When to add fruit?

[HoshBrew]

Im starting my first mead soon and I want to make a Rasberry mead. When do you guys prefer to add the fruit? Primary or secondary? Do you use fresh or concentrate?

Thanks

 

[Bugeaud]

Fresh or concentrate? I'm a bit confused here. Are we talking about actual fruit, fruit juice, or both?

 

[HoshBrew]

Which works best and when to add it. What's your preference?

 

[HoshBrew]

Do you use real fruit or does juice/concentrate work better?

 

[Gamrchick]

You need to make sure that whatever you use does not have preservatives in it. It will stop, or at least hurt your fermentation. I have been using fruit, but will be experimenting next year with concentrates. When using fresh fruit: freeze the fruit then thaw it before adding to the secondary. This will help break down the cells and assist the yeast with fermentation. If you want to try concentrates/purees/extracts: try your local Home Brew Shop. They should have a good selection for you to choose from.

As far as when to add, I always add fruits to the secondary, but that is just what I've been doing so far. There is no right or wrong way. I've heard that adding fruit to the primary will lead to a weaker fruit taste as most of the flavors and aromas will go out the airlock during primary fermentation. For this reason, I've always thought it a waste. But recently we've found some references at the BJCP Website that talk about adding fruit to the primary and the benefits of doing so. We are going to do some experiments with that, but I am not sure how that is going to work out yet.

A really great reference for you would be Schramm's The Complete Meadmaker. He goes into some nice detail concerning how much fruit to add and when.

 

[oldude309]

I just finished a 1 gal. raspberry mead and I waited to add the fruit until the secondary. I bought a 10 oz. package of frozen raspberries allowed them to thaw and refroze them, allowed them to thaw and come to room temp, placed them in a nylon stocking and then into the secondary. Let them soak for a month then pulled them out, ended up with a very nice red mead with a good raspberry flavor. Jim

 

[CM4OSU]

I tossed a bit of fresh fruit, cranberries in one, apples in another, in the primary. I don't have a whole lot of experience here, but I gave it a taste to see how it came along after three or so weeks in and it was already quite tasty. From what I've gathered, do what you want, see what works, and just keep sanitation a priority.