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In lieu of sulfates...

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J

James B

Guest
Guest
A meadery I recently visited in Chico, CA said they don't use sulfates to prevent further fermentation of mead after bottling. Instead, they filter out all the yeast.

How effective is filtering out the yeast before bottling? Sometimes, if the mead is too dry, I add some honey to each bottle before putting on the cork. However, if just a little bit of yeast gets in there, the cork will pop off a few weeks later.

Does anyone have experience with this? ???
 
J

James B

Guest
Guest
Joe,
Do you mean to just sterilize the bottle by boiling it? How do I get rid of all of the yeast that might still be in the mead? ???
 

Marion

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 1, 2004
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I think what Joe implies is to "boil" the bottled mead as you would the canned beans from your garden.

Its good to be back. My previous identity was "Meadiac", but I couldn't retrieve my password, thus had to take on a new identity, which actually is my real one. So, I'm back to "newbie" status, where I probably should be anyway. ;D
 

ThistyViking

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 15, 2003
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Filtration is a valid method to stop fermentation by removing yeast. i think you need the 0.5 micron size for this, but that is from memory. I'll Review my notes and get back to you on this issue.
 

Jmattioli

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
I think what Joe implies is to "boil" the bottled mead as you would the canned beans from your garden.

Thank you Marion. That is exactly what I meant. No doubt you are familiar with canning. Temperature will kill the yeast and any other bacteria present. If you get a book on canning or research on web it will give you recommended times and temperatures.
Thanks again Marion
Joe
 

Dan McFeeley

Lifetime Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Oct 10, 2003
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Illinois
A meadery I recently visited in Chico, CA said they don't use sulfates to prevent further fermentation of mead after bottling. Instead, they filter out all the yeast.

How effective is filtering out the yeast before bottling? Sometimes, if the mead is too dry, I add some honey to each bottle before putting on the cork. However, if just a little bit of yeast gets in there, the cork will pop off a few weeks later.

Does anyone have experience with this? ???

It might depend on what kind of filtering process is being used. The late Robert Kime of the University of Cornell adapted ultrafiltration for commercial meadmaking. This is guaranteed to create a sterile honey must. Ordinary filtering with 0.5 micron pads should get out most of the yeast, but this is the last step of the filtering process. A coarse pad of 6.0 microns is used to get out the heavy gunk, then a medium pad of 1.0 microns.

I haven't used filtering myself. My preference is to let the mead sit sufficiently long to clear on its own before sweetening it. I'm pretty patient -- I've let some meads sit for a year before doing anything with them. The mead has to be clear before you do this -- cloudy meads likely have suspended yeasts that will reactivate.
 

Marion

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 1, 2004
115
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Ah yes, Joe. I'm quite familiar with put'n-up food. I have deep, in thu dirt, Southun roots. There are few things I enjoy more than carry'n on family tradition, such as canning, preserv'n and such. The beets are near ready to pull and the beans are start'n to run. What be long before the kettle is on the stove. :D
 
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