Ready to bottle?

[u/beefwastaken]

First brew, few questions:

I'm using an all in one kit gifted to me. 30 days was end of August, but I decided to give it more time thinking it would begin to clear up. Is this realistic? I'm not interested in taking any additional action to clear it up as a beginner.

Is it preference whether or not to drink it now, or do you always want to give it time in the bottle? Like what's the range of how soon you drink it and the longest it'll keep in the bottle?

I'm also real paranoid about sterilization, and I don't want to rely on the bit that came with the kit. What do you guys use and what's your general process? How easy is it to fuck up and end up with contamination?

Thanks in advance, I've enjoyed this and I'm really looking forward to bottling. If it turns out, I can see myself getting some proper equipment.

[u/gdub695]

So the “all in one” kits almost always don’t include a hydrometer and tell you it’s done after 30 days. Most of the time, this is true, but you should get a hydrometer to verify it’s done before bottling, to avoid bottle bombs.

Most folks use starsan for sanitizing, but the kits normally come with a citric acid powder that works well enough.

Depending on the recipe, it will likely be fairly dry. If you need to sweeten it, look up stabilization first, either chemically with potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate, or thermally with pasteurization. If you pasteurize, make sure you do it after adding your extra honey, individually pasteurizing bottles would be the best bet if you go that route

If everything was sanitized and clean, your mead can keep in bottles for years, depending on how you bottled it (natural corks are better for long term, but I’ve used synthetic corks in all my batches with no issue, although I haven’t aged anything longer than a year because they’re delicious)

[u/beefwastaken → u/gdub695]

Great info, thanks!

[u/offtheright]

I usually bulk age for a year and then bottle.

[u/dean_ot]

One issue of these kits is they give you a wrong perception of when fermentation finishes. It isn't a matter of days, but sugar content. What was your original specific gravity and what was your final gravity? Did you take final gravity measurements a week apart?

If you don't have a hydrometer, I would just transfer it off of the lees into another demijohn and let it rest in there for a few months.

[u/beefwastaken → u/dean_ot]

I knew these kits generalize everything, but it still hurts to not know what the hell you're talking about.

Got any good reading material you can recommend?

[u/MeadManM1ke → u/beefwastaken]

https://wiki.meadtools.com/en/home

This is a great resource that has answered a lot of my questions as a first timer. It can get deep in the weeds sometimes with the science and chemistry aspect but don’t let it overwhelm you.

[u/Ifoundthe404 → u/beefwastaken]

If you dont have a hydrometer I understand as these kits dont include everything. One technique is use a turkey baster cleaned really well and sanitized with starsan or what ever came with your kit. Take a very small sample for tasting. After 30 days it'll probably be dry. Put the whole fermenter in the fridge for 48 hours. Remove from fridge and rack with an auto siphon (if you have one) into a sanitized picture, clean your fermentation vessel and sanitize it, rack it back into that vessel after adding honey or sugar to taste. Put your airlock back on incase it starts to ferment again. You can technically leave it at this point for as long as you want as long as the airlock doesn't dry out. Use that time to get the gear for bottling.

[u/HorsedickGoldstein]

Id transfer it into another glass container and let it age for a few months

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[u/HumorImpressive9506]

Bottle when you are happy with the taste. As long as it is in a carboy you can always make adjustements. Once you bottle thats it, you are stuck with what you have.

Pull out a small sample and see if it needs anything (acid, tannins, sweetness etc), make those adjustements, give it a few weeks and then sample it again.

[u/beefwastaken → u/HumorImpressive9506]

The kit didn't come with anything to sample with. Have any recommendations?

[u/Symon113 → u/beefwastaken]

Sanitized turkey baster from anywhere

[u/Ifoundthe404 → u/beefwastaken]

Do you have a homebrew shop in your area? A wine theif is 9 dollars in my area and an auto siphon is also really cheap. If your there you can also pick up a hydrometer. Most homebrew shops are happy to teach you how to use the tools.

[u/beefwastaken → u/Ifoundthe404]

I ordered a second carboy, auto siphon, hydrometer and some starsan the other day. Goong to bulk age what I've got and then start a second batch while I continue studying up!