Hi there,
I'm looking for tips on picking/processing apricots to brew melomel few weeks from now.
I'm considering making a very large batch of apricot melomel which hopefully will be ready for a wedding next year. There is an apricot tree near my house that is free of pesticides and is falling over with fruit -- easily 50 lbs on the tree, though I probably won't pick that much.
I do not have a recipe yet, though my goal is to make something champaign-like (a little sweet, a lot tart, some sparkle in the finished melomel).
Any suggestions for how to process the fruit now when it's ripe? