Hello, my first attempt at mead (well, metheglin) has hit a snag, cloudiness.
The recipe (1 gal): 4lbs local clear honey in 4pts hot water, raised to 80° C for 30 mins with the following added: 0.25 tsp tannin, 1.5 tsp yeast nutrient, 3 tsp tartaric acid, 1 tsp dried agrimony (in a tea infuser), 1 vanilla pod (split & de-seeded), 1 clove, 6 large mace blades. Added 1 pint water. SN9 (champagne) yeast from starter.
All has gone brilliantly. Started on 21 Nov (OG 1.110), 4th-8th Jan steady at FG 1.020 and stopped. 8th Jan racked off heavy sediment, shaken like billy-o, added 0.5tsp pot sorbate & 1 tsp campden powder.
left in cool for 4 weeks, remaining cloudy so 6 Jan (yesterday as I write) KwickClear A & B added as per instructions, 1ml each. I can see the KwickClear has dropped but the body is still very cloudy after 24hrs. I added KwickClear to a gallon of Dry White (Scarborough 1989) at the same time, here are the two brews for comparison:
mead1.jpg
You can see the white wine has cleared and thrown a deposit. The mead, you may be able to see the deposit but it doesn't look good.
I don't believe it's a pectic haze, as I don't think any of the ingredients have pectin (I can do the meths test if you think it may be). Should I filter it? Or leave it another 4 weeks? Or is there a mead-makers secret for getting clarity?
It tastes like nectar!
Thanks for looking
The recipe (1 gal): 4lbs local clear honey in 4pts hot water, raised to 80° C for 30 mins with the following added: 0.25 tsp tannin, 1.5 tsp yeast nutrient, 3 tsp tartaric acid, 1 tsp dried agrimony (in a tea infuser), 1 vanilla pod (split & de-seeded), 1 clove, 6 large mace blades. Added 1 pint water. SN9 (champagne) yeast from starter.
All has gone brilliantly. Started on 21 Nov (OG 1.110), 4th-8th Jan steady at FG 1.020 and stopped. 8th Jan racked off heavy sediment, shaken like billy-o, added 0.5tsp pot sorbate & 1 tsp campden powder.
left in cool for 4 weeks, remaining cloudy so 6 Jan (yesterday as I write) KwickClear A & B added as per instructions, 1ml each. I can see the KwickClear has dropped but the body is still very cloudy after 24hrs. I added KwickClear to a gallon of Dry White (Scarborough 1989) at the same time, here are the two brews for comparison:
mead1.jpg
You can see the white wine has cleared and thrown a deposit. The mead, you may be able to see the deposit but it doesn't look good.
I don't believe it's a pectic haze, as I don't think any of the ingredients have pectin (I can do the meths test if you think it may be). Should I filter it? Or leave it another 4 weeks? Or is there a mead-makers secret for getting clarity?
It tastes like nectar!
Thanks for looking
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