Treating Frozen Fruit

[Monghetti]

Hi Everyone: I am going to put together my third batch of mead here shortly and want to do a blueberry or rasberry melo. I will probably be using frozen, store bought fruit and was wondering if frozen fruit needs to be treated with pectic enzyme and camden tablets in the same way that fresh fruit does?

This will be a one gallon batch with just over 3# of honey and I was going to use 2# fruit in primary and a 1/2# in the secondary. Thanks for any input on the fruit treatment or recipe in general!

 

[LightningInABottle]

I would use both campden tabs and peptic enzymes. Mix the frozen fruit and water 24 hours before you pitch and ad the campden and peptic enzymes. Add honey right before pitching. I would even out your fruit additions. 1# in primary and 1.5# in secondary. If you want it even more fruity you might just consider doing a show mead in the primary and rack on to all of your fruit in the secondary. Personally I am going for the fermented taste of blueberry or raspberry in the final product so I like to split mine up.

 

[Monghetti]

Thanks lightning. I don't think I want this to be super fruity so I think I'll split it up like you said with some fruit in the primary. Good to know about frozen fruit being treated the same as fresh though. Thank you!

 

[nealf]

I generally just spray some starsan on the outside of the fruit! From what I understand pectins won't set unless the fruit is boiled... Although, with mead any haze would likely settle out with a lengthy aging.

 

[malkore]

I've made several raspberry meads from frozen berries.

I've never used pectic enzyme or campden tabs. I also put the fruit in secondary and rack the mead onto it, rather than in primary. You'll get a little renewed fermentation from the fruit sugars, then rack to tertiary to clear it. I don't even use fining agents and this melomel will come out clear when you bottle it a few weeks later.

 

[Monghetti]

Thanks everyone. I'm running out of time and it looks like this one is going to have to wait until after the new year. I am excited to get it going!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Fruit in both primary and secondary can give you much more depth & complexity in the fruit flavour of the end product. Regards, GF.