Stupid question about flavoring meads...

[FuzzeWuzze]

So this may be a stupid question, but i am a bit confused how you guys are flavoring your meads and storing them in 1G jugs.

Are you fermenting in 2-3G carboys/buckets, throwing fruit in and then putting it in 1G jugs?

Using artificial flavoring and just fermenting in 1G jugs?

Coming from the beer world i dont see how your possibly adding any fruit to 1G jugs as the fruit(like blueberrys) balloon up absorbing the liquid and you'd lose a ton of mead and space in your jug...and i see all of these bright red or blue flavored jugs filled all the way to the neck as the should be.

Im looking at making 2 gallons, preferably the same base with 2 different flavors. I was thinking of fermenting it in a 3g carboy, then transferring to two glass 1g jugs to age, but how do i flavor them?!

 

[damdaman]

I don't know how other people do it, but I always do primary fermentation with my fruit in a bucket and transfer to appropriate sized carboys/jugs for secondary and top up.

 

[bernardsmith]

I agree with damdaman. If you add fruit or flowers to your must the CO2 will bring the solids to the top. I generally add the fruit in bag - the kind you can buy at a hardware store to filter paint.
You want to stir them back down into the liquor several times a day and you want to help remove some of the CO2 that is produced during the early days of fermentation. Using a food grade bucket (your bottling bucket, for example) which you cover with a clean towel or dish-cloth to keep out bugs and pets and kids and which is then easy to remove encourages you to stir the must (this also helps prevent the fruit on the surface from drying out and spoiling).
After a week or so you might remove the fruit and when the gravity drops to around 1.005 (some folk prefer this to be a hair higher - say, 1.010) you then you rack the liquor into a carboy that is large/small enough to be filled up to the neck - no head room and at that point you add a bung and airlock... (no counting bubbles in the airlock to determine when the active fermentation is over - You use your hydrometer. AND, given the acidity of the must and the alcohol content you can safely either taste the must or you can pour the sample back into the bucket (winemakers don't seem to have the same level of anxiety about spoilage that brewers do.. ).

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Is there any way to know how much crap your going to lose to fruit?

If im making 1 gallon i figure i probably want to make a 1.5 gallon batch, so between the yeast cake and fruit i'll still be able to fill that 1 gallon jug properly.