First Melomel

[Mirakk]

Hey guys, I'm planning on making a raspberry mead soon. Due to budget constraints, I'll be using preserves. 2 vintner's reserves cans, to be precise. My question is related to the fruit addition.

How do you manage the fruit addition in secondary? I'm planning a 5 gallon batch, and would rack it onto the fruit in a 6-7 gallon carboy. I suspect this will be large enough.

1. What do you guys use for a punch-down tool?
2. Will I need to punch down with preserves at all?
3. What's a good amount of time to leave the preserves in before racking it off again?
4. Will a carboy be a decent vessel for this? I'd suspect that a bucket would be easier to manage, but too much headspace there!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Medsen Fey]

If there are solids in your fruit, you'll need to punch down the cap to prevent it from drying and harboring spoilage organisms. I use a large brew spoon, but you can use anything. In fact, just swirling will accomplish what is needed. If you use fresh/frozen fruit that has seeds and pulp, getting it off that residue in 7-14 days can reduce unwanted bitterness. With preserves or fruit wine bases, there is no urgency as whatever is in there has been soaking in there for an indefinite period. If it has a lot of pulp, I'd use a bucket, otherwise a carboy will be fine.

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[Painted toad]

Hi fellow dad makers, I have question about Meomel's. I have a Apple Meomel's at the 6 month point, it is pretty dry? I was hoping for something a little sweeter! Can I add juice or honey at bottling?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts
The Painted Toad

 

[Medsen Fey]

You probably need to stabilize and sweeten at least a couple of months before bottling to ensure stability.

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[WVMJack]

You are not going to have to worry about punching down with a can of Vitners, its 99% juice not solids, you might want to dump one in during the ferment in the primary and save the other for adding into the secondary that way you will get some winey fermented fruit tastes as well as later boosting the fruit flavor. Remember this is a fermented product, its not like you are just adding some alchohol to the fruit. WVMJ