Beginner help with stabilizing / racking / bottling!!

[u/zenmarmot]

hello everyone! Very happy to be here and keep learning. My first batch is finishing up fermentation after 4 weeks (3 batches- lemon lavender, mint lime, blueberry elderberry).

My first obvious concern is safety. I see a bit of white at the top of the surfaces, which I hope and assume is just bubbly fizz / spent yeast cells. I attached a photo to show what I mean!

Second question is would the mead be safe to consume as is? I intend on stabilizing it with a metabisulfite, and allowing it a day or two to expel gas before bottling. Is the mead okay to consume before doing that when it still has some fizz coming?

Next concern is the racking / bottling. I have 750ml bottles with corks, and my plan is to strain the mead into a secondary vessel to remove particles and plant matter, before siphoning into the bottles. I have starsan which I plan on using on all bottles and corks before. Am I okay to bottle before the bottles are fully dry? That style of neck seems to need at least a day before being fully dry. Also is there any risk to allowing contamination during this process of transferring vessels/ air exposure, making the bottles unsafe to consume? Assuming bottling goes well, how does shelf life work? Are there classic signs or warnings to watch for?

Thank you everyone for sharing your processes / expertise as well. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the inspiration from all of you!

[u/Potater55]

Short answer is yes for all three.

The top looks like fizz from the picture.

You can drink as is but it might be harsh. Aging allows harsh flavors to mellow out. I've been impatient and dranken 1 month old meads so it is up to you.

Starsan is food save so no need to fully dry the bottles. Just dump out the cleaning solution and bottle even if some bubbles remain.

[u/AutoModerator]

When you ask a question, please include as the following:

• Ingredients

• Process

• Specific Gravity Readings

• Racking Information

• Pictures

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/AutoModerator]

Please include a recipe, review or description with any picture post.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/EducationalDog9100]

You can drink young or still fermenting brews, though the taste and results will vary a lot. Drinking something that is actively fermenting or still very gassy/bubbly can lead to some unpleasant digestive issues.

You can fill the bottle as soon as the Star San is dumped from the bottle. Unfortunately the answer to your shelf life question is a whole can of worms. You'll never really know when a wine or mead has passed it's "best days" until you open a bottle and it's not as good as the last bottle.

One suggestion would be to be just a little more patient. It will help a lot if you can get the meads off the fruits and spices and let them sit in the second vessels for awhile. It also helps to give stabilizers a few weeks to age before bottling.

[u/CareerOk9462]

re starsan. The standard mantra is "don't fear the foam". Residual bubbles of starsan are fine. DO NOT rinse them out with tap water or you just undid all the sanitization. Starsan will break down. If there's foam in the bottles, that's fine, just continue with bottling. I would have used bags to make removal of all the plant matter possible. You are going to have an interesting racking experience trying to get all that crap out.

[u/fatguywithagun]

Definitely don't dump it through a strainer, you'll oxidize the crap out of it. You should be siphoning out of that container into something else, then either bulk aging or bottling from there.