Fruit pulp removal

[nealperkins]

My melomel's fruit won't settle down. I started with 5 gallons the primary and split this into 5 one gallon batches with different fruits.
The two with Oregon purees just won't settle and are quite 'fluffy' consuming as much as 35% of the gallon (The top part is very clear now.) No way I want to lose that much product.
The mead are ready for bottling as soon as I figure this out.
What can I do to retrieve most of this volume?
Strain it maybe as I pour into another container?
Thanks for your help.

 

[mgc]

I'm relatively new at this game but my first thoughts are not to go the pour/strain method. That seems like it will really aerate your brew at the wrong time. I have a blueberry/maple wine on the go and I had a similar problem at first racking. What about attaching some cheese cloth to a siphon hose, worked well for me. Make sure its nice and sterilized.

 

[abbot555]

Great question, I would like to know as well. I made a Raspberry mead and it had a lot of fluffy stuff too !

 

[fatbloke]

Luc Volders bucket strainer instructions should probably do the job (scroll down for the English translation) but it depends on what you actually use for the strainer element.

Something like a fine cotton or a couple of layers of "cheese cloth" should work well. Just make sure it's clean and been sanitised (I use the 5 x crushed campden tablets and 1 tsp of citric acid in a pint of water mix - clean cotton cloth is rinsed, left for 5 minutes to do it's thing, then wrung out and put into my "bucket sieve").

As long as you do the straining process slowly, it enable you to remove the cloth if it becomes bunged up/clogged and wrung through, then rinsed and re-sanitised etc.

regards

fatbloke

 

[nealperkins]

That's a great idea.
Being new to mead making (lots of beer and some wine though) I wonder about the comment above regarding oxidation. Is that a factor here?

Or...could I wrap a couple layers of cheese cloth around my auto-syphon and transfer into another jug (they are 1 gallon batches)?

I appreciate your help!

 

[Kershner_Ale]

Are the meads still fermenting (dropping in gravity)? If so, I wouldn't worry about oxidation too much. Unlike beer, oxidation of mead isn't as big a deal as some people think and is actually beneficial during fermentation.

 

[nealperkins]

I'm afraid we're all done here.

 

[MedsenFey]

There's not easy answers for this problem. Pouring through a strainer/cheese-cloth will aerate the mead and can pose oxidation problems for some batches. Attaching a strainer to the racking cane (there are a lot of creative ways to do it) can work, but they usually clog rapidly. Putting it in a fridge will sometimes help it compress down more. Some folks will rack off the clear mead, and then put the pulpy residual in a tall narrow container to let it settle more, and then rack off more clear mead later. Using a centrifuge is probably the most effective method.

My primary strategy these days is to make larger batches, If I start with 7 or eight, I don't cry as much when I have to toss some out.

Medsen