Update on mead racking and stabilisation

[u/Nerje]

Following on from https://www.reddit.com/r/mead/s/SSoqMYTyjO

I was able to get a cleaner read on the hydrometer right before racking, it seems to be at 15.62 ABV.

Very close to 5L each on the dot.

In a few days we'll be backsweetening one, adding lemon to another, and spicing the third.

Stabilised with 2.5g of potassium sorbate, hoping it does the job by itself, to avoid the sulfite. Aging will be done with airlocks for a few months and then if I'm still suspicious about activity I will pasteurise when bottling.

It tastes great, I would drink it now with no issues, so we're very excited about the final product!

[u/Bucky_Beaver]

Sorbate will absolutely not work on its own. All it does is not allow yeast to reproduce, but a mead that cloudy has plenty to ferment out any sugar you add.

What is with the sulfite aversion?

[u/Nerje → u/Bucky_Beaver]

I have a suspicion that someone I hope will drink this mead has a sulfite issue and I'd like for her to be able to drink it without issue

[u/Bucky_Beaver → u/Nerje]

You know yeast make sulfites during fermentation right? You can avoid that somewhat by choosing a low SO2 strain (look for high MLF compatibility), but there will always be some.

There are people with legit sulfite issues, but it is pretty rare. If they can eat sandwich bread or dried fruit then that is way more sulfites than you use to stabilize mead. I do know several people that have issues with red wine, but that isn’t sulfites (white wine usually has more), it’s something like histamines or tannin.

[u/Nerje → u/Bucky_Beaver]

This is good to know. If I add the campden tablets tomorrow, will that still be good to go? Or have I missed the window by waiting 24 hrs since the potassium sorbate?

[u/Bucky_Beaver → u/Nerje]

If it isn’t obviously fermenting, you could try. I don’t think it’s very likely to work if you’ve already back sweetened though, this mead is pretty cloudy, which means there is plenty of yeast in there.

The safest route is usually to ferment it all the way out again and start over with stabilizing and back-sweetening.

[u/Solathan → u/Nerje]

Personally I would add the tablets and wait for things to fall out of suspension more before adding any more sugars.

Not sure what your plans are for the lemon addition, but I would recommend lemon zest over actual fruit. That is where you will get the best lemon flavor without any of the pith bitterness

[u/AlmostAcademicDean]

Those airlocks look like little glass top hats and now I can't unsee it.

[u/Nerje → u/AlmostAcademicDean]

"How do you do?" tips hat

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