Help!! Carbonation!

[dsiddall]

I made a batch of traditional mead, then after letting it sit for 3 months in the secondary, added some oak and some honey water to sweeten it. I let it set another 2 months, no bubbles visible, the airlock showed no movement so I bottled.

I just blew a cork and what little is left in the bottle, is incredibly bubbly! Are my other 29 bottles ready to burst?! The corks don't look pushed out, but this one didn't either! i swear it was done fermenting!

What should I do? Any ideas are GREATLY appreciated.

De

 

[Wade E]

What aws the SG right before you bottled and did you add sorbate and
k-meta befoer bottling. What was the temp that this mead was at that it
was not bubbling, it might have been to cold to continue fermenting! I
would say that the other bottles are not safe and to open one and check
the SG especially if you did not stabilize before bottling.

 

[dsiddall]

ok, I followed the recipe for traditional mead I started the process 1/31/07. did the honey, nutrient, tannin, water acid test thing, initial SG 1.081 I left in the primary 3 weeks, I forgot about it. SG was .98 when i moved to the secondary. left it there a month, added honey/water to sweeten since with an SG of .98 I was sure it was done fermenting, and added oak blocks for 2months. the recipe called for campden tablets in the initial must prior to yeast. then when SG was .98 I racked and added 2 1/2 more tablets, then racked after 2 months and added 1 1/4 tablets then racked again...then after no bubbles no airlock movement, i racked and bottled on 5/29/07.
then on 6/6/07 a cork blew, and bubbles bubbles everywhere. another cork blew on yesterday. the temp has been 74-76 degrees from start to finish, I live in FL so the coolest place is in my house with A/C.

I didn't add the k-meta after the honey/water since I was sure the yeast had to be done by then due to the tablets. but the SG DID increase to 1.01, but was down to 1.006 when i bottled. so was that an indication that the yeast wasn't done?

so what do i need to do to fix this? do I put in a bucket and add stabilizer then re-bottle? I'm open to anything that will make the bubbles stop and not ruin what has the potential for a GREAT tasting mead...yep i tried it and it wasn't too bad after only 5 months, rough and raw but potential.

any guidance will be immediately implemented as I'm sure there are more corks waiting to blow and the loss of mead to bubbles/overflow is a loss too...

thanks
de

Edited by: dsiddall

 

[grapeman]

I have never done a mead, but a few generalities apply anyway. Just because fermentation is done, never assume the yeast is done. The initial fermentation was indeed done, but you added more of a source for fermentation to continue by adding a honey/water mixture raising the SG to 1.010. You shouild have added K-Meta(campden)and stabiliized with sorbate at that point. Fermentation has resumed and is blowing corks.I would put back into a carboy under airlock and let it finish up. Then add campden and sorbate. Leave it a week or soto make sure it is stable and add back the honey and then bottle. It should not referment at that point.

 

[dsiddall]

thanks for the reply!

I have K-meta but doesn't that stabilize? do I also have to add sorbate? if so, why?

thanks a bunch, into the carboy it goes!

 

[Wade E]

The only time that you would not stabilize is if the SG was down to
.980 and you were NOT back sweetening or if you were fortifying
with an alchohol which would overpower the yeast forever. Anytime you
backsweeten a wine a stabilizer must be used . I would do as appleman
said and empty all back into a carboy and let finish fermenting until
SG is stable for 3 or more days and then stabilize.

 

[dsiddall]

thank you!

do K-meta and sorbate both stabilize? or do you have to use both?

how do you fortify with an alcohol? when do you do it? and why?

thank you so much for the help!
de

 

[Wade E]

Sorbate must be used in conjunction with Potassium meta in order for it
to work properly. Potassium meta kills any active yeast and sorbate
prevents any dormant yeast from restarting. Fortifying with an alc like
vodka or brandy oe everclear will stop yeast in its tracks to as the
abv will be too high for the yeast to live. This is what is usually
done with Ports. I would not recommend this with a fruit wine or a mead
since the high abv will over power the flavor of these wines though.

 

[grapeman]

Like Wade says, add the K-Meta and then the Sorbate- both of them. Neither does the job alone. The K-Meta will keep bad stuff out, but won't prevent the yeast from fermentation. The sorbat will prevent refermentation and thus the unwanted carbonation and blowing corks.

 

[dsiddall]

you guys have been a great help thank you so much! My hubby appreciates the advice too as he's been the one having to do the clean up...

de

 

[Dean]

Think of sorbate as "yeast condoms"...it prevents yeast from multiplying. That is the stabilizer. The K-Meta does 2 jobs...it does kill some yeast, but mostly it is for Free Sulphate that will bind to free oxygen (oxidation), to prevent oxidation of your wine.

 

[dsiddall]

that's the best explanation yet! and funny too! thanks!
de

 

[BigBear2k]

3 Months in secondary seems short. Every mead I've made has stayed in primary for at least 5 months and then secondary for at least 6 months. I've never bottled a mead in under a year and I've always added a little Meta-bi before bottling....

 

[Wade E]

5 months in the primary ?

 

[BigBear2k]

Yup - The first batch I made stayed in primary for 5 months out of sheer neglect, but it turned out so good that I tried a long primary on 2 subsequent batches. One of them I stirred the lees back in and then racked after a week, the other one I just racked without stirring. The one that I stirred had a better mouth-feel to it, but it had a slightly off undertone. The one that I didn't stir didn't have the mouth-feel, but it didn't have the undertone either. I've tried mead that was in primary for 1 and 2 months - it seemed like my 5 month had a lot more body...