Degassing ??

[DaniJ323]

I ordered a peach mead kit from www.homebrewery.com. I have followed the instructions explicitly up till now. According to the directions I am to add the clarifying additives and wait at least 2 weeks to bottle. Nothing was mentioned about degassing. This is my first mead, and maybe mead is different? But I thought that if it's fermenting it's creating gas. Should I follow the instructions and just clarify? Or should I go ahead and degass even though the directions don't instruct me to so so?

 

[pwrose]

If it is done fermenting, checked by a hydrometer, then I would certainly degas. Something you will learn about meads is that they are real gassy, think of in your later years and a nursing home, (LOL).
Some have had trouble with getting a mead degassed after one or two times degassing.

 

[DaniJ323]

Thanks pwrose, it was my instinct to go ahead and degas but confirmation always feels better. I wonder how they could have left such an important step out of the instructiosn?? I hope there is nothing else I would be missing :0(

 

[winemaker_3352]

I would definitely degass after fermentation is complete. As this will help the clearing process.

 

[fatbloke]

You can de-gas in many ways.......

Gentle rolling of a carboy/demi-john....

Vacuum - either a proper vacuum pump of some sort of a "vacuvin" type device.....

Even "splash racking", though some don't like the idea of that as they worry about oxidation...... meads don't suffer from oxidation in the same way, or as quickly as "proper" wine and beers.

Or you can just rack off the sediment, top up with whatever you're topping up with and leave it under air lock as it will de-gas naturally over time, which is ideal if you like to clear your wines/meads naturally...

 

[DaniJ323]

Or you can just rack off the sediment, top up with whatever you're topping up with and leave it under air lock as it will de-gas naturally over time...

Over time...is how much time? weeks or months?

Thanks )

 

[Wade E]

Over time can fail unless you are talking years. I had one batch bulk age for right at 1 year in my wine room which stays at 73* almost all year due to havng the furnace in there and it was still very gassy. It was the one and only batch I didnt degas manually and kind of an experiment but mainly I didnt like the wine and was in no hurry to do anything with it. It never degassed itself. One of the best ways to degas a wine is with a drill mounted mixer like in the link below and tis too, is also great for mixing in your juices and getting your agents thoroughly mixed in also. If you plan to keep making wine I highly recommend it. Like fatbloke said, Meads by nature are much better protected as honey in itself is a preservative and really never goes bad, it will crystallize but if heated will go right back into liquid form.
http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=15262

 

[fatbloke]

To de-gas or not is subjective as well. The dissolved CO2 is sometimes used to help with flavour in some wines (I believe that it's correct to say that it remains in the form of carbonic acid).

You can buy a commercially produced wine, open the bottle, then put a vacuvin cap on it and use the pump, only to find that it fizzes like hell as it releases the the CO2.....

Which is a bit weird as you'd presume that wines like that would have been de-gassed, but then think of a sparkling white or champagne, it tastes good when chilled and freshly opened and that's gonna be "chokka" with CO2, yet if you then leave it to go flat, the taste changes completely and it's often not as good.......

So I'd suggest it's up to you/personal choice......

regards

fatbloke

 

[BobF]

To de-gas or not is subjective as well. The dissolved CO2 is sometimes used to help with flavour in some wines (I believe that it's correct to say that it remains in the form of carbonic acid).

You can buy a commercially produced wine, open the bottle, then put a vacuvin cap on it and use the pump, only to find that it fizzes like hell as it releases the the CO2.....

Which is a bit weird as you'd presume that wines like that would have been de-gassed, but then think of a sparkling white or champagne, it tastes good when chilled and freshly opened and that's gonna be "chokka" with CO2, yet if you then leave it to go flat, the taste changes completely and it's often not as good.......

So I'd suggest it's up to you/personal choice......

regards

fatbloke

I agree to an extent. I'd say it's personal pref as far as how much residual CO2 you leave behind. However, the bulk of the CO2 should come out of a still wine - whether naturally or induced.

 

[DaniJ323]

Another question....

