All bottles was rinsed in hot water before use. Notice the bottle in front. You can see the mark from the sticker Ikea uses. The glue does not come off easily. I usually manage by soaking the glue in dish-washing soap and then I can easily wash off the glue. But for some reason I had to rub with frying oil to get the glue off and then wash the oil off with soap.

I put the mead on the table to keep them elevated for the filling of bottles. Recipe 1-3 is seen from right to left.

After adding CO2 to the meads yesterday, the airlock was filled with fresh water and attached to the carboys. The water levels in the two chambers were equal.

Within a short time the meads began to generate a small vacuum shifting the levels of the airlock. This must be an uptake of CO2 in the meads. I thought the meads would be saturated by CO2, but apparently not. This will also push pH down a bit.

The color of the mead is beautiful – deep brown – and it is crystal clear. I ended up with about 17 L of a 20 L batch which is not bad considering how many times it has been racked.

The picture does not really do the mead justice when it comes to clarity. The light behind is just a flashlight for “special effects”

Finally I topped up the glass bottle with CO2 in the same manner as earlier and covered it up. I plan to leave it like this for at least 2 months.

When I opened the fermenter the pleasant smell of apples and honey strikes me. Also, it is great to see how clear the mead has become. Even though it cannot be called crystal clear, I could see the siphon tip all the way to the bottom. Hmm, forgot to take a picture.

I measured the density and once again it was 1.066, so nothing has happened since the new yeast was spiked. I had hoped to see just a little change – but NO change at all.

The taste is still strongly acidic but with a pleasant sweet honey taste in the aftertaste. Perhaps storage will take the edge off the acidity, which will give it a genuinely pleasant taste.

Well, I racked the mead until the yeast in the bottom reached the siphon. I could transfer 18 L, so I have lost 2 L so far – not so bad considering the endless number of rackings so far :o)

I will use the same clearing kit as before. First Kieselsol was added and the mead stirred well. After 30 min the package of Chitosan was added and the mead stirrred well again.

To protect the surface I flushed the fermenter with CO2 in the same manner as before, closed the lid and attached the airlock, filled with fresh water.

It should be ready for long term storage in a carboy in about a week.

I figured that it might not be so bad so I started transferring the mead and it becomes so clear: The mead is NOT clear at all. “#¤#¤”%&!

The clearing agent did not do the job. On the bottom of the fermenter there was a layer of about 5 mm so at least something had precipitated.

After the transfer I topped of with 5 L of CO2 to protect the surface of the mead.

Honestly, I think this is my own doing. I used all of the apple juice – pulp and juice – instead just sieving it before boiling so I probably have a large excess protein and other components that are difficult to precipitate – way more than the kit for precipitation could handle.

I also measured the gravity to 1.066, just as the last measurement. On the other hand pH had raised a bit to pH 4, so all conditions are just right for further fermentation. Perhaps the “unknown” knocked out the Kitzinger Port that I bought and an ABV of about 10% is the limit of this “unknown” yeast.

The taste matches the results. So far the mead has an initial strong acidic mouthfeel, which is then followed by sweetness of the residual honey. The aftertaste is pure sweet honey. Each end of the spectrum but not many taste notes “in the middle” to round off the taste.

I think I will try to add a well hydrated portion of Bioferm Killer to see if I can the fermentation going again. This should take the edge off the pure honey taste, and aging should reduce the acidity.

I can hopefully buy some Bioferm Killer yeast tomorrow and get on with the fermentation.

It has now been 3 weeks and 5 days since I prepared the batch. For the past week there has not been any bubbling from the airlock, so I am assuming that the fermentation has stopped. I had hoped that the mead would sort of clear but it is not even close.

When I opened the fermenter a very pleasant smell filled the kitchen – so far so good. But the solution was very murky and was about as clear as orange juice. I am wondering if I will have any change of fully clearing it.

Anyway, to start with I measured the relative density to 1.066 – still higher that I was aiming for so perhaps the port yeast from Kitzinger is not able to push more about 10-12% ABV under the given conditions (Depending on which calculation method is used). Also pH was measured again and as before pH was somewhere between 3 and 4. I am somewhat disappointed, that the fermentation has stopped so soon.

After the measurements, the mead was transferred again to a third container which had again been cleaned well and disinfected with iodine. Care was taken not to transfer the yeast sediment on the bottom. The sediment was very easily stirred into the solution, so it was not possible to avoid that some sediment was transferred too.

I used this clearing agent which is a standard package consisting of two solutions which have to be added in separate steps – first the Kieselsol then the Chitosan. The order of addition is apparently important.

So, first the 15 ml of kieselsol was added. It is basically a slurry of silicon dioxide particles. The particles are negatively charged and should precipitate yeast and proteins efficiently. I have not been able to find out the mass per volume of particles but apparently this is a standard mixture. After the addition the solution was stirred rapidly to ensure a good mixing.

Then the 50 ml of Chitosan was added. Chitosan is linear polysaccharides which is derived from the exoskeleton of crustaceans. These particles are positivly charged in acidic solution and causes particles to flocculate, i.e. stick together to form larger particles which will in the end drop out of solution. Again the solution was stirred well before the lid was sealed. The airlock was attached and filled with water, and now it is just time to wait (and hope) that the mead clears.

Today was the second week after the preparation of the my first batch of mead and it is now time to rack it it to a second fermenter. This was quite easily done by placing the initial fermenter on the kitchen table and put two plates underneath to tilt it. Take the fermentation lock out first before moving the fermenter, so that the old water in the lock is not pulled into the fermenter by accident. It can be infected. With a siphon the liquid content was moved to the second fermenter, a process that takes about 15 min. This has to be done with care so the air is not mixed into the must. Hence, take your time to do this.

The must was now quite murky and not even remotely clear. The yeast that have fallen out of solution so far was laying like a layer of mud on the bottom of the fermenter. The rosehip pieces were floating covered with yeast also. I transferred as much of the liquid as I could untill the I could see the siphon filled with the muddy layer of yeast. I could transfer about 19.5 L.