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Ok, so I make a batch of mead in the usual way, and normally allow it to clear naturally.
To prevent fermentation problems, I don't mess around with trying the hit and miss of trying to use enough honey to hit a desired %ABV or stopping active fermentations etc.
I routinely ferment until dry or till the yeast poops out, though usually the former.
Now as it happens, I like my meads medium sweet (1.010 to 1.020), but I prefer to use honey to back sweeten. Not only does this do the job (retaining a strong honey profile), but it can also be a complete PITA, because the addition of honey (after sorbating and sulphiting the naturally cleared mead), often causes a haze that seems to take a hell of a long time to drop out (got a couple of gallons that have been sitting for over 12 months).
After consultation over at gotmead, it seems that I need to try both bentonite and sparkoloid (the hot mix version), as one or the other will do the job.
There's no problem getting bentonite to try, but the only place I've found that keeps sparkoloid hot mix is on ebay and in the US.
So, does anyone have any links for UK based HBS that keep sparkoloid hot mix finings powder ?
Or any other idea how to clear a honey haze from a back sweetened mead (which I understand is likely to be a protein haze) ?
regards
jtfb
To prevent fermentation problems, I don't mess around with trying the hit and miss of trying to use enough honey to hit a desired %ABV or stopping active fermentations etc.
I routinely ferment until dry or till the yeast poops out, though usually the former.
Now as it happens, I like my meads medium sweet (1.010 to 1.020), but I prefer to use honey to back sweeten. Not only does this do the job (retaining a strong honey profile), but it can also be a complete PITA, because the addition of honey (after sorbating and sulphiting the naturally cleared mead), often causes a haze that seems to take a hell of a long time to drop out (got a couple of gallons that have been sitting for over 12 months).
After consultation over at gotmead, it seems that I need to try both bentonite and sparkoloid (the hot mix version), as one or the other will do the job.
There's no problem getting bentonite to try, but the only place I've found that keeps sparkoloid hot mix is on ebay and in the US.
So, does anyone have any links for UK based HBS that keep sparkoloid hot mix finings powder ?
Or any other idea how to clear a honey haze from a back sweetened mead (which I understand is likely to be a protein haze) ?
regards
jtfb
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