The instructions have also failed to mention anything about racking. It has spent nearly a month in the secondary and once I confirm that fermentation is complete, I will be using SuperKleer. Does SuperKleer require racking before or after clarifying? If I've read correctly some clarifiers need the sediment in suspension to work properly, I just don't know if this is one those ;o)

Thanks again

 

[Wade E]

SuerKleer doesnt require sediment to be stirred back into suspension as others require as it is both possitively and negatively charged unlike many others that are just one or the other. I would rack off the heavy lees and then use the SuperKleer and also sulfite it if y havnt yet. I would also use sorbate at this point if you plan on sweetening. I would also sweeten before clearing as sometimes sweetening can cloud up your wine even if only using a simple syrup.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Yup - i agree.

 

[fatbloke]

-----%<-----
I would also sweeten before clearing as sometimes sweetening can cloud up your wine even if only using a simple syrup.

Especially as we're talking in the mead forum here and people do like the idea of having plenty of honey flavour......... and honey is a bugger for causing hazes when added as a sweetener.

Hence it seems that the consensus is rack, sorbate/sulphite, sweeten, clear.....

regards

fatbloke

 

[DaniJ323]

Thanks guys ;o)

FYI - I still haven't degassed yet...

Is this the correct order?

1. Rack
2. Degass
3. Sorbate... (already did K-meta)
4. Backsweeten
5. Clarify

Do I need to wait any significant length before proceeding to the next step or can do all these in on shot?

thanks again ;o)

 

[fatbloke]

Thanks guys ;o)

FYI - I still haven't degassed yet...

Is this the correct order?

1. Rack
2. Degass
3. Sorbate... (already did K-meta)
4. Backsweeten
5. Clarify

Do I need to wait any significant length before proceeding to the next step or can do all these in on shot?

thanks again ;o)

Well it's normal to do number 1 and 3 (plus the sulphite but as you say you've already done that bit), then do number 2, then you can do number 4, all in reasonably quick space of time.

It's just the clearing that can take a while, irrespective of whether you do it naturally, or whether you like to use finings. The natural way is considered best by a lot of the purists, I tend to do it that way because I'm lazy, but I do use finings sometimes.

Finings, depending on which kind you use, probably take a couple of days, whereas natural method can take months, possibly longer. Hence it's up to you what you want to do.

I use "Kwik Klear" when I want to use finings and that takes between 24 and 48 hours. Bentonite might take a bit longer - I've not tried "Superklear" or Sparkloid etc so can't say.

regards

fatbloke

 

[Wade E]

1,2, and 3 can be done in one shot. After that you should let the wine sit for a week to let the stabilizers meld into the wine before sweetening so that refermentation is avoided. After sweetening you should wait at least another week before bottling just to make sure fermentation doesnt start again. That order sounds fine and for beginners is what usually happens. Once you have a decent supply of wine then just letting mother nature clear most wines is the cheaper and preferred method with the exception of a stunnorn wine that just wont clear on its own.

 

[fatbloke]

1,2, and 3 can be done in one shot. After that you should let the wine sit for a week to let the stabilizers meld into the wine before sweetening so that refermentation is avoided. After sweetening you should wait at least another week before bottling just to make sure fermentation doesnt start again. That order sounds fine and for beginners is what usually happens. Once you have a decent supply of wine then just letting mother nature clear most wines is the cheaper and preferred method with the exception of a stunnorn wine that just wont clear on its own.

Ah! well I'm too impatient to wait, but I tend to add tiny amounts of whatever I'm back sweetening with till it's nearly there, then I leave it alone as I've found that the relative sweetness often increases as other stuff, like sediments, drop out of the wine/mead.

Works well enough for me, but I'm a lazy SOB that isn't really into producing perfect wines/meads......

Good enough will do..... ::

regards

fatbloke

 

[DaniJ323]

Thanks for all your help guys ;o)

I degassed and added sorbate last weekend, now this weekend I would like to back sweeten it with honey, does anyone have any tips?

How much should I use? Should I put it straight in and stir like crazy or melt it down with a bit of warm water?

Thanks again

 

[pwrose]

When I used honey to sweeten the mead I made I put some of the mead in the jar with the honey and shook it. Then I added that to the mead and stired it to help it disolve. I will add that it made the mead very cloudy afterwards. It has been bottled in beer bottles now for a few weeks (around a month) and no sediment has dropped out of it YET?

 

[DaniJ323]

...I will add that it made the mead very cloudy afterwards. It has been bottled in beer bottles now for a few weeks (around a month) and no sediment has dropped out of it YET?

Did you use any clarifying agents? Or do you let it happen naturally?

I was gonna add SuperKlear at the same time, think that's ok?