Some questions about using fresh/frozen fruits

[BlindMike]

Making mead and learning from my mistakes and successes.

After 2 weekends of picnics, I find myself with about 12 pounds of leftover Costco frozen triple berry mix (blackberry, rasberry, blueberry). I've got a traditional bubbling away, as I learn to improve my technique, but I keep looking at that empty 3 gallon fermenter staring at me on the shelf. It's whispering.....frrrruuuuooooot.

I am planning on using about 8-9 lbs of the frozen berry mix in the primary of a 2-2.5 gallon batch. The remainder will go in the secondary of a 1 gallon traditional almost done bubbling.

I've been reading a lot of contradicting information on fruit prep prior to adding to fermentation bucket.
1. K-Meta to kill off any bacteria or wild yeasts. How do I calculate how much to use?
2a. Pectic Enzyme in primary. 2tsp/5 gallon. How long do I wait until pitching yeast? I've seen 12-72 hours. I'm guessing it just depends on the density of the fruit and how fast it begins to break down, and checking in on it every 12 hours or so.
2b. Pectic Enzyme n secondary. How long should I wait after stabilizing with K-Meta & K-Sorbate until I add the fruit and pectic enzyme?

 

[Squatchy]

You never need to sanitize food you can already eat now. So now on the 3berry.

Pectin For 2-3 days before fermenting. I have a 3 berry make along already on the forums that is excellent.

 

[BlindMike]

You never need to sanitize food you can already eat now. So now on the 3berry.

Pectin For 2-3 days before fermenting. I have a 3 berry make along already on the forums that is excellent.

I really appreciate your help teaching me how to fish Squatchy. There's so much contradicting and straight up out dated information out there. I am learning so much from you, GotMead Live, and Sergio from Melavino's podcast.

How did your "make along with Ryan" come out? If I understand the adjunct ingredients right, this is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm shooting for something that is well rounded, medium bodied, and balanced enough to enjoy with a summer dinner or out in the back yard after dinner with friends.

 

[Squatchy]

I really appreciate your help teaching me how to fish Squatchy. There's so much contradicting and straight up out dated information out there. I am learning so much from you, GotMead Live, and Sergio from Melavino's podcast.

How did your "make along with Ryan" come out? If I understand the adjunct ingredients right, this is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm shooting for something that is well rounded, medium bodied, and balanced enough to enjoy with a summer dinner or out in the back yard after dinner with friends.

Indeed it is very good. I've won a few pieces of hardware competing with this. I have probably made 75 gallons of this over time. There is lots of BS on the web. Most of it is wrong. That's the whole reason I wanted to help so people could learn from me to save them time. This way you can start to do it right from the start. I get messages all the time of people doing what I have taught and that they have started winning medals in competitions.

 

[Chevette Girl]

I usually give pectinase 24 hours to do its thing before I pitch the yeast, pitching the yeast doesn't immediately stop the pectic enzyme so if there's anything left to do, it'll keep doing it while the yeast is ramping up. I haven't found it makes much difference to my specific gravity when I've checked before and after.

And when I do fruit in secondary sometimes I'll just mush up the fruit in a container with the pectic enzyme and give it 24h before adding it to the must. I've done it with apple pulp to improve yield when I'm pressing cider.

The only time I will ever hit fruit with k-meta before fermentation is if it's something like very ripe fresh pears, which can have a tendency to make moldy spots while I'm waiting for the pectic enzyme to do its thing, or my fresh pressed apple cider which has a lot of natural yeast and sometimes gets going before I have a chance to pitch the yeast I want to use. And even moreso if I'm using pectic enzyme to increase my yield, I had a few exciting escapes when gases built up in the apple pulp and started pushing its way out of the stock pot I was using to hold it with the pectinase before I pressed it. But yeah, by and large, if you would eat i as it is, you probably don't need to sulphite it.

 

[mannye]

This site, despite having gone down in traffic since the social media explosion, is still the best modern mead encyclopedia on planet Earth.