Mead from 2020 in Carboy still good?

[HonigBear]

Hi all,

I made a mead back in 2020 with birch sap and 13gal of honey. It’s in a 5 gallon carboy. We racked it twice. I moved out of state and didn’t return to my parent’s house until now. The carboy has been sitting in their basement in a cool (room temp to cool) dark place ever since. My mom has been making sure that the airlock always had some vodka in it. I was going to see if it is still good now and bottle it. But there is a thin white film on top of the liquid and some yeast sediment on the bottom. The mead is the clearest it has ever been though. I was wondering if that white film on top is of any concern? Or if anyone has ever kept a mead in a carboy for that long? We used local honey from a bee keeper (i believe it was raw).

 

[Dan O]

How does it smell? If it passes the smell test, move on to the taste test.
The white film is nothing to worry about, (usually leftover bits of pollen or other stuff that doesn't get dragged down with the rest of the yeast in the lees), unless it's fuzzy...then you could have issues. It looks like any of the meads on my table in my lab.
If the airlock has been well maintained, there may still be a possibility that it could taste slightly oxidized, because of the headspace, but tasting oxidation will depend on your palette.
If you try it & it seems fine, bottle it & enjoy a well aged mead.
Best of luck!
Happy meading