Fizz

[No-sage]

I started 2 one gallon batches of Mead this past February. Both are pretty clear, still a bit strong tasting, one less so than the other.

I'm reluctant to bottle either because they both still have a bit of a fizz to them, the stronger one moreso.

My guess is that the yeast is still active and that's what's causing the gas? How do I get rid of it so I don't get explosions in my cellar?

I used 2 different yeasts, not sure I could tell you which ones now. I used 3 pounds of honey in each batch and a few raisins, that's it.

[Ben Brewcat]

Without a hydrometer, there's no way to tell if it's safe to bottle. It is possible that the yeast is not active and what you have is simply dissolved gas rather than active production: the CO2 produced from fermentation first must saturate the solution as dissolved gas, and then the rest evolves out the airlock. When fermentation ceases, you still have all that dissolved gas in solution. This is why degassing is typically used, gently agitating to force dissolved CO2 out of solution. Racking also promotes degassing, but with one-gallon batch sizes the losses incurred by racking can be an appreciable fraction of total volume.

For now, I'd make sure it's warm enough to naturally degas (room temp) and consider actively degassing it if it's not sitting on lees (sediment).

[No-sage]

Thanks for that. I've been sloshing it around now and again and they will both foam a bit and burp air. There is nothing on bottom since my last racking. Both are quite dry.

I've printed your sticky post for my next batches. I'll do some better record keeping and try to make a dry and a bit of a sweet mead using a hydrometer.