How do you treat your must?

[crupp]

All,
With National Mead Day fast approaching I find myself going back to the question I always have about mead…how should one prepare their must?

While I’ve always heated my must to pasteurize, I read the Complete Mead Maker again, and I find myself leaning toward Mr. Schramm’s no heat, no sulfite method. That being said, I will be giving a mead making demonstration this weekend at a honey farm. I’m confident that, within the confines of my own home, I can prepare must in a sanitary environment, but out in a field? I’m not so sure.

So, I’m thinking about using my 11 gallon boil kettle to heat the must to 140F for about 25 minutes to pasteurize or 160F for 5-10 as stated in the Complete Mead Maker (I'm pretty sure that those are the temps and times). With that I find myself wondering whether or not the above temperatures and times would be sufficient to sanitize my ball valve?
What do you think?

Thanks!

[tavish2]

Personally I heat my must. But I am also getting my water from a artsian well. I got a good deal on a 5 gallon bucket of fireweed honey a while back and i have made 15 gallons of a 6-7%ABV session mead, 10 gallons of a 14-15%ABV mead and 3 gallons of a dessert mead 20%ABV. I didnt want to waste that much honey on possible bacteria in the water so i heated it to 170 and held it there for 15 min before cooling and pitching.

[crupp]

How do you drain from your kettle? Do you use a siphon, or do you go through a ball valve?

[tavish2]

I go through the ball valve. But i do make sure to wash it before hand and i also run hot water through it before hand.