Filtering from one Commercial Point of View

My take on filtering is that we don't see enough of a change in the final product other than no sediment in the bottle after a few weeks/months to worry about it. With mead being so unknown, I think it needs all the advantages of being beautifully clear to help win customers. One commercial mead that is made near us isn't filtered and it has small fuzzy chunks floating in it. It's a total turn off for sure. I've also seen mead that has a layer of sediment in the bottle; as a mead enthusiast, I have no problem with that but for someone who has never even heard of mead before it can be a purchasing deal breaker.

I can appreciate all mead makers and their philosophies - to filter, not to filter, to sulfite, not to sulfate, high alcohol or low, carbed or still. The bottom line is that as long as we all can make a good product that sells, it helps us ALL out in the long run!

mfalenski said:

- to filter, not to filter, to sulfite, not to sulfate -

Click to expand...

If you're make small batches and you sterilize the must by heating then you wont have troubles with honey's proteins because they were denaturelized during the heating.

But if you sterilize the must with sulphite (I do) then the protein denaturelization goes slowly and it happens that sometime you bottle a 0.5 microns filtered clear mead and in a few moth a sediment will be in the bottom of your bottle.

This sediment is not the result of a mistake during filtration, is the result of the proteins' denaturalization chemical reaction of the diluted must's proteins that remain in mead.

To avoid this problem I don't bottle before 1.5 year. Right now I have a experiment with bentonite, teoretically bentonite has to settle along with the proteins from mead so I won't have to wait 1.5 years for bottling.

So ... Yes ... I filter and I use sulphite and feel comfortable.

Saludos,