Blood Oranges

[Kody_Wulfe]

Hello all,

A week ago, I added blood oranges to a mead that had all ready stopped fermenting and had cleared....

How long can you safely keep cut up fruit in your mead for flavor..???

The color is all ready a wonderful blood red..... I am shaking it a couple times a day...

Thanks all,,

Kody

 

[fossilcat]

Well, you can leave citrus in secondary for at least a month, but if you included the peel with the pith, I'd start checking by taste after 10 or so days. The pith tends to lend a bitter taste.

You mentioned that the your mead has stopped fermenting. Did you rack off the lees to secondary? Personally, I like to get my mead off the spent yeast, just cleaner that way and I avoid the possibility of any off-tastes from the lees. I've never experienced any such off-taste, but I have heard of people who have, so rather safe than sorry.

You don't have to shake the mead at this point in the process, the alcohol will draw the flavor and color out without shaking. Besides, shaking will increase the probability of introducing oxygen and causing oxidation.

 

[Drewed]

You can keep them in there as long as you like. The alcohol should keep things pretty safe. I would pull the peals ASAP if you included the pith, otherwise pull them when you like the flavor.

 

[Kody_Wulfe]

Yes, I did rack off... and when I cut the oranges.. I was very very very careful to remove as much of the PITH as I could... I am of the school that you make your basic mead... let it ferment.. rack it off.. clear it if your not going to add fruit... or add the fruit and or other flavors.. ...

Thanks for your advice....

Kody

 

[bernardsmith]

Not entirely sure that allowing the mead to stand on lees creates off flavors. That is to say, if you are making 1000 gallons of mead the weight of the mead can break open the yeast cells and the yeast will release all kinds of chemicals that will produce off flavors but when you are making 5 gallons (or 1 gallon) the weight of the mead does not (I think) damage the yeast cells that have dropped to the bottom as 'sediment'. I have never experienced the sorts of problems that some mead makers say you find with 71B. Two - three months on the gross lees has not ever been produced anything that concerned me..

 

[Kody_Wulfe]

I remove the lees after fermentation is complete... I rack into a secondary vessel..

Kody