3 Tips for Using Fruit in Mead

Today we're discussing 3 tips to getting more fruit flavor out of your fruits! This is really important because it can help you save tons of time and money. I am specifically using Apples as the example here but generally this works with all fruit. Let me know what you think down below and thanks for watching!
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[@buzzboop]

Another interesting thing is if you peel your red apples and blanche the skin in the water you will use for your must by boiling them, it will draw out the color and give your mead a nice red pinkish hue for great presentation. A red sparkling apple mead has a nice wow factor. Also power or steam juicing or a puree will have an effect on its color and flavor.

[@ManMadeMead]

That’s really interesting, I’ve never heard of doing that. Thanks for telling me!

[@timothyrichards5823]

Bryan Chong Nice tip!I may try that on a batch in the future.

[@HashFace253]

Its blackberry season! I picked nearly 1.7 trillion and passed them through the juicer 3 times had 2+ gallons!

[@magacop5180]

Trillion?

[@spaceman152E]

Currently in South Korea with Army and making my own since booze prices suck! Doing a traditional and then gonna play with fruit flavors. Thanks for the video

[@simonphelps5793]

There isn't any ridiculous barracks rules against that?

[@starrychloe]

Tip: Add pectinase enzyme when starting fermentation to prevent cloudy mead. It's a clarifying agent like bentonite or Sparkalloid for fruits that contain pectin (apples, peaches, apricots, etc.)

[@AnnhilateTheNihilist]

You mean like Bentonite clay?

[@sinfulyminded]

Super great timing with this, thanks! Got 3 separate gallons of dry traditional going down Melomel Road this weekend.

[@BenshobbyStuff]

use a food mill my friend for fruit. i just got one and its a life saver. fruits like blackberries and raspberries need no freeze/thaw process and it takes all the skin and seeds out of the paste. just a thought mate i know its an older video but ive been binge watching you today. worth a try mate :)

[@jmtjr659]

I watch a lot of your videos very educational Thank you!!!!!

[@timothyrichards5823]

Great video! We can always use good mead making tips like this. Apples were a really good choice for your demo since they are usually available fresh year round these days. I almost always use frozen fruit, mostly because that is what is easily available for me locally. Apples are an exception because of their fresh availability. I’ve always noticed that frozen fruit starts giving up its juice as soon as it starts to thaw. I’ve been making apple ginger mead and soda using apple juice. I’m going to take your advice and slice and freeze some fresh apples for my next batch!

[@asazeel]

You are a brave man. A miniature lion passed you twice, and you never even flinched. Lol!

[@nork24]

🙄

[@user-hc7in9pb7y]

My very first mead thanks to you. Thank you very much!

[@brocknspectre1221]

Darn, I really need to check your channel before I go making stuff. I put together a "simple mead recipe" last night with orange and blueberry and now my algorithm shows me that I pretty much ignored everything you say here. Anyway, thanks for the video. I think I’m gonna do the same recipe again and follow everything here and compare 👍

[@bucmeister7713]

The freeze/thaw (contraction/expansion) cycles actually ruptures the cell walls which is what releases the most fruit flavor. Will also help tenderize meat to a degree.

[@thecelticgiraffe]

I was just watching a seminar on the American Home Brewers Association website on ancient mead making. I found it somewhat shocking that the researcher found with most ancient mead the producers used the juice of fruits only for melomels and rarely used the fruit itself.

[@papasmurf9146]

That might make sense. Their vessels weren't as airtight as ours and their sanitary conditions nearly non existent. Adding the fruit would have been more likely to have introduced bad bacteria or yeasts and spoiled the brew.

[@obadiahrobinson]

i use a masticating juicer for fruit to separate the pulp from juice, it works great.

[@strtg3y3r]

This was very helpful, thank you for making the video! What are your thoughts on juicers?

[@ManMadeMead]

I think they are definitely useable. I’d say juicing the fruit would be better than blending. But I also like just adding them straight in.

[@ImaGenius40]

Will the sugars in fruit affect fermentation time? Would you still need to add more honey at the start if you want the mead sweeter?

