New guy question

[James Judd]

Hello, so as the title states I am pretty new at this mead making thing. I have a one gallon of JOAMS going, 1 gallon of mint "probably taste like crap but I thought I would try it" and 5 gallons of peach. All seems to be going well right now. My question is that when that special time arrives that i can bottle this stuff, i am scared of the bottle bombs especially if i have to back sweeten. How do i ensure that my fermentation wont restart? Is the Camden tablets enough to keep it from restarting? Any advice or help is greatly appreciated. And like I said. I am new so please be gentle. Lol

 

[Danlund443]

Howdy, personally I use campden tablets (potassium metabisulfite) and potassium sorbate. Probably overkill doing both but it works and hasn't affected the flavor. Also pretty new but it worked on several batches thus far. Good luck!

 

[James Judd]

Yeah. I have the campden tablets. I will use those. Just hope I dont get any bottle explosions. Lol

 

[Danlund443]

Yeah it'll be good, just don't let them get too hot. Maybe even cold crash them first up to you

 

[James Judd]

Thanks, I was reading about the cold crashing technique

 

[JimRausch]

If you're making mead, then time will be on your side. You don't want to bottle until all the lees have settled, which will probably take a couple months. By that time most of the yeast has settled out (that's some of the lees). Bottle bombs happen with beer and cider because we want them to be carbonated. So we are adding more fermentable sugars at bottling time. But most mead is bottled still. If you want to bottle it sparkling, then there is a whole 'nother thread that you'll need to look at and study.

 

[bernardsmith]

You really MUST add both K-meta and K-sorbate in tandem to prevent any remaining yeast cells from re-fermenting wine or mead or cider. The K-meta will remove a few cells but not enough if there are many viable and active yeast cells in the mead. This is one reason for racking - to remove your mead from active yeast cells. Rack two or three times (over months) before you stabilize. And don't attempt to stabilize the mead until you know for certain that the gravity is rock solid stable over at least three measurements over a couple of weeks.

The K-sorbate acts to prevent any cells not killed from reproducing so that over time you don't grow enough cells to effectively ferment any sugars you have added.

 

[James Judd]

If you're making mead, then time will be on your side. You don't want to bottle until all the lees have settled, which will probably take a couple months. By that time most of the yeast has settled out (that's some of the lees). Bottle bombs happen with beer and cider because we want them to be carbonated. So we are adding more fermentable sugars at bottling time. But most mead is bottled still. If you want to bottle it sparkling, then there is a whole 'nother thread that you'll need to look at and study.

Thanks Jim. My plan is to let them sit for a few months for clearing and aging purposed

 

[James Judd]

You really MUST add both K-meta and K-sorbate in tandem to prevent any remaining yeast cells from re-fermenting wine or mead or cider. The K-meta will remove a few cells but not enough if there are many viable and active yeast cells in the mead. This is one reason for racking - to remove your mead from active yeast cells. Rack two or three times (over months) before you stabilize. And don't attempt to stabilize the mead until you know for certain that the gravity is rock solid stable over at least three measurements over a couple of weeks.

The K-sorbate acts to prevent any cells not killed from reproducing so that over time you don't grow enough cells to effectively ferment any sugars you have added.

Thanks, I had only planned on racking once but maybe I should do a few racks.