How long to leave fruit in Secondry

[GTMonster]

Good evening from the not so sunny UK!

Please can anyone advise?

I've made 4 high alcohol (16ish%) sweet (1.20SG) meads. Strawberry, summer fruits, black forest fruits and another that like everything else these days... I've forgotten! I think it was blueberry!

The fruit was bought frozen, thawed and added into Secondry. Prior to adding to the finished mead, I added pectine enzymes, Campden tablets and potassium sorbate... The question is, how long do I leave the fruit in for please?... It's been 3 weeks since adding... At this point, I'm hoping that's not too long!

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Barzahl]

Taste them, of you're happy with the flavor remove the fruit, if the fruit is colorless and you're not happy with the amount of fruit flavor remove it and add more

 

[GTMonster]

Thanks. Can it be left in too long?

 

[Dan O]

Thanks. Can it be left in too long?

To answer your question, yes, it can be left in too long.
I typically leave fruits in no longer than 10-14 days max., depending on the fruit.

Freezing fruit beforehand helps to break down the cell walls & makes it easier for the yeast to access the fermentable sugars.

Stone fruits, (fruit with a pit....cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots & others not mentioned), should have the pits removed before using. Leave the skins on, you will extract tannic value from them.
Typically, I leave these fruits in for closer to the 14 day mark.

Fruits with seeds.....(raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, boysenberries,) I tend to pull around the 10 day mark. For these fruits, color is typically gone by day 7 & tannic value (for my taste buds) is ready around day 10, rarely longer than that. Those seeds are small but mighty.

The longer you leave fruit it, the more tannic value it will extract, from either the skins or the seeds. Once the fruit has lost it's color, the fruit has given any flavor you're going to get & you're basically extracting tannins from that point on.
Strawberries will give off a plasticity/band-aid type of flavor if left in too long in primary, which is why I tend to use strawberries in secondary, as it helps preserve the flavor.

If you leave the fruit in too long & wind up getting more tannic value than you wanted, backsweetening can help to offset this, as well as bulk aging.

Another note worth mentioning, brew bags make racking a LOT easier as well as cut down on racking losses.
That said, the fruit needs to be submerged & kept WET until you remove it, otherwise mold will try to grow. When I make melomels, I go in every day, faithfully, to punch down the fruit & keep it wet, sometimes twice a day if I have a big bag in there.

I hope this helps you & doesn't confuse you.
Happy meading

 

[MightyMosin]

+1 to the above