BOMM not clearing

[BeerHog]

Hello folks!
So my Bomm tastes great but stays cloudy and it won't clear during coldcrash . I used the recipe that uses fermaid K and Fermaid o with wyeast1388 as described at https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/Liquid-yeast-SNA/. The only thing that I did different is used pottasium bicarbonate instead of pottasium carbonate. Could that affect mead clearing?
Also, what affects clearing? I see people make meads that come out crystal clear wothout fining agents , but when I try and do the same I always get cloudy mead, what am I doing wrong?

 

[darigoni]

You don't state how long you've been waiting for it to clear?

How cold was your "coldcrash" and how long was it?

I assume that you let the fermentation finish (dry) and are not trying to stop it while it's still active?

I think most people use bicarbonate.

Some meads just clear faster than others. I would stick it a cool environment (basement) and forget about it for a couple of weeks.

 

[Maylar]

1388 doesn't flocculate very well. The BOMM's I've made all needed some sort of fining agent added before they cleared. Some yeasts are better than others in that regard.

 

[Squatchy]

Very few meads will clear completely without some help.

 

[BeerHog]

Must was made ob Feb 29th with SG of 1.088. It was racked when gravity was 1.000 second day in a row, about a week and a half after. On April 4th, It was racked again and placed in a fridge. The temp in the fridge is between 33 to 38 Fahrenheit I measured it with digital thermometer. It doesnt look like the haze is from yeast. None of my meads clear as it is shown on youtube videos... not even close. What could cause that haziness?

 

[4give]

Hi,

One variable could be your honey. Different honey from different regions, seasons, years, etc., will be different. Some honey may be a bit higher in proteins, or other specific minerals, and those may be suspended. If there is a bit more CO2 in your must, then that could also help things remain suspended. Tannins might also be another cause.

I have two small batches (out of 7) right now that absolutely won't clear (2 different yeasts). My guess is it's tannins in the fruit I used as the honey is the same, and the other batches cleared fine regardless of yeast.

I'm not aware of any specific mistake or technique that causes a mead not to clear.

One of my first Trads wouldn't clear for the longest time either. It ended up tasting great.

My feeling is that if it is tasting good, smelling good, and generally is good, then don't worry about the clearing until you're ready to bottle. You can then use a fining agent, and filter after that if you have one.

 

[EricHartman]

https://www.bjcp.org/mead/Mead_Study.pdf <--this was a treasure trove of information!

Here are my notes from the section of clarifying:

• Clarifying (BJCP, et al., p. 50): Haze can be the result of yeast, proteins, pectin, starch, tannins, or metallic contamination. Clarifiers are ionic compounds with an electrostatic charge; they bind to the compounds causing the haze and precipitate out of solution. Generally the most effective approach is to use each charge in succession. Cooling the mead (cold crashing) can help clarify.

I'll defer to the more experienced folks about which fining agent they prefer; though that article does go into depth on a few of the more common ones out there.

 

[Squatchy]

So just like meads are all different. Finning agents are never a given that they will work in every mead. You need to figure out what one works the best and then figure out how much to use in a bench trial.

 

[neverdie]

Hello folks!
So my Bomm tastes great but stays cloudy and it won't clear during coldcrash . I used the recipe that uses fermaid K and Fermaid o with wyeast1388 as described at https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/Liquid-yeast-SNA/. The only thing that I did different is used pottasium bicarbonate instead of pottasium carbonate. Could that affect mead clearing?
Also, what affects clearing? I see people make meads that come out crystal clear wothout fining agents , but when I try and do the same I always get cloudy mead, what am I doing wrong?

Did you make it using a starter? If not, perhaps that would make a difference?

 

[EricHartman]

So just like meads are all different. Finning agents are never a given that they will work in every mead. You need to figure out what one works the best and then figure out how much to use in a bench trial.

I assumed they were fire and forget; just follow manufacturer recs and good to go. You just love to dash my preconceptions against the wall! Better to learn here than get mud-mouth mead from excessive bentonite!

