Mead clarity?

[DUCCCC]

How high should my expectations be for the clarity of my basic mead?

Perhaps I'm waiting for it to get as clear as Apfelwein and it's just never going to get that clear?

I have a basic recipe mead, with 15 lbs clover honey from Costco, 2 teaspoons yeast nutrient, Lalvin D-47 yeast and water topped up to the shoulder ridge on a 5 gallon glass carboy. OG on 12/28/07 was 1.113.

This has been racked twice.

I can currently see through the carboy, and could probably read a book with large text through it, but it's just not as clear as Apfelwein after 8+ weeks in the carboy. There's still a light haze.

I'd like to get this stuff bottled and free up the carboy. I don't need to have it super clear, just wondering if I'm being too critical here....

 

[BigKahuna]

8+ MONTHS...It'll get that clear.
It should be as clear as your favorite white wine...but it takes a while...a LONG while.

 

[Freezeblade]

Mead takes patience. Don't bottle it too soon, or else you'll get a nice layer of sediment on the bottom, which isn't very attractive at all.

 

[DUCCCC]

Well I've waited 9 months so far, might as well just forget about it until new year's eve and assess the situation then.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[BigKahuna]

Well I've waited 9 months so far,

Missed that part ...sorry. I was stuck on the 8 weeks bit.

Try some Polyclear.

 

[summersolstice]

Mine usually clears pretty quickly but I've made 3-4 that took forever and one that cleared only with an application of Super Kleer. It helps to add 3-4 tablespoons of bentonite to a slurry at the beginning of fermentation. Having said that, though, here are two meads that didn't need any help clearing, other than a couple of rackings. The first is a traditional mead made from only water and raspberry blossom honey. It's about 4-5 months old. If you look closely, it's still a little cloudy at the bottom of the carboy. It'll remain there until it's clear all the way to the bottom. The second is a quick mead that was bottled within 4 months of pitching the yeast.

 

[DUCCCC]

Okay, here's how it looks in a glass:

That's after nine months.
OG: 1.113
FG: 1.010
ABV: 14%

I think I hit the limit of the D-47.

As for taste...
It's like a high power desert wine. Sweet, with a brandy-like alcohol nose. My wife said it'd be good for shots, but she's not much of a drinker...

I think this has huge potential! It's going to need at least another 12-15 months aging I believe. New year's eve '08 isn't going to see any of this ringing in the new year, but look out '09 or '10.

The honey scent is incredible! It's like sticking my nose in a jar of clover honey, except someone mixed a bit of cognac in there too. Obviously, at 1.010, it's still quite sweet, but like I said earlier, not any more than a nice port.

So now the question is, how much more should this bulk age?

Would I do any harm by using a clarifying agent, as in losing any of the awesome honey aroma?

I don't see this getting served in 750ml wine bottles, but I'm concerned about using 12 oz bottles with caps for aging. Of course I do have a ton of 750ml bottles at the moment, so that may still be the plan, how's mead do from an opened bottle? Does it oxydize easily?

Thanks

 

[Yooper]

It looks nice, and will clear more with some aging. You can definitely use finings, but I'd probably wait at least another 6 months before fining. I don't start bulk aging until the wine or mead is finished. That means, clear and basically ready to bottle. Then I age it in the carboy for about a year, and then bottle it. The aging in the carboy seems to keep the bottles "even" and if there is any sediment at all that falls out during that time, it kind of reaffirms my patience!

Mead is very much like wine- once you open a bottle, you should finish it. Oxygen is the death of mead, and it can happen in just a couple of hours once you open and reclose the bottle. You can bottle in 375 ml wine bottles, and I like that size for mead.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

I don't have a good answer but another thought/query that relates...

I have started making meads this last year. I have noticed that some clear quicker than others. I have tried different procedures (unfortunately I did not take good notes) in the preparation. Some I boiled the honey the full time, some I only boiled a short time, and some I added to boiling water after removing the heat.

I believe I read somewhere that when you boil the honey it will clear faster, However the mead will not be as fragrant/tasty. etc.

Could this have something to do with the time it takes to clear?

 

[DUCCCC]

It looks nice, and will clear more with some aging...

Thanks Yoop.
I'm in no hurry to drink this, but I guess I am getting impatient to bottle it up.

 

[malkore]

The quality of the honey matters too. nice raw honey will just take longer to clear.

if you're making a melomel, you can use cheaper, filtered 'store' honey (I get mine at Sam's Club) since the fruit usually masks the honey flavors...and it'll clear much faster since its been filtered already you miss out on some of the 'haze'.

 

[DUCCCC]

I was looking at this last night and it's cleared significantly in the last few weeks! I can read a printed page through the carboy.

There's still some sediment that's collected over the last couple months. This has been racked twice, but I think I'll give it one more racking as soon as I get my other glass carboy emptied of its cider.

I still may be able to get this in the bottles around the Christmans/New Year's time frame. It's going to be years after that before I drink it, but I'm going with wine bottles and Nomacorks, so it should be safe for quite a while.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I'm going with wine bottles and Nomacorks, so it should be safe for quite a while.

I've no idea what style of corker you're using, but FYI: there have been some serious issues of the Portugese floor corkers scoring nomacorcs as they're inserted into the bottles, resulting in a poor seal & oxidation over time. Floor Corking Machine :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies
Regards, GF.

 

[DUCCCC]

I've no idea what style of corker you're using, but FYI: there have been some serious issues of the Portugese floor corkers scoring nomacorcs as they're inserted into the bottles, resulting in a poor seal & oxidation over time...

Yes I use a Port. model corker, and my LHBS is primarily a winemaker and he uses the Port. corker as well. The problem with the Nomacorks and Portuguese corkers has been with the jaws, and particualrly the length. The bottom face of the jaws doesn't grab the cork "flushly" at the bottom face of the cork. This isn't an issue with natural cork, but with the Nomacorks is can lead to the bottom lip of the cork getting folded back, which can lead to an improper seal. By not dropping the cork into the corker all the way when loading up a new one I have had no problems at all. It's really no trouble at all. I've bottled up one batch of Apfelwein, and 2 kit wines so far this way with no leaks yet ( Yes, I still keep the bottles on their sides with the Nomacorks.). I'm happy so far. Hopefully I won't have any issues later.