month old mead, moving next week, will it taste bad if I keg it as is?

[qwertyuiop]

What would you do in this situation? 10lbs of honey and some lalvin yeast went into this, it's a month old and the airlock is still chugging away, doesn't seem like it's going to slow anytime soon, and i'm leaving my apartment next week.

I guess what I'm wondering is, will the mead age properly in the keg if there's still some fermentation going on at the time of kegging? Do you think this is going to end up tasting foul?

 

[CanadianJesus]

Mead, especially with Champagne yeast needs a lot of time to age. If you keg and drink it now you won't have anything worth drinking. Leave it to age in a carboy for a few months to age after it has cleared.

 

[qwertyuiop]

i'll have to move it in my van to do that, a 6-7 hour drive, do you think it will be okay? I guess it would get just as shaken up in a keg

 

[wreboot]

Shaking isn't a huge issue for mead the only concern would be that it blows out of your airlock. Shaking it may actually help the aging process as it helps get out some of the CO2.

 

[Yooper]

A keg is a perfect fermentation and aging vessel. It's not permeable to light or air, and would be great.

If fermentation is still going on, however, you either need to airlock it, come up with a spunding valve (to let c02 out), or purge very frequently. If you can purge the o2 out, and then pull the pressure relief valve so that c02 can't build up, it would be far preferable to a carboy or other vessel like that.

 

[qwertyuiop]

thanks for the input guys, i'll either vent every few days for the next month if it goes in the keg, or i'm just going to split the batch into several smaller fermenters and drive it home. I figure it might be a good time to dump some yeast nutrient in since it's going to get shaken either way.

I've read that shaking for aeration is a good thing, but only up to a certain point, I never took a gravity reading but I do wonder how much sugar might be left at this point.. I guess this is still a very young mead and I shouldn't worry about the must getting aerated.

 

[Yooper]

thanks for the input guys, i'll either vent every few days for the next month if it goes in the keg, or i'm just going to split the batch into several smaller fermenters and drive it home. I figure it might be a good time to dump some yeast nutrient in since it's going to get shaken either way.

I've read that shaking for aeration is a good thing, but only up to a certain point, I never took a gravity reading but I do wonder how much sugar might be left at this point.. I guess this is still a very young mead and I shouldn't worry about the must getting aerated.

If it's mostly fermented, you don't want to add yeast nutrient! I'd take a gravity reading now, before making a decision on whether to keg or not or doing the nutrient addition.

 

[qwertyuiop]

If it's mostly fermented, you don't want to add yeast nutrient! I'd take a gravity reading now, before making a decision on whether to keg or not or doing the nutrient addition.

will I be able to get an idea with a single reading? I never took one before pitching. the gas flowing out of the airlock is beginning to smell of alcohol, up until a few days ago it only smelled of honey.

 

[Yooper]

will I be able to get an idea with a single reading? I never took one before pitching. the gas flowing out of the airlock is beginning to smell of alcohol, up until a few days ago it only smelled of honey.

Sure, you'd get a great idea. You would be better off with a couple, say, one today and one in three days, to make sure it's not dropping any more but even a single reading could be helpful.