I started my 1 gallon honey mead on 5/31/2020. OSG was 1.100. Yesterday 6/27, I racked the mead. SG is 0.998. I have calculated 13.28% ABV. I am planning to leave it in the secondary for a week. After that can I bottle it in the spring cap bottles. The mead is very clear and has got strong alcohol taste. Couple years ago I made my 1st honey mead I used D47 yeast. This time didn't have that in hand so used 71B-1122 yeast. Question is do I still leave it for weeks or can I get this nectar in bottles soon. Thank you.
Is my Honey mead ready to be bottled.
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bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
The longer a well-made wine (or mead) ages and ages in a container that inhibits oxidation the better the wine will be. There is some debate about whether aging in bulk is better than in bottles but aging is better than not. If your mead is crystal clear and if it is no longer dropping sediment then the choice is yours. If you need the carboy for another batch , then I would say bottle. If you don't need the carboy because you have enough free vessels... then I would suggest that bulk aging is superior to bottle aging because , not least, lees can form in the bottle months after you think the mead or wine has stopped allowing sediment to form and in my opinion, finding sediment on the walls of your bottles is never a joy.
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Yes to the above advice.
A lot of it depends on how you fermented. The old advice to let your mead ferment for up to 6 months is outdated. With newer protocols such as BOMM and TOSNA, meads are drinkable in much shorter time.
However, HOWEVER, I still find that my meads above 10% are much better at 6-9months, even a year. Even my ciders take at least a 9 month nap in carboys.
I have a 14% cyser in carboy now for 9 months and it still needs a bit more aging. Sure I could drink it now but I know that it's not prime. It actually tastes decent but I know that It's gonna be much better at 12 months.
If you have a regular crown capper you can always bottle 3 or 4 of those tiny corona bottles. I think they’re 8 oz.
They’re nice because you open one of those periodically to see how the mead has matured without wasting 750 ml.
They’re nice because you open one of those periodically to see how the mead has matured without wasting 750 ml.
The mead I made in 2017 ( last bottle opened 5/2020), racked after 2 weeks after the 1st rack. Then bottled in spring loaded 12 oz bottles and left in card box boxes filled with sponges in between each bottles ( worried about bottle bombs). They were all moved to my mini bar fridge and left to age in the fridge for over 8 months. Actually I forgot about them. After 8 months the mead was well carbonated and still mildly sweet and tasted really good. Yes you are correct about sediments. When you empty the bottle, you will see sediments. Which did not bother me. Anyway I am going to leave this mead alone for couple months. Thank you all for your expert advice.
I was going to say that. "Clear" means you can read a newspaper through it, and it doesn't drop any more lees (sediment).
The sediment may not be bothersome- but it includes active yeast when in suspension, leading to your carbonated mead. That is fine, but it could also create bottle bombs if it's going to continue slowly fermenting.
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
What Yooper says, but in addition, that sediment also tends to mean that the last glass of wine you pour from every bottle is going to be unacceptably cloudy so you lose a glass (4-6 oz) every time you open a bottle. The dollar cost is one thing but the loss at the table or with friends is even more of an issue, in my opinion.
Regarding honey mead started 5/3/2020 with SG 1.100 and 1st rack 6/27 with FG 0.998. I bottled the mead in spring top bottles on 7/5/2020. On 6/27, the mead had a very strong alcoholic taste. On 7/5, the alcoholic taste was smoother and it tasted really good. I got 7, 12 oz bottles filled and they are resting to mature for few months. The last bottle may be little cloudy when I eventually empty the bottle. Rest of the bottle are very clear with no accumulation at the bottom. This is going to be one fine mead. My next goal is to make ginger beer with ginger bug, following Glen's recipe. leave it in spring top bottles on the counter for 3 days and pasteurize it following CS method from you tube. This will allow me to leave the beer in the fridge for a very long time and prevent it from going over the cliff. I need to get more spring top bottles. Hate to go out to the wine supply store at this time. Maybe I will order it on line. The mead in the glass is the bottom mead from the jar after bottling.