A few questions from a practical standpoint:
How large is your first dose in the bench trial?
How long do you let amount X of your fining agent do its work before adding the next dose during your trial?
What volume are you working with during the bench trial & initial fining agent selection phase?


Thanks!

 

[Squatchy]

I'm not trying to hurt you. But rather I want to tell you the truth to keep you from many of the perils you will fall victim to if someone won't tell you straight up what the truth is. Sorry if I have offended you. I am not working from that intention.

So you very well might have a protein haze from the protein in the honey. Even a paper type filter won't remove that.

With finning agents. You are dealing with either positive or negatively charged particles that are added into the mead. As you know opposites attract. So if you haze is a negatively charged haze. Addin a negative finning agent to it will fail completely. Add a positive finning agent to it and they will attract like magnets and this will cause the smaller particles to bond together. Then they weigh enough to drop to the bottom instead of floating.

There are even bentonites that I use that are based on the pH of the mead. And on works better at low pH and the other better on high pH.

Many products sell a two-part system. In this way, you add one and then the second a day later and in doing so you are finning both positive and negative particles in your mead.

I like this idea. Many times you can bottle a sparkling clear mead and over time find dust in the bottle. If you only fine one charge you can have the other charge still left in the bottle. Even in a state, you can't see it. And over time it must cling together while the mead is aging and then it drops out. Tannins are a great example of this.

If you fine both, along with a cold fine you are cold stabilizing along with getting plus and minus stuff out of your wine. And then. Some of us even filter after we have done all of this.

I don't have any more time ATM to help you with this.

But if you look up a piece I wrote here on Acid adjustments it will help you with that as well as acid additions and even finning bench trials even though I didn't state specificially that it would also work for finnings. Look it up and read it and what I just said in this last bit will make sense for you. And you will have also learned a lot more about a couple of other fractions of mead making at the same time.

come back after you have read the piece and ask again if you still need some help with clarification. I will try to clarify for you.

I have had things turn crystal clear in a matter of hours

 

[Squatchy]

Did you make it using a starter? If not, perhaps that would make a difference?

A started doesn't have anything to do with it

 

[EricHartman]

I'm not trying to hurt you. But rather I want to tell you the truth to keep you from many of the perils you will fall victim to if someone won't tell you straight up what the truth is. Sorry if I have offended you. I am not working from that intention.

Oh no offense at all! I tend to place a little humor/satire in my posts... I'm plenty happy to have my preconceptions dashed against a wall prior to learning the hard way! My small batch mesquite trad is approaching the fining stage and this information will be quite relevant. I'll review your Acid adjustments article again (the url is stored in my 19 pages of notes), with a "refocus" on clarifying.


Sorry BeerHog if I hijacked your thread... Given that this is related to your original question I hope that you are getting something from all this as well!

 

[EricHartman]

OK so with your acid additions post in mind here is how I think I would go about my selection and bench trial as a complete newbie!

Give time and the cold crash their fair chance. After these have done what they can do:

Selection phase:

1. Get two 50 ml portions of my mead. treat "A" with super-kleer and "B" with bentonite followed by hot sparkolloid. Apply both at maximum manufacture dosing and as per preparation instructions.
2. Observe effect over time so we know how it is going to behave in the bench trial
3. After sufficient time (2w?) to judge which group did the best and procced with bench trial on that combination

Bench Trial:

• Obtain three 50 ml samples of mead. Dose at 25, 50, & 75% of recommended max dosing
• Wait & observe.
• Once one of the samples has cleared then creep up on the gap. ie: if 50% & 75% cleared, but not 25% then in round 2 make a 45% and 35% to fine tune.
• If both 35 & 45% clear then fine the mead with 30%; if 45% clears but not 35% then fine the mead with 40%; if neither 35 nor 45% clear then fine mead with 50%

Assumptions (both are significant):
50 ml is sufficient quantity for observation (I have pipettes and test tubes)
I need not creep in any more then by 5%; and that an over/under dose of 5% is irrelevant.


Thoughts?