I'm getting a bit confused with adding fruits or berries into mead... Some recipes suggest adding it into the secondary (like purés). On other side there are multiple videos of people fermenting fruits and berries in the primary...
Is there like a general standard or guidance? For example I have fresh apricots, frozen black currant berries and a can of strawberry puré. When I'm making a mead, when do I use those?
Thanks, guys.
When to add fruit is somewhat subjective and debated, but the general principle is that the later you add, the more fresh-tasting and distinct the fruit character will be. If you want a more sherry-like "aged" fruit character then I would say add early. Personally I prefer the fresh flavor and aroma so I add macerated fruit to secondary.
Another consideration is infection. Adding lots of fruit before primary starts could risk infection from wild yeasts since there is not yet strong competition from brewing yeast, or alcohol, which suppresses growth of most organisms.
Freezing fruit first is often recommended because it breaks down the cells walls in fruit, allowing the yeast to more readily access the sugars, as well as killing off most critters.
Most of the folks that I know who make mead add the fruit into the primary (a lot of the sugars will ferment in primary). You can taste it when you rack it over to your first secondary and add more fruit as you want.
