Filtering

[SouthernGorilla]

Who has a simple, effective, and cheap way of filtering mead? No matter how carefully I rack I always wind up with more than a little sediment in the new container. The orange melomel I racked today was crystal clear in the primary and now is cloudy again in the bottles.

I've tried using coffee filters. But they clog almost instantly. I'm looking at the whole-house water filter idea I've seen posted several places online. But that requires more investment than I'm comfortable with at this point. I'm not sure if the gravity-fed "vinbrite" (sp?) is any better than coffee filters.

I just want my mead to come out as clear as it can. I'm tired of waiting for the trub to settle just to pick it back up when I siphon.

 

[Yooper]

Who has a simple, effective, and cheap way of filtering mead? No matter how carefully I rack I always wind up with more than a little sediment in the new container. The orange melomel I racked today was crystal clear in the primary and now is cloudy again in the bottles.

I've tried using coffee filters. But they clog almost instantly. I'm looking at the whole-house water filter idea I've seen posted several places online. But that requires more investment than I'm comfortable with at this point. I'm not sure if the gravity-fed "vinbrite" (sp?) is any better than coffee filters.

I just want my mead to come out as clear as it can. I'm tired of waiting for the trub to settle just to pick it back up when I siphon.

If you wait it out, you'll have crystal clear mead with no sediment. A good rule of thumb is that if more than 60 days pass without ANY lees in the carboy, and the mead is crystal clear, then it's good to bottle.

don't use coffee filters or anything like that- you can ruin your mead by oxidizing it. Just rack whenever you have lees more than 1/4" thick or after 60 days if you have any lees at all. Eventually, they'll stop falling.

 

[SouthernGorilla]

Do the yeast and fruit bits magically disappear?

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Just rack whenever you have lees more than 1/4" thick or after 60 days if you have any lees at all. Eventually, they'll stop falling.

Yooper - Similar issue: I've got a mead in primary now (52 days, SG < 1.006) and it is falling clear, but there is a ton of sediment. I need to rack eventually, but I also need to add some makeup (hot honey water solution) when I do. Should I campden when I rack, or should I just let the yeasts pick up and ferment out the additional honey, let that fall clear, then rack again and campden?

I'm afraid of oxidation at this first racking, but I kinda need the yeasts to do their thing first with the remaining gravity.

 

[SouthernGorilla]

I'm afraid of oxidation at this first racking, but I kinda need the yeasts to do their thing first with the remaining gravity.

I wouldn't worry so much about oxidation. From what I've read it isn't a problem with mead like it is with beer and wine. My personal experience supports this. My first few batches were racked by pouring the mead through a screened funnel. That's a great way to oxidize a liquid. But the mead showed no signs of any off tastes as a result. My recent experience with the hassle of a racking cane has me planning to go back to using the funnel.

 

[Yooper]

Do the yeast and fruit bits magically disappear?

They fall to the bottom as lees, and then racking off of them means leaving more and more of them behind, until there are none left.

Yooper - Similar issue: I've got a mead in primary now (52 days, SG < 1.006) and it is falling clear, but there is a ton of sediment. I need to rack eventually, but I also need to add some makeup (hot honey water solution) when I do. Should I campden when I rack, or should I just let the yeasts pick up and ferment out the additional honey, let that fall clear, then rack again and campden?

I'm afraid of oxidation at this first racking, but I kinda need the yeasts to do their thing first with the remaining gravity.

I usually only use campden at every other racking at most, and at bottling, and I wouldn't use it right now. I'd hold off and wait a bit. Campden won't hurt, as wine yeast is tolerant of sulfites, so if you're really worried you could add it now with no issues- it's just not strictly necessary.

 

[SouthernGorilla]

Tried an experiment this morning with fair success. I used a piece of one-inch fine reticulated foam leftover from my aquarium. It filtered out a good deal of the debris that settled overnight in the fridge.