preparing fruit/ spices

so, Im thinking of making a lemon and or sage meade. how would you prepare the fruit and or spices? Ive used costco frozen fruit before, but if Im using fresh lemons... how would u make sure there is no wild yeast? i know the chop them up and freeze them to break down cell walls. but that wont kill wild yeast. also, would you freeze sage?

thanks

couldn't you just campden the must and then pitch the next day?

or add fruit at secondary when you've got enough ABV to kill them wild yeast bastids?

Ive always done the fruit after its all fermented... but even then, isnt there a worry of wild yeast?

Wash the lemons & rinse them well. I'd zest them & freeze/thaw, freeze/thaw the zest & squeeze any juice you may use. The juice doesn't add much flavour, but adds quite a bit of acid, so you'll want to use it sparingly. You might use the fruit just quartered & tossed in, plenty of people do. Just be aware that some fruits you buy in the store have a coating of mineral oil or a type of wax that helps to protect them and make them shiny & attractive to the shopper. They do this with apples all the time, but I'm not sure about citrus fruits.

As far as the sage goes, I'm not sure. I'd certainly wash it (gently) like I would if I were cooking with it, but as far as freezing/thawing it, I just don't know if it would make a difference. It would be a lot like canned spinach after it thawed though. As long as your ABV is 10% or more, you shouldn't have much trouble with anything growing in there, but a wild MLF is possible. I think I'd use it fresh and/or dried & in a sort of "teabag" for easy removal later.

You could also make a sort of tea from the sage by simmering it in a little water, that should kill off any nasties & help extract more flavour. The trick with this tea approach is knowing how much to use without overdoing it. Unless you have a recipe that says "add (X) amt of sage," you'll have to add any sage tea a little at a time. You could draw off a pint & start adding sage tea to taste & do the math to see how much to add to the carbouy. FYI: you can buy sage honey, I've never tasted it, but I hear it has a mild bit of sage flavour to it. It might be something worth looking into.

Hope you find some of this info useful. Regards, GF.

what's wrong with wild yeasts?

If you are worried, campden tablets will kill wild yeast and bacteria. Yooper told me she adds it every other time she racks.

I would just juice the lemons and add them. I would be afraid the pith would add off flavors over time.