Monday I lifted the fermenter up on the kitchen table and tilted it a bit. I added 5L of CO2 to ensure that the mead was saturated. Then I let it rest until the next day. Later Monday, I sterilized all the bottles I needed for the racking plus a bit extra just in case any of the bottles were damaged.
Today it was time. Gathering all needed equipment on the table and I was ready to go. The mead looks so tempting with a slightly dark yellow color. All bottles were filled next to my reference bottle containing exactly 500 g of water, i.e. 0.50L. You see it to the right in the picture.
Filling the bottles took some time but it is so rewarding to se the final product take shape. When the pleasant smell of apple hit the room I felt sure that this is going to be a great mead.
Then it was time to add the chilies. I have not been able to get my hand on more Birds Eye chili, but instead I found "Red chili" from the same region. According to the sales person they were a bit less strong but with more taste. My own tongue could not pick up the difference, so I added the same amount of chili as I would with the Birds Eye - ½ chili without seeds to 0.5L
Bad experiences has taught me to use plastic gloves when handling more than just one chili :o), but I could still feel the tingling of the chili in the nose. Finally ½ a chili was added and the screw cap tightened.
Now it was time to make the bottles look good. I bought black bottle crimp tops to "hide" the silver screw cap. I was very surprised to learn how easy they are to put on:
First you need a tool to hold the crimp top in place. No proper tools were available, so I bent a knife for the purpose (ssshhh don't tell the wife...). Then a glove to protect the hand.
The process is quite easy. Just keep a pot of water boiling lightly. Hold the crimp top in place with the knife and just dip the top of the bottle shortly in the water (1 sec) - and voila - you are done.
Then the bottles were cleaned and finally the label was added. This is a home printed label but next year I will be ready with some more pro-looking labels. Never the less, I like the rough look to the bottle with the chili swimming around - it is very presentable.
Can't wait till my next bottling :o)
