Champagne

[Aspera]

hello all. I have some nice sparkling meads with a bunch of yeast in the bottom of the bottle. Has anyone ever tried to do the tirage/riddling routine. Is it worth the trouble? Any pointers on this?

[danno1800]

I've done it on actual champagne, not mead. You get a coffee can, some dry ice and some denatured alcohol. Mix them together into a slurry and dip the necks of the bottles into it. In a VERY short time, the yeast in the neck is encapsulated in a small plug of ice. [This assumes that you have riddled the yeast up into the neck first] You then pop off the crown cap and the pressure of the sparkling wine pops the ice/yeast plug out of the neck. You can then top it with mead from another bottle. Hope that helps! Good luck!

[Aspera]

Thanks, I was wondering if dry ice would shatter the bottles. Are those little platic inserts necessary? I don't own a corker for this type of bottle and was thinking of using plastic stoppers with wire baskets.

Hal

[danno1800]

The bottles OCCASIONALY shatter if you leave them in the icy slurry too long. A few seconds is all that's required. I don't like the plastic inserts, but I don't think they harm anything. I have done it with them and without them, and don't see much difference in the final result. Good luck!