How can I make my homemade mead clear faster?!
How can I make my homemade mead clear faster?
I've made mead using about half a kilo of honey and a teaspoon of yeast.
Answers:
You didn't tell us how much water you used here. Or the type of honey. Both make a difference.
The cloudiness you see is the yeast, floating around. After the batch is done, it'll drop out and the batch will clear. You should rack it off the sediment every now and then.
Mead requires time so I am not sure the process can be rushed. It takes 15 weeks for homemade mead to get to the stage where you can rack periodically as needed until the mead is clear and ready to bottle. You might want to check out the information at the Mead Makers http://www.solorb.com/mead/ and http://www.homebrewmart.com/meadback.htm... for suggestions.
Don't worry about the speed at which it clears. Even after the fermentation is over, it needs lots of time to mature. Mead is slow like that. It's the nature of any honey-based brew. If you're interested in a good quality mead, the time you need is not days or weeks, but months...both for clarifying and for the flavors to mature.
Chilling, addition of clarifiers and filtration are your main options. Since your batch is small, chilling in the refrigerator for a few days to a week would be a good technique to try first.
Clarifiers and filtration aids can be found at local homebrew and wine shops as well as on-line. With these techniques, there is the risk of losing some of the aroma or flavor characteristics.