Chocolate persimmon Mead

[Yakman619]

My wife's aunt just brought us 20+ pounds of chocolate persimmons from her tree, and I just so happened to start a batch of mead the day before. I intend to add some of these persimmons when I transer to secondary, and I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on how best to preserve them until it is time to transfer to secondry, as well as the best method to add them to the mead (I've never used fresh fruit).

I'm thinking about seeding then mashing the amount I need, then freezing the mash in a ziplock bag (only making a gallon of mead). When its time to transfer, I'll boil the "mash" in a small amount of water and add it to secondary.

Let me know what you think, I can definetly use some experienced guidance!

[NHBrewer]

If it were me, and I had the fortune to have such artisinal fruit handy, I would do exactly as you described, mash and freeze the clean pulp, then I would add it during the primary fermentation WITHOUT boiling the fruit. The active yeast should be able to overcome any unwanted nasties and then it can work on the sugars inside the persimmon. Boiling could cause lots of pectin. Not sure of the density of the fruit but I would let it get as ripe as you can; assuming it is still ripening off the tree. If it is very hard, like an apple, you may want to try to press it and remove some of the fiber. I would recommend about 4 pounds of the cleaned material for your one gallon batch. Best of luck.

Chris Killinger
Fermentation Specialist
Moonlight Meadery
Killinger@moonlightmeadery.com

[Ozwald]

+1 to no boil. The freezing process won't sterilize the fruit, but it'll keep the bacteria numbers very low & your yeast should have no problems over powering them.

[Yakman619]

Thank you both, I really appriciate the input. I ended up cleaning, quarting, seeding, then freezing about 3.5 pounds of the persimmons. I was pressed for time, as I've had a lot of family coming and going over the last week. Do you think I should still mash the persimmons prior to adding them to secondary? If so, should I remove the skins to prevent any natural yeast from doing their business?...Or would the tannins in the skin likely help add some complexity? Im even considering leaving the persimmon quartered.

I trust your advice to add them to primary is solid, NHBrewer, but my gallon jug is full to the neck and I don't want to disturb it. I'll probably transfer when fermintation slows down a bit.

[Ozwald]

I would puree them. The more surface area the better. I would also add them to the primary, but I can completely understand why you're not. 3g carboys FTW! No advice on the skins since I don't have a clue what these things are beyond reading about them & seeing pictures.

[NHBrewer]

I have no idea on the skins either but I know that I would do all that I could to make sure you get them into solution while there is active yeast so that the bacteria have less of a chance to take hold and the yeast will have the opportunity to chew into those persimmons. Get a slightly bigger jug or remove a small amount of mead, as a control without the fruit, making room for your pulp in the main batch.

Chris

[Yakman619]

I think I'll just make a second batch of mead this week, using the persimmons in the primary.

[Ozwald]

That's not a bad idea, but I wouldn't add them right away. I'd aim for ~80% through fermentation. For example, OG=1.075, expected FG=1.015. Find the difference (60), multiply by 80% (48), OG-result=1.027. Or OG-((OG-eFG)*0. = X. Your actual OG will be higher, due to the sugars in the fruit, but at least with this rough calculation (excluding the added fruit sugars) you won't ferment out all the character. The basic idea is to let the yeast do their thing & as they start to poop out you give them those last few sugars to work on. 80% isn't a hard n fast rule, but from my experience it's not a bad place to start.