fast pasteurizing

[NeverDie]

I experimented a bit with slow pasteurizing. I say slow because it takes some time on the stove to bring a gallon of mead up to 160F. After doing that, I capped it and let it sit at room temperature to cool off. Unfortunately, it didn't clear, even after subsequently cold crashing it, so I had to clear it with bentonite.

I don't have the equipment to do a proper flash pasteurizing (as is done with milk), but I did try to approximate it and got better results than with the slow pasteurizing. What I did was this: I pasteurized 500ml at a time. This allowed it to heat up much faster on the gas stove. Then, immediately after hitting the pasteurization temperature and time, I cooled it down rapidly in an ice bath. I used a borosilicate beaker as the holding vessel for the 500ml mead so that the glass wouldn't crack. Long story short: it both tastes better and it cleared on its own without needing bentonite. It requires a lot more work on my part than the slow pasteurizing method does, but that's the trade-off. Perhaps there's an easier way to do a fast pasteurizing? I know that the beer people have some pretty elaborate chillers for rapidly cooling down their wort. Perhaps their setup could be adapted.

The mead for both the slow pasteurizing and the fast pasteurizing came from the same 5 gallon batch of M5 traditional mead that I recently made.

Of course, just being patient and letting the fermentation self-terminate would be easier than all this work, but it would also take longer. So, that's the trade-off I chose to make in this particular case, where I'm going to redo the M5 gallon batch as soon as I finish running some small batch test ferments to prove it out in advance.

 

[Yooper]

Keep in mind that a risk of doing it open (not bottled) is that you can risk oxidation of the mead due to the headspace. Not a big deal if you drink it very fast, of course.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Perhaps there's an easier way to do a fast pasteurizing? I know that the beer people have some pretty elaborate chillers for rapidly cooling down their wort. Perhaps their setup could be adapted.

You could certainly build something to flash pasteurize in a closed system.

For heating, direct heating like with a "RIMS tube" might be an option (run the mead through a tube with an ultra-low-watt-density electric heating element), or a heat exchanger (running the mead through a copper or stainless coil in a hot water bath or you could use a CFC and recirculate hot water). Depending on the setup, pump(s) and/or temp controller(s) may be needed. You'll need an in-line thermometer (which may be included with a temp controller), silicone tubing, and a valve to control flow rate.

For chilling, just use a CFC right after heating. If you ground water is too warm you'll need to circulate ice water with a pump.

This is a little expensive but not that bad. For reference, I pretty much already have all the components needed to do this with my brewing equipment.

Hope this helps.

P.S. Why are you pasteurizing? There are so many methods that don't involve pasteurization.

P.P.S. Sterile filtering would be easier and probably cheaper than pasteurizing.

 

[NeverDie]

P.S. Why are you pasteurizing? There are so many methods that don't involve pasteurization.

Right now I don't have the equipment to do anything other than the usual self-termination fermentation or a pasteurization. Never having tried pasteurization before, I just wanted to see how it would taste. The taste from slow pasteurization was disappointing, but the fast pasteurization turned out not bad. It was an especially pleasant surprise when the fast pasteurization cleared, because I hadn't expected that. Maybe the fast chilling produced a kind of "cold break," which is known in the beer world for its clearing effects? Perhaps I don't even need to pasteurize: perhaps the rapid chilling alone would be enough to get the clearing benefit? Just putting it in the refrigerator wasn't fast enough cooling.

P.P.S. Sterile filtering would be easier and probably cheaper than pasteurizing.

I gather that the mead already has to be clear though in order for sterile filtering to work. Otherwise the filter clogs. At least, that's what I infer from what Mayler has written based on his own experiences with filtering.

 

[RPh_Guy]

You're looking for a way to make sweet session mead?
You don't need equipment to stabilize, just sorbate and sulfite (or maybe just sodium benzoate) after racking/fining.
Non-fermentable sweetener work too.
You can also simply keep it refrigerated after crashing and racking, depending on the yeast.

Yes, you'd probably need to fine before filtering.