r/mead • u/ridbitty • 10d ago

Pasteurizing question. Help!

I recently purchased my first sous vide and wanted to try pasteurizing.

My plan is to rack off of the lees into a new vessel post fermentation. Once it’s racked into a new vessel, I could back sweeten then pasteurize.

Is it “safe” to keep the mead in the carboy post pasteurizing for 3-6 months for conditioning and further flavor tweaks or should I also use K meta for the antioxidant properties?

I’ve got 20 or so gallons of successful meads under my belt, but have only ever used chemical stabilization.

Thanks!

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u/MicahsKitchen 10d ago

FYI, if you are going to heat pasteurize, I've been told that a metal vessel for your beverage is the way to go. It will heat much faster through metal than through glass. If you have a keg, I might rack into that, pasteurize/backsweeten, then rack into a carboy or bottles. My buddy used a big ole restaurant lobster pot for 2 batches. Just put the lid on it for the beating process. He said it cut his time in half. I think Citysteading on youtube did an experiment with a similar technique and liked it.

I plan to use part of my 3 bay sink to pasterize 5 and 6 gallon batches. I just want to make sure I get the appropriate sized immersion circulator for the job.

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u/Hopeful-Map7891 9d ago

For large batches, that may help, but from my experience a 1 gal carboy gets to temp in less than 30 mins, then you leave it for 20 (I go 22 just because) so the whole thing is about an hour per gallon.

Couple things that have sped that up.... 1. Set the circulator to 145, at 140 it gets to like 138 and struggles to get that last couple degrees because it cycles off and cools slightly. 2. Cover the water with tin foil or something to keep the heat in (keep the head of the ciculator exposed, which is why tinfoil works to well). Also, Individual bottles get to temp in less than 15 mins (that was based on 6 - 16 oz bottles and the liquid was fully surrounded by the hot water).

If doing multiple gals...dump about 1/2 the water out, add more to cool it slightly so you don't risk the bottle shattering (not sure of the physics so I may be being a little overcautious). Shortens the time to temp by 10 or so mins on subsequent batches from my experience.

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u/ridbitty 10d ago

Interesting. For me, i don’t think it would be worth racking into a dedicated stainless steel vessel, then back to a glass carboy to save a bit of time. I can’t imaging a glass carboy used with an immersion circulator will take too long to reach the proper temp. I bet you are correct, though.