Double Cran V
I finally got the last batch of Cranberry mead all bottled up. I was highly disappointed in the prospects. If you'll recall, when I racked it back in April, the stuff was delicious and light and clear as a bell. Even then though I was worried that I had left it exposed to the air for too long. As it turns
out I did.
This method of trying to salvage as much liquid as possible actually had the effect of mixing in a lot of oxygen (and probably a little bacteria).
Very quickly the gorgeous red mead got cloudy. I let it sit and sit in case it was just a matter of being stirred up. It never settled so, when I tried to bottle it, about half f what I have isn't as good as it had been in April. It's also cloudy no matter what you do.
I bottled half of it just in case my effort to fix it made it worse.
Effort to fix it: I crushed up a couple of Campden Tablets to try to kill anything that shouldn't be living in there. Wait. Wait. It still wasn't completely clear but I wanted to get it out of the kitchen so I bottled it. It was yummier than I thought I remembered. Plus it clears up in the bottle as the solids settle out.
Having opened a bottle from each bottling, I can say that I believe the clearer, later-bottled stuff is a little better. Not as amazing as I'd hoped, but still pretty ok. I'll be happy to hand out bottles to see how they are and then let my tasters reserve the right to praise me later for the strawberry batch that is next.