4 berry melomel

[Jessevictory]

Hey all ,
somewhat new to mead making but have successfully done a cyser and honey mead both turned out well . Currently sitting on 3 gal melomel 4 berry in glass carboy . I’ve heard only leave berries in a mead for 7 days but my airlock is going crazy and I’m afraid to take it off to rack into another carboy . Any suggestions ? Starting gravity was 1.100 did about 5.5 lbs honey . Is it safe to pop that thing off to rack away from the raw fruit ??? And also can I bottle carbonate this same as my cyser with erithritol after ferment ?

 

[MightyMosin]

When I make my Blueberry Cycser, the fruit stays in it until they start to turn white-ish. That is usually about 14-20 days; I put those in at the start of fermentation.

You should be fine for removing the airlock if you need to rack off of the fruit. I prefer the wide mouth Fer-Monster carboys so I can leave the fruit in a bag and then easily remove them without having to rack.

You can bottle carbonate the same way as long as there is enough yeast there to do the job.

 

[Jessevictory]

I totally agree with a wide mouth carboy . There’s just something about glass that I don’t wanna move away from . Finished my last cyser with 5 lbs of different apples in a plastic bucket fermenter. It tastes great but glass would have been better I think . I used 1/2 gallon of berry juice with the honey and spring water in my berry mix so I’m hoping it turns out ok . I used the k1-v1116 yeast for the berry I’m making

 

[MightyMosin]

Someone makes a wide mouth bubbler that is something like a 1.25 gallon glass carboy. When it initially came out, there were a variety of complaints about the quality and it breaking. Not sure if that has been resolved.

That complaints kept me from purchasing it and using the Fermonster stuff as the larger sizes are easier to move around and I don't worry about getting injured if it slips as it won't shatter on me.

 

[CKuhns]

Fruit tends to give up all its flavor in 10 to 14 days. Its ok to keep the fruit in longer. But, i would ensure the fruit cap is kept moist by gently rocking or swirling the carboy once or twice a day. Keeps the top of the fruit from drying out and potentially growing some "nasties". As mentioned above, a wide mouth fermenter and paint strainer or fine mesh bag is very beneficial to manage fruit. Makes for easy clean up and no goo in your racking cane when racking from the mush left over.