[@1014p]

Just cut left and right of core. Then cut the two remaining sides. Core is now removed. Then blending the fruit after that then strain it. Squeeze all the fluids from fibers left behind.

[@dougroberts4535]

Very new to mead making here, so first-off, thank you for all of the valuable information! Secondly, I have a question regarding the best time to add your fruit for maximum fruit-flavor in the end product - is it best to add your fruit for primary fermentation or during secondary fermentation?

[@ManMadeMead]

I prefer to add mine into the secondary because I feel like the fruit flavor stays better!

[@MrDJ9878]

Awesome video! Just a quick question, if I wanted to make sure that there wasn't going to be any fermentation in the secondary stage once I add my fruit is there something I can use? I'm looking to add some blueberries to my 1 gallon batch of mead.

[@teddycleveland7441]

Potassium Sorbate in conjunction with Potassium Metabisulfite is the standard route for stabilizing when you want to add something with sugar to a finished mead.

[@ManMadeMead]

Teddy is right! Go with Potassium Sorbate and Potassium Metabisulfite!

[@tominva4121]

I am thinking of making my first mead - a fig mead. I have the figs in the freezer right now. I plan on thawing, re-freezing, thawing again, and refreezing yet again before using them. I plan on adding the figs during the Secondary Fermentation stage when alcohol will help protect against unwanted bacteria. Do I need to worry about unwanted natural yeast on the figs though????? Should I heat the figs and cool before adding to mixture? Obviously the mush I will have can't be dipped in a sanitizer. Any help?

[@theonedelta1239]

Quick question about fruit and other items in mead. I know you need to use a hydrometer to measure the gravity for ABV, but would a hydrometer accurately tell the gravity of a Must that has fruit added, whether in primary or secondary fermentation?

[@DawiFromAnotherHold]

Triple freeze thaw eh? Now that's gonna come in handy with a peach ginger mead i was planning. Thanks a bunch! Any relevant difference in temperatures of freezing?

[@ManMadeMead]

Not that I'm aware of!

[@jasonmatthias1846]

I'm planning to do a prickly pear mead. What do you think about adding pectic enzyme to your fruit? I'm going to be juicing/mashing it to add a little to my primary and secondary also.

[@ManMadeMead]

I think that’s great! That will help clear up your mead!

[@jasonmatthias1846]

@@ManMadeMead thanks! Also if fermentation is going to kick back up a little when I rack to secondary carboy with more fruit added, should you aerate it also and or add more nutrient? Or is adding more oxygen at this point harming it? Thanks again!

[@ManMadeMead]

@@jasonmatthias1846 I wouldn't add any oxygen to the mead after the first 7 days of the primary fermentation! When you add your other ingredients it might kick start fermentation again, but you don't have to worry about adding any nutrients or oxygen.

[@mr.mccheese6311]

You said that freezing fruit always helps with flavor, but is it true for berries as well? I'm thinking of making a blackberry mead, and I'm curious if I should freeze them also, or just chuck them in fresh. Thanks!

[@ManMadeMead]

I believe it’s true for most fruit in general! It causes the cells of the fruit to explode which generally allows for more flavor importation!

[@dwk1986]

How do you sanitize the muslin bags? Do you have to hang them like tea bag or just drop them in? Any sanitization of the fruit itself to prevent mold on secondary or trust the alcohol to protect?

[@ManMadeMead]

So I use starsan to sanitize everything I use. You can drop them in the mead and leave them there for as long as you need! I’ve found that it’s safest to run some starsan water through your fruit before you put it into the mead just to be safe and keep any mold from growing!

[@joewright4263]

new and getting ready to start my fist batches. I plan on making 3 gallons of traditional and then add fruits to secondary. my question is I only have carboys so will it be a problem to just put fruit in without the bag? rasberry, blue berry and havent decided on other yet

[@ManMadeMead]

You can definitely put the fruit into the carboy! It’s a little messier but it will work just the same as if you were trying to bag them.

[@oliverrimes9057]

Rather than using starsan or campden tablets on the relatively small quantity of fruit I plan to use for a 5L carboy, I might use some fruit that I have sitting in a romantopf. I guess any bacteria will be already dead due to the rum. Only concern is the rum flavour might conflict with the mead, unless I carefully rinse the fruit with water. Anybody every tried this?

