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Anyone tried sealing the fermenter to build up C02, stop fermentation and carbonate?

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fong song

NewBee
Registered Member
Jan 3, 2011
95
0
0
Hong Kong
I had an idea:
Fermenting in a high pressure vessel, I was thinking a soda bottle (no idea how this compares to a champagne bottle etc for pressure, but reduces risk from glass grenades).
Sealing the vessel part way through fermentation to build up the C02. Presumably this would stop fermentation through the pressure or build up of waste product (C02)? And leave a sparkling mead with a residual sweetness.

The mead would be drunk straight from the primary

Any thoughts?

Would it make it too yeasty if left in the primary for ages?
If so, is there a good recipe which would cover/complement the yeast taste?
Would the ferment actually stop?
Would it build so much pressure and explode it?


On a side note:
I have bottled some cider which I made with the lees of previous brews. I just threw it into a gallon of apple juice with some sugar, then bottled it into water bottles with some priming sugar. The water bottles aren't designed for pressurised beverages but havn't exploded yet :) They didn't get a huge amount of priming sugar though (8 or 12g in 1.5l (0.4gal)). It was just an experiment as I didn't want to throw away yeast that could still do things for me :)
 

YogiBearMead726

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 21, 2010
1,519
3
0
San Francisco, CA
One of the mentors, Medsen, has a thread about this. He tried fermeting in a corny keg, and ended up with pressures over 120 psi, and the yeast kept going. I think it's a bad idea to bottle something before it's finished, as clearly, CO2 and pressure aren't enough to stop the yeast. Remember, half of their life cycle is spent in an anaerobic environment, devoid of O2 and surrounded by CO2.

If you desperately want to do this, use the PET soda bottles, because when (not if) these explode, there's no flying glass.

As per flavor, yes, it will be a yeasty mess if you drink it straight from primary...and probably not very good. It'll likely be very hot, and most likely unpleasant, IMHO.

So...why bother? ;)
 

fong song

NewBee
Registered Member
Jan 3, 2011
95
0
0
Hong Kong
Wow, 120psi.
I guess that knocks that one on the head then.
It was just a thought, I have quite an active mind when I get into a subject and I like to narrow down possibilities that may not have been explored.
I see from some of your posts that you like a good experiment too, good work!
 

akueck

Certified Mead Mentor
Certified Mead Mentor
Jun 26, 2006
4,958
11
0
Ithaca, NY
This is slightly different than what you asked, but I have bottled a batch straight from cold crashing (it was done fermenting, just cooling to help it clear) in order to keep the trapped CO2 that hadn't escaped solution yet. This batch was barely done fermenting when I cooled it. The result was a lightly sparkling mead, and since I racked it there was little sediment.
 
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