I couldn't get any Campden tablets from the brewing shop but they had the powder, brought the powder and stirred in the recommended amount for 5 gallons. The mead looked a lot clearer before stirring but this was because the vast majority of the mould had sunk to the bottom, I found this out upon stirring. Currently sterilising 5 1 gallon demijohns will leave it for two days before I do anything. I plan to make sure I don't get any of the surface or bottom of the mead and transfer the rest into sterylised demijohns, I think through some fine straining bags to avoid transfering any mould. I have got some wine sweetener that contains glycerol, propylene glycol and aspartame which it says to add one teaspoon per bottle of wine but foolishly only got 57 ml so will probably add the lot plus some more honey if the mead still isn't sweet enough. I also have 114ml of glycerine which "smooths off wine or spirits" was wondering whether to add this. Thanks, I appreciate all the advice.
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I got mouldy mead would you throw it?
- Thread starter dangriff18
- Start date
If your mead is .990 and no more bubbles yes I would sulfite it hard and stabilize it at the same time. I have a book and it's the best out of several that recommends double the sulfite dose when initially sterilizing the must before pitching yeast when using wild berries and fruits. I have a peach melomel going right now and I did that.
Since you had so much mold Id recommend that double dose. It will fade overtime so don't worry about high levels. Plus the industry standard for commercial wines is a hell of a Lot higher than anything we do to our wines. Also I would recommend the normal dose every two rackings since your batch is high risk imo. I have a book that states this btw and I follow this practice as well.
Next I've learned never to back sweeten a young mead (unless of course you know exactly what s.g to hit because you've done the recipe before). I age mine 6 months min in the Carboy before deciding what it needs. As the mead mellows out it would require Much less sugar than a young mead and you may end up with a sweeter than preferable mead. I have done this before.
Good luck.
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Since you had so much mold Id recommend that double dose. It will fade overtime so don't worry about high levels. Plus the industry standard for commercial wines is a hell of a Lot higher than anything we do to our wines. Also I would recommend the normal dose every two rackings since your batch is high risk imo. I have a book that states this btw and I follow this practice as well.
Next I've learned never to back sweeten a young mead (unless of course you know exactly what s.g to hit because you've done the recipe before). I age mine 6 months min in the Carboy before deciding what it needs. As the mead mellows out it would require Much less sugar than a young mead and you may end up with a sweeter than preferable mead. I have done this before.
Good luck.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The transfer from the bucket to the demijohns is one racking, yes? why would I do more? I am going to need more demijohns. Won't add the wine sweetener or glycerine then. Has anyone ever added glycerine for smoothing off wines to their meads. Should I bother at any point.
If you're stuck for vessels, you can rack into your bucket, and then back into the demijohn. It won't hurt if its only for a few minutes.
Major PITA though.
Major PITA though.
I am limited on my supplies as well and will rack to a temporary container, clean my just emptied one, and rack back to it. This gets me off the gross lees and any other adjuncts and into a clean and ready secondary/tertiary carboy without needing to have so many extras sitting around (I know I should have them and fill them, but I'm poor 
). If you have a small area, small budget, etc then this method works fairly well.
). If you have a small area, small budget, etc then this method works fairly well.I had the first bottle with a friend yesterday...Tastes like a cross between white wine and a smooth whisky. It is enough to have half a bottle after two beers and that is enough to be fked for both of us. By no means heavy drinkers or light weights. After having a glass, added a few drops of glycerine to sweeten it. Pretty leathal stuff that doesn't taste strong.
