Bottling without chemicals

If you make dry meads, it won't be a problem without Potassium Sorbate and sulfite. With sweet meads It is not an absolute requirement to stabilize using sulfite also. You can just use Potassium Sorbate. It is not know for triggering headaches. It is in most juices you purchase from the store. Otherwise you need to select yeasts that will stop at the alcohol tolerance you want and sweeten to where you want. If you run it to its limit the yeast will not survive.
Joe

I never use sulfites or sorbate in any of my meads. Know the alcohol tolerance of your yeast, and make sure you ferment all the way to completion. Then bulk age for 9-12 months, so that you are absolutely certain that fermentation is complete. Then bottle away.

Mead bottled without sulfites is supposedly more susceptible to oxidation, so be careful with it. I hear that 5 year old mead bottled with top quality corks sees about 10% losses to oxidation. I haven't been making mead for 5 years so I wouldn't know first-hand.

I have lost a few bottles due to cork taint. None of them were five years old however.

My friends have some of the stuff I made that is about eight years old now! Evidently they saved about ten bottles all this time and never told me! Swine that they are, they never told me they kept any stowed away! They opened one of them a couple of weeks back and said it was phenomenal, naturally I instantly cried foul and demanded loudly and vociferously that they share!

They quickly agreed . . . seems as though a crowded bank is not a place to make a scene (they have no sense of adventure)! Looks like it's going to be another out of control New Years Eve party with mead and chicks and guns and illegal fireworks and fire tucks and Jacuzzis and drugs and the occasional representative from the local constabulary! This time they're hosting it at their place . . . that silly string can get into the damndest places!

Cheers,

Oskaar - wondering what else they have rat-holed away in the closet!

Now that's my style of party!!!! ;D

I am no expert in this as I have just started bottling my meads. I have done research and I do not like the idea of using sulphites to halt fermentation. I did find that Irish Moss has helped my batches in completing fermentation. Once they clear, fermentation completely stops and I was able to bottle them after a month. It has been over two months since bottling and they seem to be doing fine. I guess time will tell though, but so far it looks like there will be no problem. I still have some from the three batches that I keep in gallon jugs and I have not noticed any activity going on.

John

I would probably bulk age for at least 8 months and then bottle using either artificial corks or beer caps. Bette seal, less oxydation, no chemicals.

Ted