hi all, i got some spare corny kegs that im not using and willing to sacrified for mead aging, but i have some doubts, as i know cornys close the lid due the CO2 pressure so i have to top off with some pressure right?, but what makes me think its if that pressure leave for some reason the keg that will expose the mead to any nasty stuff or to oxidazed?, with my room temperature about 85 to 90s i dont think that the gas will enter so easy on the mead but i believe i will have to degass since i pretend to age still mead
I’m not an expert on kegging but I think your assessment is probably about right. You could age in Corny kegs, but you’d need to check periodically to make sure they’re maintaining a slight positive pressure to ensure a good seal on the lid. Someone who does more (or any) kegging could probably give you a more detailed answer.
Do you intend to serve from the keg or are you planning to bottle the mead? If you plan to bottle eventually, I think there’s at least rough consensus on the internet that (as long as fermentation is truly complete … stable FG for several days) there’s no serious downside to bottling now and aging in the bottles. You might wind up with a little more sediment in the bottles than if you bulk aged and then bottled, but you wouldn’t have to worry about pressure drop.
I would be shocked if you didn’t end up with WAY more dissolved oxygen if you bottled now vs leaving it in the keg to age it. CO2 is heavier than oxygen so as long as there’s some CO2 in the keg you’ll probably be fine indefinitely.
The problem with kegs is that there is a lot headspace compared to the neck of a carboy. I think you can overcome this as you intend to do by adding CO2. I think you can just add a little then pull the release valve just a very little bit every week to make sure you still hear gas escaping and add a little more if not.
I wouldn’t literally age with this method but I think you could use the kegs as bright tanks to drop the final bit of yeast sediment. Given the temperature this should happen fast, maybe a couple weeks or a month. At that point you can bottle and age. If you don’t have a cool place you could age them in a spare fridge if you have a spot for one.
Corny kegs are how I age/store my mead. No issues at all. Just as others have mentioned, you’ll want to check the keg periodically to make sure it’s holding some pressure. Also do a CO2 purge either before racking to the keg, or afterward. You can also add a little potassium metabisulfite to help protect against oxygen exposure.
It’s completely personal preference, but I prefer bulk aging in a keg to keep as much sediment out of the bottles as possible once bottling happens.
I think if I still make mead when I am older I will switch to this method so I don’t have to deal with carboys. Right now it would cost a fortune to replace my carboys with kegs.
No argument with that. The reason for my switch from carboy to keg was due to my switch to kegging for beer. I was building my keezer and figured I should pick up some extra kegs and start using them for mead too.
How carbonated do your meads turn out using this method? Do you degas before final packaging at all?
thank you all for your replies, in fact i do have some plastic carboys(those that are use for water), and im planning to clear my mead on those befor aging for 2 months on the kegs, just for the sake of bulk aging then degass and bottle for bottle aging for some months, i just happen to buy 2 bleffa 1/2 bbl kegs to do this job since i felt that sankey types kegs are more secure than cornies, i still bought 6 cornys from a friend of mine since i have a plan in the future to open a small tasting room at the restaurant that im setting
Negligible. I haven’t really had trouble with kegs not sealing or remaining sealed. When I’m going to bottle a keg, I’ll usually put it in my keezer or the fridge for a month or two to get it as clear as possible. Then use a bottle filler right off the keg. That usually gets rid of any slight carbonation that may have been picked up.