# my favorit mead recipee



## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

What do mean by not letting mead fall?


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

.Place the outlet end of syphon hose into the carboy so it lays on the bottom, so the mead does not fall from the hose to the bottom. (Splash racking) doing so decreases the exposure to oxygen. Mead is sensitive to oxidation so we want to limit oxygen exposure, It is wise to keep the carboy topped up also.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

Campden Tablets (sodium metabisulfite) or Campden Tablets (potassium metabisulfite)

Does it matter?
What's the difference?

Are they necessary?


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

You use those chemicals to kill unwanted organisms before you start the fermentation or they can be used to stop fermentation when you want the mead to stop working. I never use them when starting a fermentation as I use plenty of started yeast in a warm must and my bugs always have overpowered the wild competition. Using it to stop the formation is a different matter and should be followed by another chemical, a sorbate to keep the fermentation stopped and preserve you mead. I don't but there are times I should have. Like the plum mead that had been finished working for six months UNTIL I bottled and it restarted and blew out all the corks.


FlowerPlanter said:


> Campden Tablets (sodium metabisulfite) or Campden Tablets (potassium metabisulfite)
> 
> Does it matter?
> What's the difference?
> ...


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

It's hard to use chemicals to stop an active ferment, and usually would take more than you'd want to use. They can stop a completed fermentation from re-awakening though. It's typically more successful to target your final gravity and residual sweetness in the recipe formulation and strain selection phase.

That said, sulfites are not the evil that some would have us believe. The incredible over-sulfiting of some white wines (to allow an opened bottle to stay dandelion-yellow for days and days) gives the proper use of sulfites a bad name. For my own part I only use them VERY occasionally when I'm preparing a bunch of wild fruit pulp or something similar.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

Thanks for your replies

And your recipe tenbears. 
I am going to try it in the next few days.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

I am sorry I missed this post back in April. 
First I recommend Potassium metabisulphite (K-met) as opposed to Sodium metabisulphite. The former has little real taste as where the later does, Plus I do not care to add salts to my mead or wine. 

The purpose of K-met in wine is to protect it from oxidation, and spoilage. K-Met becomes Sulfur dioxide (so2) free so2 in the mead binds with oxygen and other impurities to render them harmless However once So2 is bound it no longer has the ability to protect. That is why it is added at racking, to bind oxygen and other compounds that could spoil the mead. When bottling the amount of free so2 required to preserve the mead is determined by the pH of the mead. Inadequate amounts severely effect long term storage. However in the absence of an so2 test kit. a pH of 3.6 requires 50 parts per million (PPM) and is general sufficient to protect most meads. 1 campden tablet finely crushed for each gallon, provides about 67 PPM. or 1/4 TSP. K-met for 5 gallons. 

K-met has no significant flavor so if an excess it used it is not noticeable. Unlike Potassium sorbate which will leave a bubblegum taste if used in excess. K-met is found in many of the every day products we use Most juices, have it. A sensitivity to K-met is extremely rare. 

If not used during the clearing process and early bulk aging the breaking down of organic compounds in the mead can result in Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which results in the rotten egg or burnt rubber smell that causes many wine makers to dump a batch of wine or mead. H2S in contact with alcohol thyols are formed which are harder to even remove from the mead.


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