast in suspension, they can wake up in the bottle and restart fermentation and depending on the residual sugars, you get bottle bombs.

Use bentonite or another fining agent, or just wait it out. Mead is a great exercise in patience.

 

[On-target]

3 months isn't very long for mead. Be patient(not easy ,I know) and you won't regret it later when you are sipping smooth and clear glass of your own mead.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Most of my meads are clear at around 3-3.5 months, but I do have one (a three varietal traditional) that isn't clearing. Just gonna let it sit and bottle it when it tells me it's ready. No need to rush in the world of mead.

Worst case scenario you get to buy a new carboy and increase your brewing potential.