I've not made mead (YET!), but have made a fair amount of high-gravity beers over the last 20 years (was even a contest judge for a while)... so, just some random comments from the homebrew angle (keeping in mind that for the last ten years I don't bottle, but use kegs):
Always let the stuff ferment to completion. In a carboy, that means that if you watch the fermentation lock, you should see no bubbles in, say, 20 minutes.
If you want carbonation, just add a *small* amount of sugar to each bottle.
If you want sweetness, the initial batch should be high enough in specific gravity that the yeast stops fermenting (due to high alcohol content) before all the sugar is gone. In beer, we adjust this by choosing the mash schedule and grain load, which determines the ratio of complex to simple sugars as well as the specific gravity,(there are books on just this topic, so I'm oversimplifying) which is not an option with meade.
When dealing with unknown carbonation levels, store the bottled product in a case (like the bottles came from) so if one explodes it'll be easier to clean up. In your case, it looks like you're using standard wine corks, which should just pop out if the pressure gets too high.
I know that wine makers use camden (sp?) and sometimes sulphites (sp?), I never have in making beer. However, wine (which meade is, sort of) has to age a whole lot longer than beer - in fact, the quality of beer deteriorates over time, while many wines peak about 4-5 years after bottling, which may explain why preservatives are used.
Just random musings. I'm waiting on a new package of Italians due in the next couple of weeks to replace what the bear got last fall. At least he only destroyed the frames.
-T
Topic: Bottled my mead (Read 3335 times)