Hydromel! Please help me ♥

[MightyMosin]

So ~30 days later, did you end up with something that is working for you?

 

[Siara]

So ~30 days later, did you end up with something that is working for you?

I'm really sorry! In between vacation, little time and other issues I've not found the time to update!

After the last test with the hydrometer I waited one week and tested again, it was at 1.000 so I decided that it was time. I syphoned the 2 jars of hydromel into 2 jars of the same size, filtering the hydromel through a fabric (cotton?) funnel. Since the last time I had added lots of yeast in order to salvage the mead, the bottom of the first 2 jars was all cloudy.
I tasted a bit of hydromel and I definitely didn't like the flavor so I back-sweeted it adding honey (I made one with less honey and one with more honey).

I had watched multiple videos on pasteurization, so at this point I put the entire jars (one at a time) inside a very big pot, raising the bottom of the jars from direct contact with the pot. I brought the temperature of the mead at 60-65C (140-149F), I removed the jars from the stove and let them cool slowly for a bit (then I helped putting the jars with some water and ice because it would have took all day and night since we have 30C inside the house).

I waited 1 week and half or 2 weeks and there was again a deposit on the bottom of the new 2 jars, though not as bad as the first ones.

At this point I was ready to put the hydromel into some bottles. I decided to syphon the jar with more sugar as it was, while for the jar with less sugar I decided to add, in each bottle, some fruit flavor. I bought a package of mixed forest fruits, made them boil for a bit with water and sugar, then I ran all of it through a colander with a very tight net and divided the liquid into 4 bottles. Then I syphoned the hydromel into them.

Now I have 4 bottles of hydromel, 4 bottles of hydromel with fruit, and one half empty bottle. I tasted a bit of both versions and I wasn't really happy with the flavor. I have no idea of how much the flavor changes with aging. I wish that I could have degassed them more but it is the first time that I do this and I really didn't want to wait any more time. This fermentation already went on for three times the time that it should have.
Can the half empty bottle be stored and kept the same way as the others?