ok so i used a test kit to meassure so2 in a batch of mead im ready to bottle at its at about 100 ppm so how do i get ride of some of the so2 without waiting forever. i use a enolmatic to vaccum degas could this help get the levels down some ?
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how to get ride of to much SO2
- Thread starter slimslam
- Start date
That level of free SO2 is not particularly excessive. In fact unless you're a sulfur sensitive person (i.e. truly allergic) you wouldn't even be able to sense it. Why would you want to pull some out?
well i notice a slight amout of sulfur smell but it might just be me. its a traditional mead nothign special, had some friends that wanted some and after the holidays my stash is a little low so i was going to bottle some i normally would just let it age out but im kinda rushing this. will the so2 levels get less if it ages in the bottle ?
Well I guess I have another question. Can you describe the "sulfur" smell that you noticed? Is it more like rotten eggs (or commercial natural gas from a stove) or does it smell more like burnt matches?
wells it very slight im not sure if its just collecting at the top of the 1 gallon jugs i have been aging it in not a burnt smell in any way but not as strong as the rotten eggs smell. its ever so slight i just enjoy perfection when it comes to my wine/mead.
another question i have is if i want to set a few bottles away for a few years to i have to put an increased amount of so2 in or will the standered amount of 25-50 ppm work? does so2 levels go down after the wine is bottled and stored i guess is the question?
another question i have is if i want to set a few bottles away for a few years to i have to put an increased amount of so2 in or will the standered amount of 25-50 ppm work? does so2 levels go down after the wine is bottled and stored i guess is the question?
Yes. It hasn't really been studied in meads, but in wines the SO2 definitely drops over time after bottling.
And although the dynamics in mead haven't been studied in detail, it ought to work similarly in meads. Principally SO2 is a very volatile gas, and comes out of solution readily - so that which doesn't chemically bind with other stuff in the mead will eventually make its way into the headroom (airspace) in the bottle, and will dissipate into the air pretty much as soon as you pull the cork.
If you can barely smell it now, then within a few weeks, even if the mead is in a corked container, enough of it will dissipate to make it undetectable.
If you can barely smell it now, then within a few weeks, even if the mead is in a corked container, enough of it will dissipate to make it undetectable.
