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Bottling and Aging Mead
Depending on the recipe and the style of mead you are making, you have several
options to consider before bottling your mead. The mead can be sweetened by
adding additional honey or enhanced by adding flavorings. If no fermentation
occurs after bottling, the mead will remain still. If you bottle mead while it
is still fermenting, and adequate sugar remains, you will end up with sparkling
mead. Both still and sparkling varieties of mead are delicious; it is merely a
matter of personal preference.
The level of alcohol in your mead will help to keep unwanted microbes at bay, but sanitization remains important when
bottling. Clean and sterilize bottles, corks, utensils, and all bottling
equipment before bottling your mead.
Bottles can be filled using a racking cane or auto-siphon and some plastic
tubing. The mead should be transferred to the
bottles slowly causing as little
aeration as possible. Introducing oxygen during bottling can negatively impact
the final flavor of your mead. Seal your bottles with corks for a very appealing
and traditional look. Personally, I use Grolsch type ez-cap bottles since the
stoppers are reusable and require no special tools.
Make sure to choose the right type of bottle and style of closure for your mead.
Lighter and commercial wine bottles are fine for still mead, but when making a
sparkling mead use a heavier bottle and a champagne-style cork with wire-tie
down. If excessive fermentation occurs, the building pressure can blow the cork
out of a bottle. Even worse, if the cork doesn’t blow, bottles can explode which
is very dangerous.
Store your mead in a cool dark place and let it age. It can be hard to judge
when a mead will reach its peak so have fun sampling your wares from time to
time. Congratulations on brewing your first batch of mead at home!
Back to 'Brewing Basics'
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