Ready to bottle?

[JJack887]

I think I'm ready to bottle my first mead. It's only a 1gal batch, and it's been in secondary for a little over a month, but it's clear enough that I can practically read through it. I was wondering if a re-rack would be necessary. I'm trying to minimize loss of mead since it's just one gallon. Can I just dissolve some sorbate and add it to stabilize? I'm not back sweetening. Thank you.

 

[CKuhns]

If you have some lees then consider a re-rack. If not clear enough to easily read a newspaper through then i age for a bit more. This is my personal preference only and i have found even small amounts of haze can change the flavor vs. having a crystal clear Mead.

 

[JJack887]

If you have some lees then consider a re-rack. If not clear enough to easily read a newspaper through then i age for a bit more. This is my personal preference only and i have found even small amounts of haze can change the flavor vs. having a crystal clear Mead.

I do have lees, but it's so very little. I'll age it a bit longer and re-rack on to sorbate the night before bottling. Would a campden tablet also be needed?

 

[JJack887]

I do have lees, but it's so very little. I'll age it a bit longer and re-rack on to sorbate the night before. Would a campden tablet also be needed?

 

[Maylar]

Yes, use sorbate and campden together.

 

[MarkKF]

My cyzer has been in the secondary about two weeks, after ten days in a bucket. There's a plug of foam up in the neck and some lees on the bottom. But, the body is far from clear. I've had commercial cyzer that's cloudy and commercial mead that's clear. My cider is usually clear but it doesn't look like my cyzer will clear. Is clear what I'm looking for or is cloudy good enough?

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Give it more time it should clear eventually. Did you use pectic enzyme?

 

[MarkKF]

Yes I did.

 

[Vex3521]

I'd say more time also, if it's a lot of lees I'd likely re-rack to get it off that and that might help also

 

[ursapod]

Jjack what was your final gravity? You may not need to kill the yeast if there is no residual sugars left.

 

[MarkKF]

I'd say more time also, if it's a lot of lees I'd likely re-rack to get it off that and that might help also

Thanks. I just did.

 

[JJack887]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1451194610.193688.jpg Bottled it! I didn't bother with a re-rack since there was so little lees. I only used a Campden and no sorbate since I didn't sweeten it. Hope you enjoy my sophisticated labeling.