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How do you get fruits/spices/mesh bags into carboys!?!?!?

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capoeirista13

capoeirista13

Honey Master
Registered Member
Aug 17, 2008
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This probably sounds like a dumb question, but, I have no idea how you are supposed to get pounds of fruit in and out of these carboys. I see people suggesting the use of mesh bags, but if you have an entire bag full of fruit, how do you get it through that small neck of the carboy? Or is that suggestion just for use in primaries/buckets?

See, I can understand putting the fruit into the carboy before you rack, but, if you do that, then how do you get it out of the mead w/o racking again, or do you just have to rack again? I am curious because I also see people saying that certain fruits can get bacteria on them which can infect the mead.

Ah also, people mention putting the fruit in the primary and some in the secondary, or all in the primary, why is that?
 
Dunno, when using lots of fruit I now start the mead in a plastic bucket, and then transfer to a glass carboy for the secondary. It was too much work trying to push fruit into a glass carboy. I do still push teabags and spices into carboys, and those can be fun to fish out after transfering the mead.
 
For fruits, a bucket primary works very well so that you can get it in (and out) easily. Usually in a carboy, once you get it in, the fermentation will break it down quite a bit so that there will be a big mass of fruit sludge to rinse out, but I've always found it isn't too difficult to remove once you've transferred the mead out.

The difference between fruit in the primary and in the secondary is a matter of taste. Just like fermented wine doesn't taste quite the same as grape juice, fermented fruits may develop a complex flavor quite different from the raw fruit. I happen to like this complexity and like to have a lot of fruit in the primary. When you add fruit to the secondary, more of the simple fresh fruit aroma and flavor will be preserved. A mix of both often produces favorable results giving a blend of "fruit forward" and "complex" aromas and flavors. How much to split between primary and secondary? Well, figuring out what suits your palate is half the fun.

Medsen
 
Another reason for using a bucket for primary is so that the bags can be pushed down regularly to allow more of the flavour to mix through and to allow for more fermentation to be done.

It also means that there is less chance of the bag blocking the neck of the carboy and possibly forcing the airlock out as happened on a raspberry melomel I made a couple of years ago.

That said, I don't bother with the bags anymore.
 
i saw someone saying they put marbles in the bag, to weight it down so that it stays submerged, but that means it also stays on the bottom, so is using marbles a good technique or not?
 
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