Mead Making 301: Done Fermenting, Now What?

[@patrickcorbett8361]

This Re-do on the '01 series is really informative...and I thank you for putting it out there for us " Mead Maniacs and wannabees "' lol ! pc

[@MrWorstNews]

Question regarding goo at the bottom. I racked after fermentation and added the flavorings. After 4 days, the mead with tea bags wound up developing a viscous brownish goo at the bottom. No off flavors or anything like that. However, there's goo at the bottom 😂 Cold crashing today then adding campden and potassium tomorrow!

[@buddygreer8482]

The lacing on that carbonated mead is ridiculous! What protein is in the mead? I've never seen lacing like that on a Cider or Mead. Please link to vid, thanks!

[@chuppathingy9114]

Question on this aging, if I have completed fermentation and back sweetening, and I want to age the brew, do I need an airlock? At that point things should not ferment as long as I’ve done everything properly right? There for I can put a lid on my brew?

[@ManMadeMead]

I would keep an airlock on all the way until bottling just in case there is any refermentation for any reason. You don't want to run the risk of a bottle bomb if something happened

[@chuppathingy9114]

@@ManMadeMead thank you! I was curious because I had about 3/4 gallon of mead in a glass carboy with an airlock and I was letting it age, and after about two months something got into it and it started growing a layer of fuzz lol wasn’t sure what I did wrong

[@KeithHooker-fo6jl]

I want to backsweeten a mead that seems to have fermented now after almost 2 weeks. My plan is to stabilize with potassium sorbate in a new container and add a little honey at a time until I achieve the sweetness I want. But I would also like to add oak and cinnamon for a rounder body and flavor. Should I oak and spices before backsweetening? Or should I backsweeten first?

[@ManMadeMead]

Add the oak after you backsweeten! It'll work just fine!

[@KeithHooker-fo6jl]

Thanks!

[@shadowenju273]

I used the craftabrew recipes from their kit, my mead made it to 1.000 gravity after 5 days but their recipe says to just leave it for 30 days, should i wait the 30 days before stablizing and back sweetening or could i do that now?

[@ManMadeMead]

I mean.. you can do that but you don't have to. They just want you to let it age longer. If your mead was healthy in fermentation, you can definitely go ahead and stabilize, backsweeten and then drink it pretty quick!

[@shadowenju273]

@@ManMadeMead is it preferable to age it before back sweetening?

[@ClassyJacket]

call this dude wine gosling

[@knightone57]

So the metabisulfite and potassium sorbate should be used together not just one or the other?

[@powerman7776]

Yes and No. KMBS scavenges oxygen, inhibits (but doesn't stop) yeast growth and kills bacteria. You can get away with only using KMBS is your brew is bone dry (1.000 or lower) when you bottle it. Sorbate stops yeast from dividing and is used in tandem with KMBS when you're bottling a brew with residual sugar. The combo stops the yeast from fermenting the remaining sugars and protects from bacterial spoilage.

[@knightone57]

@@powerman7776 Thank You

[@DawiFromAnotherHold]

FOR THE ALGORITHM!

[@noahmetzger852]

If my carboy has excess headspace for aging what is the solution? Do I top it off with water to reduce the air exposure?

[@saoudalfares2795]

Use potassium metabisulfite and if it's in glass (non permeable unlike plastic) should be fine as long as it has an airlock. The co2 from the brew should blanket it

[@brianguericke236]

I heard this probably on another channel. To put sanitized marbles in your brew until you get to the desired headspace.

[@wouter.bisseling]

Thank you so much for bringing this series back! It’s incredibly helpful. I do have a question: I recently got a Big Mouth Bubbler, but the seal doesn't seem to work properly. No matter how tightly I twist it, there’s always a small gap where air can escape. Do you have any solutions for this issue? Thanks!

[@csflmich2239]

I have 2 of them - one seals great, the other won't no matter what I do. It's a known problem. I will probably just buy the press-in lid to solve the problem.

[@FlameAndAir]

I happened to find your channel very recently, and was very confused why even your Playlist of these classes didn't have 301, it just went 201 to 401. Glad to have that answered now 😂