Mead Bottling

Brewing Processes
1

Hello All,

I have mead that I plan on bottling in November.  I would like to know how people typically bottle mead.  A few questions:

  1. Use bottles over 12oz?
  2. How much priming sugar to use?
  3. Has anyone used something besides priming sugar?

Kegging is not an option for me.

Cheers

2

I almost always bottle mead still, so no need for bottling sugar unless you really want to make sparkling mead. If so look for an online priming sugar calculator. I bottle probably 3/4 of mine in 750ml wine bottles with corks but any type of bottle will do and any size. I do recommend corking for aging.

3

I typically make stronger, sweet meads (dessert wine style), and I’m usually the only one drinking them. I also typically brew 1-2 gallons at a time. I’m also the only one drinking them. Because of that, the best option for me is to use the 187mL champagne “splits”, which is plenty for 1 sitting for me. My LHBS sells ones that can be capped with a regular crown cap. My meads are still, so no priming sugar is needed.

4

Groovy.  Looks like corks win the day.  I have a 5 gallon batch that I made with 19lbs of wildflower honey from Wisconsin.  One more question:

  1. Would it be okay to bottle a bit of it and then keep the rest to age?

I have the impression that mead is more resistant to external variables (contamination, oxygenation) that beer.  So I won’t need to worry if I expose the entire batch while I bottle, say, 2 gallons.  Please correct me if I’m wrong.

5

I would bottle it all at once unless you had a 3 gallon carboy you could rack the remainder into. You do still want to minimize oxygen contact and aging mead should be in a carboy into the neck. While micro-oxygenation like through a cork is part of ageing you don’t want to leave a large surface area exposed to air.

6

If you have any plans on entering competitions, bottle a few in 12oz beer bottles.

7

Mead is really all about the balance of honey sweetness, acidity, and tannin.
Bottle conditioned meads tend to dry out unless you do something to stop the yeast (eg, pasteurize them).  Honestly, IMO, you probably would do better to get them balanced out right and bottling them still then to crap shoot a back-sweetening/pasteurization scheme.

8

I agree. To me mead is still as a default. A sparkling mead is kind of its own thing.