[@snakebite1033]

What are your thoughts on Boiling the fruits, I had good results for colour and flavor as the hot water leeches more colour and also damages a lot of the cells. Especially harder fruits like apples do take it quite well without turning to mush and it's quicker than freezing. I think you don't loose a lot of the flavor and it is yet another sterilisation step. Especially for plums I have had issues with wild zeist from the fruits if I did not boil them.

[@ManMadeMead]

I don’t have a ton of experience with boiling fruit, so I’m not certain!

[@AedanBlackheart]

why don't you just use juice then? By boiling them your getting rid of a lot of the health benefits..

[@kalyan8647]

how long do you leave your fruit in the secondary ferment? is there a point where most of the flavors are extracted and it's unnecessary to leave it in more much longer to condition the flavors?

[@Brandon-yq1tm]

One recipe I saw did it for a week then tasted it and tranferred to another container.

[@josephphillis5316]

Do you sanitize the bag? It wasn't covered. I am new to melomels and want to be sure before I attempt a cyser or melomel.

[@ManMadeMead]

I did!

[@JohnDoe-zg6of]

Do you have any good tricks for getting rid of the skins in things like cherries? I was thinking of just blending them after I cored and froze them so that the skins wouldn't keep the juice from coming out, but idk if that'll result in too much loss in the blender or in a vegetal taste from the skins.

[@1014p]

John Doe so what I do is a vitamin blender. Remove seeds if possible. Cherries it’s a must. Little water then blend them very well. Keep in mind vitamin blender can cook the blended solution quickly. So may need to take breaks. Then pour through a normal strainer. You’ll have lots of pulp and fibers left behind. Squeeze the fluids from that as well. Now you have essentially juice minus the fibers and material that didn’t blend. In the case if cranberries i part boiled them then blended. Essentially a flash boil to break the berries open. Cherries I do t think that’s needed.

[@AedanBlackheart]

just buy the juice bro it's soo much easier

[@gabrielfewkes1323]

How do you freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze, and thaw, without giving your fruit freezer burn? What if I covered my pear in plastic wrap and then put it in a vacuumed ziplock bag?

[@ManMadeMead]

Use freezer grade bags and vacuum seal them like you said!

[@gabrielfewkes1323]

@@ManMadeMead thanks man! And thanks for getting back to me every time I post a comment or question. Me and your subscribers definitely appreciate it.

[@ronniebounds6474]

How would you suggest I Star-San frozen pineapple chunks?? When it thaws it will be mushy and juice.

[@ManMadeMead]

That's a tough one.. I normally try to Star San them before I freeze and thaw them! If you're adding them to a brew that's already fermented - they should be fine. The alcohol will protect from any bad bacteria!

[@ronniebounds6474]

@@ManMadeMead I’m adding to my primary. I wonder if it would be of any benefit to dump the frozen chunks in Star-San for about 2 minutes before I bag them and put them in the fermenter? Thanks for your help!

[@ManMadeMead]

@@ronniebounds6474 I think that would work! I'd try that!

[@carlokoenders2966]

Nice video! I got a small question about adding fruits on the conditioning phase. I have a high abv cyser, of which the apple flavour is not quite appearent. I am doubting to add dried apples to get the flavor up. Is this a good idea? How much should I use for 11 liters? Best regards from the Netherlands

[@ManMadeMead]

Adding more apples after the bulk of the fermentation will definitely help get more apple flavor! I don't know that dried apples is the best choice in my opinion - I have no experience using dried fruit though... I would recommend fresh apples!

[@carlokoenders2966]

Thanks for your feedback. Any idea how much apples to use for 11 liters?

[@carlokoenders2966]

Forgot to ask do i need to peel them and sanitize them or will the high abv of 16-17% kill of any nasty stuff?

[@carlokoenders2966]

As per your advise I put in fresh appels. How long do you recommend to leave them in? 3 weeks? Hopefully you can guide me in the right direction...

[@AnnhilateTheNihilist]

@@carlokoenders2966 one year later - how did you go?

[@Laidakojis]

Hey, do you age your mead in a bottle that has a water lock on it or in a bottle that is ready for drinking and has a cork in it?

