Cloudy traditional mead

[Shine0n]

I'm wondering what the thoughts are about using bentonite on clearing mead?

I have a traditional mead ( honey, water yeast) nothing fancy and now having done more research I've found and should've known better but I used bread yeast. I'll slap my own hand but what's done is done now, lol

With 3 lbs per gal at 3 gal it's still sweet and I'm thinking of adding some ec1118 to try and finish it off first or would clearing it be better before just to get the bread yeast out?

I'm quite sure the flavors will still linger but I don't care because I'm going to let this sit for a LONG time.

 

[Maylar]

What is the current gravity reading?

 

[Shine0n]

I'm out of town working right now but will be headed home this evening. I'll check and see but I tasted it the other night and it was still sweet, more than likely the yeast gave up, if I clear then use some wine yeast it should go semi to dry right or am I missing something?

As long as there are sugars left the other yeast should pick up where the one left off.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Shine0n - and welcome. Some yeasts are killer yeasts (literally) and will destroy the yeast you have pitched. Champagne yeast is one such strain and that may not be an issue. Bread yeast is said to have lower tolerance for alcohol than yeasts cultured and cultivated for wine making - after all, no one needs bread yeast to thrive , not to say, even survive in alcohol rich solutions. But you might try cold crashing your mead for a few days at near freezing temperatures . This will definitely not force the yeast to be active but it may force the yeast to flocculate and fall out of solution (one of the other downsides of using bread yeast is that it is not cultivated for its flocculating actions...

 

[Shine0n]

Thanks for the information, I put it outside last night and it's in the upper 30's but the days are supposed to be warmer. I have no room in the fridge or have an extra one, I've read good and bad about the bentonite because of the flavor aspects but there is soo much honey flavor and still sweet so I think I'll go and use it to pass judgment for myself.
I met a guy from the winery in Williamsburg Va and he said they use bentonite, whether it's all the time I don't know because the conversation didn't carry that far, I've had many wines from there and can say it's not lacking in the flavor department at least from my non snob wine pallet.

I'll also take a gravity reading this am just for the notes and chock it up as a lesson learned for not using bread yeast as if I already didn't know better.

 

[Maylar]

I've had bread yeast take a JAOM to 15% ABV. It's lees are very fluffy and easily disturbed when you move the fermentor, but it does eventually fall out and clear. A few weeks after racking off the fruit and the mead was crystal clear, and that was at room temp.

 

[Lefou]

I made a variation of JOAM with US-05 ale yeast. Not only was the starting gravity a bit high, I added fuel to the fire - so to speak - by doing nutrient additions. I ended up with a high ABV mead I had to decant twice in order to clear it. US-05 is advertised with a 10.5% alcohol tolerance but mine ended up at 14%.

 

[Shine0n]

I hadn't thought before now that maybe it's still sweet because the bread yeast isn't at its proper temp but they haven't fallen yet because it's not too cold.

Makes sense to me that when I've used bread yeast in the past it was in the mid to upper 80's which is ideal for bread yeast. low 70s or upper 60s would put it a somewhat Dormant/ sluggish state.

Hmmm, we'll I went ahead and used the bentonite to settle it (which it did) then racked off the fallen sediment rehydraded some D47 and shook the fermenter like a mad man and pitched it.

I'm going to set my thermostat to 67 and see what comes of this, I did have a taste and there's definitely some alcohol there but was way too sweet for me to ever think about drinking it.

For taking a gravity reading... Well um... I kinda broke my first hydrometer after years of not ever done that... CRAP!

I just spoke to a fella the other day who seems to break one every other week and tooted my own horn for not having done that and now look at me. I'll make the trip this weekend and buy 2.

 

[Shine0n]

Well the D47 had started working like a machine gun with rapid fire coming from the airlock.
I'm glad because honey isn't cheap and I hate to toss or give away something not drinkable.
This should be ok and I'll rack again after completion and age on some med toast American white oak for 6 months or so.

I plan to make another traditional (5 gal) and ferment in the Balcones once used whiskey barrel I have using the D47 yeast NOT BREAD.