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stabilizing questions

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hepcat

hepcat

Worker Bee
Registered Member
Feb 7, 2012
282
4
18
Central Florida
First, let me apologize as I suspect these questions have quite possibly been answered numerous times on here but I want to make sure I do this exactly right, I have four batches I'm getting close to stabilizing that I'm very happy with how they taste so far and don't want to do anything to mess them up. So here are my questions:

  • Does it matter which you add first, pot sorbate or pot metabisulfate?
  • After adding these chemicals, how long should I wait before bottling?
  • Should I extract some of the must into a sanitized container like a measuring cup, add the chemicals, stir until dissolved, then pour that back into the carboy or just add the chemicals straight into the carboy(s)?

Those are the only concerns I wanted to make certain I understood before I add them to stabilze the mead and thanks so much as always for your guidance.
And I know waiting a long while is the other option for stabilizing before bottling but I want to, at the very least to stabilize my very first batch so I can get some of it into bottles(then enjoy/drink the rest). Cheers;D
 
akueck

akueck

Certified Mead Mentor
Certified Mead Mentor
Jun 26, 2006
4,958
11
0
Ithaca, NY
You should add the sulfite before or with the sorbate. If you add them separately, add the sorbate within about 12-24 hours.

If your mead is fully clear, you can probably bottle right after adding these chemicals. Sometimes you get some yeast drop out after a sulfite addition, so you may want to wait a week to let that happen if you're unsure about how clear your mead is.

I often add these during some sort of racking process, in which case I just toss them into the receiving container and rack onto them. If you are waiting to bottle, you could get away with just tossing them in. If you want to bottle right away, mixing them into a small amount of mead first is a good idea.
 
Chevette Girl

Chevette Girl

All around BAD EXAMPLE
Moderator
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Apr 27, 2010
8,447
59
48
Ottawa, ON
One thing to add, if your mead has residual sugar, you probably want to give it a week or three before bottling to make sure the SG doesn't change.
 
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