First time mead maker..

[jrundle]

Hi all. Looking for a bit of advise on doing a melomel. I've basically done 2.5gallons mead base and I'm going to split it and add 6oz raspberrys in 1gal, 2.5lb rhubarb in another (all from the allotment and currently in the freezer) and leave half gal as is. It's been fermenting for 7 days and has virtually stopped. I checked the S.g a couple of days ago and it was about 1.025. Added an extra tsp of nutrients just in case the yeast was flagging. Here's the recipe if anybody's interested. (Pretty standard)..

4.5kg wildflower honey
2.5gal water
5g lalvin k1-v111 yeast
5tsp yeast nutrients

Start s.g was 1.085 with 3.5kg honey but that wasn't high enough so I put in another 1kg, hopefully to bring it to around 1.115 (14%

So I'd like to know;
1)when and for how long should I add the fruit?
2)Should I add a couple of Campden tablets as I'm worried the fruit (especially the raspberrys) may bring nasties into the brew
3)are there any other tips I need to know?

Any and all comments welcome! Thank you!

 

[Frognostic]

1) maybe for as long as you'd leave the skins in a wine must to make it red / add body.

2) if it was just plain honey and water I'd say no, just start it fermenting quick. But the raspberries might have had all manner of different types of flies crawling over them and may have maggots in them, potentially harbouring acetic acid bacteria, so adding a Campden tablet may be a good idea.

3) keep the fruit in a pulp bag and add pectic enzyme to break down fruit cell walls and release juice / degrade pectin which makes it cloudy.

To be honest, apart from adding raisins for nutrient or lemon juice for acidity I haven't made any melomels... yet.

 

[loveofrose]

1) That depends. If you want fruit wine flavors, it should be added upfront. If you want to preserve the original fruit flavor, add to secondary for 2 weeks, then rack off fruit.

2) Nope. Not needed. Especially with that yeast.

3) Yes! Read my mead making article:
See my Current Mead Making Techniques article here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/current-mead-making-techniques.html

 

[bernardsmith]

If you add fruit to the secondary how do you easily add the fruit to the carboy? Easy to add fruit to a bucket but usually the secondary will be a narrow necked carboy?

 

[jrundle]

Thanks for the messages guys. A lot of information going into my brain at the mo, and I'm trying to sort out what's relevant to me right now as I'm going along.....My copy of 'complete meadmaker' arrived this morning so gonna have a good read of that.

The fermentation has stopped and I have racked off into another bin. I haven't quite got enough raspberrys together yet so I thought this would be a good idea of how to progress....was going to let it clear (I don't have anything to halt further fermentation before the addition of fruit) rack again, add the fruit for two weeks, then back sweetening and bottle/bulk age. Sorry if that's a bit of a arse about face way of doing it but it's a first attempt! Cheers all.