Hooperdrivestheboat
New Member
Just a quick question. I've noticed a lot of melomel recipes call for adding fruit during secondary fermentation instead of primary. Any ideas on why?:beard:
Melomel secondary ferm question
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bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
Hi Hooperdrivestheboat, and welcome.
One reason is that when you ferment the fruit in the primary the yeast is likely to be so active that much of the aromatic and flavor molecules will be blown out the fermenter and so lost. If you were simply making a wine that may be (may be) less of a problem but if you are making a mead then half the fermentables technically, must come from the honey so your volume of fruit will be reduced to begin with.
Another possible reason is that if you allow the fruit to macerate in alcohol (in the secondary) rather than in fruit juice (aka sugar water) in the primary, the alcohol is able to extract more of the color and flavor. A third reason is that honey can behave in the presence of yeast as far more acidic than you might expect because the honey has no chemical buffers. Fruit is often quite acidic and so the addition of fruit in the presence of honey may result in the pH dropping so low (the acidity becoming so high ) that the yeast will simply cease their work. There may be other reasons
One reason is that when you ferment the fruit in the primary the yeast is likely to be so active that much of the aromatic and flavor molecules will be blown out the fermenter and so lost. If you were simply making a wine that may be (may be) less of a problem but if you are making a mead then half the fermentables technically, must come from the honey so your volume of fruit will be reduced to begin with.
Another possible reason is that if you allow the fruit to macerate in alcohol (in the secondary) rather than in fruit juice (aka sugar water) in the primary, the alcohol is able to extract more of the color and flavor. A third reason is that honey can behave in the presence of yeast as far more acidic than you might expect because the honey has no chemical buffers. Fruit is often quite acidic and so the addition of fruit in the presence of honey may result in the pH dropping so low (the acidity becoming so high ) that the yeast will simply cease their work. There may be other reasons
CKuhns
Everything learned in Kindergarten still applies!
+1 Bernard...
My additional thoughts:
I only add fruit to secondary and ferment pretty dry prior, these observations may be different if fermenting a sweet mead.
Many folks add fruit either to primary, primary and secondary or just secondary. I have found i need to use less fruit in secondary than i would in primary to get similar flavor.
I have tried adding fruit at various stages in the ferment and the claim many make is that by adding fruit to both primary and secondary is that it adds additional mouth feel and a more rounded fruit flavor throughout. When i did this I noticed the honey flavors were a bit lost. Thats fine if you used Cheapo honey from the big box stores but not so good if you use honey from a local apiary and want that honey flavor profile to show through.
With adding fruit to secondary and for the "right" amount of time you can get the desired fruit flavor and your honey notes as well. With that said it is really easy to overpower the honey notes with the fruit flavor so a bit of experimentation is required.
Just my 2c
My additional thoughts:
I only add fruit to secondary and ferment pretty dry prior, these observations may be different if fermenting a sweet mead.
Many folks add fruit either to primary, primary and secondary or just secondary. I have found i need to use less fruit in secondary than i would in primary to get similar flavor.
I have tried adding fruit at various stages in the ferment and the claim many make is that by adding fruit to both primary and secondary is that it adds additional mouth feel and a more rounded fruit flavor throughout. When i did this I noticed the honey flavors were a bit lost. Thats fine if you used Cheapo honey from the big box stores but not so good if you use honey from a local apiary and want that honey flavor profile to show through.
With adding fruit to secondary and for the "right" amount of time you can get the desired fruit flavor and your honey notes as well. With that said it is really easy to overpower the honey notes with the fruit flavor so a bit of experimentation is required.
Just my 2c
I'm making a one gallon batch now and was planning on adding peaches in the secondary moving it into a two gallon bucket. Will the 2 gallon bucket be problematic to the mead adding to much oxygen. The peaches will take up some of the volume but their will probally be quite a bit of head room left. If this will be a problem any suggestions on alternatives to the bucket
CKuhns
Everything learned in Kindergarten still applies!
The peaches will take up some of the volume but their will probably be quite a bit of head room left. If this will be a problem any suggestions on alternatives to the bucket"
Others will disagree but my belief and experience has been as long as some fermentation is taking place then you are OK. In this case some of the sugars in the fruit will be consumed by the yeast to fill your head space with CO2.
Suggestion:
Use a sanitized paint strainer bag or nylon bag for your fruit and, add a handfull of sanitized flat glass marbles to sink it. The bags are inexpensive and allow for an easy clean up (I just throw it away when done) and no mushy goo from the fruit left in your bucket. You also wont have to worry about the fruit creating a cap on the Mead and drying out. Keeps any "nasties" from growing on the fruit. A side benefit is that you wont be messing with the fruit and possibly releasing a bunch of Pectin causing pectin haze. No guarantee you wont get pectin haze but certainly seems to reduce the chance for me.
I do this with a 5 gallon batch in a 6 gallon Big Mouth Bubbler (BMB) lots of head space similar to a bucket and have had no trouble as far as I can tell with well over 20 Melomels under my belt.
Others will disagree but my belief and experience has been as long as some fermentation is taking place then you are OK. In this case some of the sugars in the fruit will be consumed by the yeast to fill your head space with CO2.
Suggestion:
Use a sanitized paint strainer bag or nylon bag for your fruit and, add a handfull of sanitized flat glass marbles to sink it. The bags are inexpensive and allow for an easy clean up (I just throw it away when done) and no mushy goo from the fruit left in your bucket. You also wont have to worry about the fruit creating a cap on the Mead and drying out. Keeps any "nasties" from growing on the fruit. A side benefit is that you wont be messing with the fruit and possibly releasing a bunch of Pectin causing pectin haze. No guarantee you wont get pectin haze but certainly seems to reduce the chance for me.
I do this with a 5 gallon batch in a 6 gallon Big Mouth Bubbler (BMB) lots of head space similar to a bucket and have had no trouble as far as I can tell with well over 20 Melomels under my belt.
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