using fruit for mead and adding nutrients.

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

spiffystump76

Active Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2021
Messages
34
Reaction score
3
Location
Planet Earth
I'm trying to figure out the best way to add add fruit to a mead and whether or not adding nutrients is necessary. So one of my posts I made on here I was told by a handful of people too use fermaid o and k and add them twice a day for the first 7 days or I could just use dead yeast on the other hand I've had some people say that they don't do that, I know a guy who owns microbrewery and makes his own need and he just adds honey and yeast and doesn't add any type of nutrient or fruit and he says that he has no problem which if that is the case I'm not going to do the nutrient process but that is why I am here asking yet again. Also I'm curious about adding different fruits I am curious to use bananas, blueberry, blackberries, raspberries, dates, figs, orange peels and raisins and some others. I am doing one gallon batches so it'll be nice to know how much each of those fruits I would want to add to a 1 gallon batch. I read somewhere that you can simmer the fruits chopped up and mashed and water to help sterilize and extract the flavor and then you can use a cheesecloth to hold the solids and allow in the fruit extracted liquid into your must, is that a preferred method or do some prefer to just put the solids in there so the yeast can eat it? Or should I use a beer cloth to hold the fruit and the must? Also heard that freezing helps as well, should or should I not freeze?
 
What you will find is pretty much everyone has their own preferences and protocols for your questions.

Yes, many commercial mead makers and some here do not add any additional nutrients. But they tend to overpitch yeast, control temperature and degass to drive off any undesirable volatile flavors.

Yes dead yeast are a good nutrient source.

I do the following:
Nutrients:
For high ABV mead - TOSNA 3.0 calc for total amounts of Go Ferm (hydrating yeast if using dry) and Fermaid-O. 1/4 amount at yeast pitch, 24, 48, 72 hours after yeast pitch with another addition at 1/3 sugar break.

For low ABV mead - TOSNA 3.0 calc for total amounts of Go Ferm (hydrating yeast if using dry) and Fermaid-O. All added at yeast pitch.

For all mead I also aerate well at yeast pitch, check the pH and add Potasium bicarbonate if needed and use spring water. And degass prior to bottling or kegging.
- Aerate to help the yeast bud / reproduce early in their aerobic phase.
- pH adjust as honey is pretty low and yeast like a pH between 3.6 and 4.6 to start. Also the potassium gives them strength.
- Spring water brings micro nutrients the yeast like.
- Degass to remove any entrained CO2 or Volatile sulfur compounds after clarifying.

For high ABV mead up to 1/2 sugar break i release CO2 by gently stirring daily. The belief is yeast get stressed by CO2 but I really believe stirring the sediment helps get some of the healthy yeast trapped in the lees back into the game.

As far as fruit goes: (I only use fresh or fresh frozen) i never simmer or boil them, mash them or ouree them. (You can but IMO not needed and adds a lot of mush to your fermenter.)

I remove pits (if any)rinse the fruit in a Star San and water mix then freeze the fresh fruit for at least 24 hours. Then thaw prior to primary or secondary or both (depending on the flavor profile im looking for) I always use a large mouth fermenter a sanitized nylon paint strainer bag from the local big box store and a handfull of those flat glass marbles to sink the bag.
- Pits or seeds add harsh flavors if kept in your fermenter too long. (2 weeks max)
- Freezing breaks down the skin and flesh allowing the sugars and flavors to be easily accessed by the yeast and alcohol.
- Large mouth fermenter and paint strainer bag keep everything together and makes for easy clean up. Also much easier racking with minimal loss of mead.
- Sinking the bag lets you not have to worry about anything "growing" on the fruit that floats and doesnt require you to open the fermdnter every day or two to punch the fruit cap.

Flavor extraction pretty much is done at 10 to 14 days and the amount used is anywhere from 1 to 5 pounds per gallon again depending on the profile your looking for. 1 gallon batches allow you to experiment some to see what you like.

Hope this helps, full disclosure here, i have done in excess of 70 five gallon batches of mead. This is what i have figured out over a lot of trial and error and seems to work pretty well for me. It may or may not work for others and they may differ in their practices or recommendations and they do make some great mead without doing some or all of the above.

The point is honey, yeast and water are all variable, mead is pretty forgiving and additions or practices are endlessly variable and will continue to evolve.

My best advice for you is.
- Ask the folks who have been there, done that.( Your doind that)
- Read / research everything you can.
- Take what makes sense and try it.
- Try different stuff.
- Take really good notes. ( Your memory isnt as good as you think it is)
- Keep what works and change the stuff that doesnt.
- If you get a relatively poor result chalk it uo to learning and let it age. ( months to years it always helps)

Good luck, enjoy the jouney, and hopefully you will make mead your happy to share with friends and family.
 
Everything @CKuhns said👍.
Fruit additions---generally--- are 2-3 lbs of fruit/gallon, but, this also is dependent on the person making the mead, how much of a fruit flavor they want. Want a little flavor from the fruit, (subtle hint), add 1 lb/gallon. Want a lot more flavor, add 3 lbs.
If you really want the fruit to be the star of the mead, I've added up to 5 lbs/gallon. Some people have added even more than that. This (the intensity level of the fruit flavor) is where personal tastes come into play more than anything else.
Yeast do very well if fed. Better if you have temperature control, ( which I do not & my meads do well, they just take longer than some, my basement is cooler, 65-69°F )
As @CKuhns has stated, have fun with it & experiment. There will be failures along the way,...some that you can correct along the way, some may be unrecoverable.
I encourage you..read through the forums. There's a ton of info just in this forum. I credit this forum with over 70% of what I've learned about making mead & everyday is a school day, I learn something new every time I read the forums. I spent the better part of 6 months reading before I even attempted making a batch of my own.
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading 😎
 
. 1/4 amount at yeast pitch, 24, 48, 72 hours after yeast pitch with another addition at 1/3 sugar break.
is this saying you add yeast once a day for the first 3?

does the potassium bicarbonate raise PH and give nutrients or just nutrient's?
 
Nutrirents, (fermaid-O in this case) not yeast each day for 4 days then again at 1/3 sugar break.

Yes, Potassium Bicarbonate raises pH and adds cell structure for the yeast to be more viable and robust.
 
Beer filter bag...

Some use cheese cloth. I use a paint strainer bag from H$me Dep$t in the paint department. You can get a pack of 3 for about $5.
 
My process is very similar to CKuhns, some minor differences of course but there is a solid outline there to try. Great advice to follow as well, for the nutrients the yeast should be up front and the nutrients are staggered. Sna/tosna calculates how much you should need, in theory, and you then add it in staggered/scheduled times. For instance at the beginning when you pitch your yeast you add 1/4 of the total or (X grams) and the same amount after 24/48/72 hours or whenever the schedule is set. Basically feeding your yeast separate meals to get going strong rather than all at once while also try to work on sugars.
Best of luck.
 
Great advice above. Just get going, meads are whole different passion from beer, but they are easy, difficult, fun, pain in the A and rewarding all in one. On a more serious note I'll add to the above advice, if you don't like a finished mead, let it age cause it ain't finished. Meads like wine improve with age.

Respect the mead!
 
Back
Top