Losing too much liquid in Cyser or Melomel racking

[Splach]

Hey guys,

Newish to making mead and I had a question. I have a blueberry melomel that when I racked to secondary lost a lot of volume. Should I have smooshed the blueberries in cheesecloth to catch the residual juice and fluid? How can I tell if I can top it off with water or if it is just going to be a short batch?

I also have a Cyser going now that appears to have a couple inches of stuff at the bottom (pulp from the apples etc). It has only been going a few days so I expect it will settle further when the yeast stops turning it over; however I don't want to make the same mistake (if it was) with the blueberry. Should I capture this stuff and strain it for the secondary, or just write it off as part of the lees?

Thanks,
Casey

 

[brottman]

When I use fruit for in a wine or mead, I put it in a muslin bag to ferment in. During fermentation, I will occasionally squeeze the bag with my hands to make sure everything gets turned to mush. When I am ready for the fruit to come out (around 3-5 days), I lift the bag out of the wine and squeeze with my hands to strain all the juice out.

 

[Splach]

Thanks! Good to know that I can try to save some of that. Unfortunately it is in a 5 gallon bottle so I can't squeeze a bag; but that sounds like another good reason to use a bucket for primary.