strawberry mead

[Deafmeadmaker]

I started off by making a traditional mead. (5 gal. batch, 16 lbs. of raw honey, D47 yeast and starter. OG 1.13, FG 0.996 =17.55%) it hasn't cleared yet but I was planning on racking to secondary and adding the strawberries. I have strawberry puree (3lb) and 10 lbs. of frozen strawberries. Last time I used a puree was a disaster. never cleared, clogged my filters. I ended up dumping the whole mess. So my question is should I use the puree or the frozen, and how much for a 5 gal. batch? I'm counting on fermentation starting again, but I'd like to know if someone has tried this and how did it go for them?

 

[CKuhns]

Ten pounds of frozen strawberries is a little light for five gallons (My opinion only) add the puree as well. I have used a paint strainer bag from Home Depot sanitized and tied to place the fruit and puree in. Its not perfect for keeping all the mush from the puree from getting into your mead but does catch most of it. I don't thaw the berries just drop them in frozen. Only works if you have a wide ,mouthed fermenter and makes clean up real easy.

As far as clarifying. After removing the bag of strawberry mush. Do not squeeze it you will release the pectin from the berries if you do, just let it drain for a few minutes. Cold crash 5 - 10 days. Then rack again, then use a fining agent (KC Super Kleer works for me) and if still a bit hazy its likely pectin add pectin enzyme and wait 3 3-5 days then rack again. If still hazey then time before filtering. (3 - 4 months and rack again)

Good luck

 

[raguido]

I want to supplement remarks by CKuhns about using a Nylon sack for containing the fruit; its works great. I made a 2-gallon batch of strawberry wine and used a little over 6 lb. of frozen strawberries that were thawed before use, so I agree that 10 lbs. that was used for a 10-gallon batch is too low. I would not add the strawberries frozen, as that will just make the must too cool and slow down the fermentation. I also added two bananas, sliced (no peels) to the sack with the 6 lb. of strawberries strawberries, which give a nice flavor to the final product.

 

[Kyzaboy89]

Not familiar with puree's but whole or sliced fruit yes. 1-2 lbs/gal of berries usually adds light to medium character from the fruit, and 3 or 4 lbs/gal adds body and pronounced fruit flavor. Do you want a mead with hints or light strawberry flavor, or strawberry to be the flavor up front and in charge? If it's still early in your recipe build I'd say add the frozen fruit that you have and after you rack and taste just add more if you want more flavor/sweetness. Keep track of how much and how long it's in there and next time you can skip the trial and error.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.