[@ManMadeMead]

I do both! I generally like to bulk age (age with an airlock on) because it provides a more consistent alcohol from bottle to bottle. Bottle aging is the opposite and can possibly lead to different results. Either way works though!

[@Laidakojis]

@@ManMadeMead Thanks!

[@moonhawk5297]

I have four cans of black cherries in heavy syrup, nothing added but sugar. Planning to make meade with this using 6 lbs of raw local (high desert) honey and champage yeast. Not sure how to figure out how much h2O will be needed to get a dry meade. Always before I just followed recipes.

[@moonhawk5297]

P.S. I think someone should do a video titled "Everything you've always wanted to know about using hydrometers but were afraid to ask."

[@AedanBlackheart]

@@moonhawk5297 fill it as needed until you have enough room so that the airlock doesn't bubble over CONSTANTLY

[@Notgoodatall-e4r]

How many apples to produce a good strong apple flavour in a 5ltr secondary fermentation?

[@ManMadeMead]

You will want like 4 - 5 Pounds of Apples in that case!

[@SuperEssEmm]

What if i wanted to use mushrooms.... How would i go about making sure they were sanitised?

[@ManMadeMead]

I would just run some StarSan water over them!

[@johnaceto7126]

How long do you leave the fruit in the initial fermentation?

[@ManMadeMead]

I normally leave mine in for 2 - 3 weeks

[@chriscrenshaw3230]

Looking to start my first mead… how is the Star San safe to dip fruit in?

[@ManMadeMead]

It won't mess with your fermentation! You don't want to soak the fruit into StarSan, but rinsing with it isn't bad!

[@chriscrenshaw3230]

@@ManMadeMead awesome thanks!

[@LordUroko88]

Carboys all seem to have small mouths what do you use as your vessel when your using something large like apples. Plastic buckets?

[@ManMadeMead]

Buckets normally!

[@gringote1783]

how long do you leave fruit in secondary?

[@ManMadeMead]

It depends on the fruit!

[@kb2vca]

The skin will provide tannins and a lot of the aroma.

[@11lll1ll111l]

Freezing makes water crystals, those crystals puncture cell walls, repited freezing cycles make more damage to the fruit meat, releasing all the flavors in the fruit. I know you using them as flavoring agent, but if you pass the fruit thru a blender while in making the must, wouldnt it be better?

[@ManMadeMead]

I've always had greater luck with multiple freezes on my fruit, but maybe I've just been lucky. I generally don't like pureeing my fruit because it often leads to so much sediment. I haven't seen an increased fruit flavor from pureed fruits.

[@starrychloe]

What about just blending it?

[@ManMadeMead]

You can! It just leaves a lot of sediment and you generally end up losing more mead than normal.

[@josephroach711]

Well damn.

[@josiahz21]

Man…..I found this info way too late for my 3,4,5th batches. No 6 will be perfect 😂

[@GO0DWOLF]

You could just buy as cheap spray bottle for the Star San and spray down the tools and not waste it. It's how I do it. You can also use the stuff all around the house for cleaning during the pandemic.

[@13ishup]

So just buy frozen fruit?

[@ManMadeMead]

That does work, but you can’t always find the fruit you want in the frozen section!

[@wasd____]

Why remove the cores of the apples? If you're not eating the apples it doesn't matter, and coring them is just spending time on extra cutting.

[@ManMadeMead]

The seeds are not great for brews!

[@demonchildjd]

Do you have to sanitize the fruit you use as well?

[@demonchildjd]

And how do you sanitize the fruit? Do you just wash it like if you eat it or can you actually sterilize it in campten tablets?

[@demonchildjd]

Never mind. You sanitized it in the video. I jumped the gun. LOL!

[@cleavercrawford9281]

Why do you cut the core out of it? Your not eating it.

[@ManMadeMead]

Apple seeds have amygladin in them (which is a mixture of cyanide and glucose). Now this is a very small amount, however in large doses it's not great for you!

[@derikjbrandt]

That's a short fridge!

[@ManMadeMead]

Yes it is!

[@carloscosta1036]

vasco da gama