Racking and filtering needed?

[Dorkusmalorkus]

I have a one gallon(4L) batch of mead that has been in the same jug since Nov 3. It has not been transfered to another container at any point throughout the process.

The only thing done was to remove the balloon airlock after two or three weeks and sealing the cap. The brew is now slightly clouded, but still not clear.

Is my mead ruined or can something be done to save it? Would filtering it be a good idea and if so, what could be used to do it?

 

[Korken91]

I would rack it and let it clear in secondary for a few weeks/months/ your mead is not ruined, just rack it and fill it up with water to about 1-1/2" from the top. It will probably clear with time

 

[bernardsmith]

What was the recipe? The cloudiness may be caused simply because the mead is still full of CO2 and that gas is keeping in suspension much of the particulates that would otherwise drop to the floor of the carboy. If you had added fruit and had "brewed" your mead then you may have set pectins. If you had added powdered spices then again it may simply be the gas and the electrical charge of those particles that keeps them suspended. Bottom line: you might try degassing (stirring vigorously while allowing the mead to rise in temperature to about 70F ) and you might try adding finings (their charge might neutralize the particles and force them to drop out of suspension.

 

[Dorkusmalorkus]

Thanks for the reassuring comments. The mead has only the three basic ingredients: fresh spring water, wildflower natural unpasteurized honey and bread yeast.

The gases can be heard when opening it. It looked and sounded like uncapping a coke bottle, fizz and all.

It is possible it may have been too early to cap and seal it. When first removing the ballon airlock, the balloon was no longer inflating and it seemed like fermentation slowed or stopped.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the reassuring comments. The mead has only the three basic ingredients: fresh spring water, wildflower natural unpasteurized honey and bread yeast.

The gases can be heard when opening it. It looked and sounded like uncapping a coke bottle, fizz and all.

It is possible it may have been too early to cap and seal it. When first removing the ballon airlock, the balloon was no longer inflating and it seemed like fermentation slowed or stopped.

You really need an airlock, or a blow off tube, or another way for gasses to escape without letting oxygen in. Without a way for the gas to dissipate, it will remain dissolved in the mead, and either be very fizzy (and then it won't clear, since the gas holds the solids like yeast in suspension), or the bottle can blow up.

Rack (siphon) gently to another container of the same size, so that you get the mead off of any fallen yeast sediment (lees). Let sit for 60 days, and do it again if needed. Make sure you keep an airlock on it, and keep it topped up to within an inch of the bung.

 

[bernardsmith]

Totally agree with Yooper. You should get a plastic airlock and drilled bung but in the meantime you should puncture the balloon with a pin to allow the gas to escape. The pressure of the gas building up as the yeast ferments the sugars will be more than enough to prevent air from getting in.

 

[Dorkusmalorkus]

When I started this mead, I used everything readily available and that didn't include purpose-made airlocks with the rubber bung. That's why I used a pierced balloon instead. I figured that I could just cap it and let it sit another month or so when the pierce balloon stopped inflating. Looks like that was my first mistake.

Anyway, I just transferred(with a siphon) the mead into another jug and capped that one with the bung and airlock set I finally received from the wine making supplier.

Still haven't got my tools to test it, but I know precisely how much honey I used. Would there be a way to guesstimate how alcoholic it might be?

 

[Maylar]

Yes... if you know the finished specific gravity.

 

[Dorkusmalorkus]

Is there a way to measure gravity without a specific instrument? If not then I shall have to wait the time it takes for the supplier to ship one over.

 

[Korken91]

To guesstimate you could use The batch builder from meadmakr http://www.meadmakr.com/batch-buildr/ if you play around with it you could get a "guess" of your SG.

 

[Maylar]

Is there a way to measure gravity without a specific instrument? If not then I shall have to wait the time it takes for the supplier to ship one over.

You can estimate the starting gravity by knowing how much honey and water you used. But for final gravity you need a hydrometer.

 

[Dorkusmalorkus]

I started with exactly 4L of water and 1300grammes of honey. Or a gallon of water and 2.8lbs of honey

 

[Maylar]

Your starting gravity would be about 1.100 with potential alcohol of about 13%.

 

[bernardsmith]

Pretty much agree with Maylar's assumptions and arithmetic: 1 lb of honey has an SG of about 1.035 when dissolved in water to make 1 gallon and 2.8 lbs then has a gravity of 1.100 (+/-) if making 1 gallon. A gravity of 1.100 has a potential ABV of about 13% (converting SG to ABV by multiplying by a factor of 131)

 

[Dorkusmalorkus]

My mead cleared a little as I was able to remove some sediment when siphoning it into another jug. It is still clouded but clearing is starting to become apparent near the top of the jug.

There seems to be a significant amount of sediment still in suspension and some of it is collecting at the bottom. I hope the mead will get much clearer as the gases escape through the bunghole/airlock, however it is not obviously visible with bubbling. Before siphoning into a new jug, the bubbling in the airlock was 2times per minute intervals.

How long should I expect it to take before most of the gases escape?