Add Fruit After Stabilizing Yeast?

[Bush_84]

Hello all. I am thinking of making a mixed berry mead. I have been trying to think of ways to maintain the taste of the fruit in the finished product. My first brew I added half of my berries at the beginning of fermentation and half at the end of fermentation. For my second brew I added all of it at the end of fermentation. So I was thinking is there any reason we can't add all of the berries after the addition of sorbate/sulfite? I'm not sure if this would cause any risk of making one big batch of vinegar, but I want to hear your thoughts. Is this doable?

 

[shanecb]

Definitely doable, it's the only way I add fruit. I've never had an issue with it.

 

[fatbloke]

Definitely doable, it's the only way I add fruit. I've never had an issue with it.

+1 on that.

Worst case scenario, if the fruit is of a type that often seem to carry moulds etc, then just wash it off with water, then rinse it in a sulphite solution and leave it for 24 hours, then add it to the batch to get the taste/colour etc.....

 

[MedsenFey]

The sorbate and sulfite will inhibit mold and spoilage organisms so this works well. The sugars of the fruit are not fermented so it may leave a sweeter result. This method works fine if you do not want the fruit fermented.

 

[Bush_84]

Ya the point of a late addition is to bring a sweeter fruit flavor to my meads. Will try this for my next batch. Simply going to ferment out honey and stabilize and add fruit after.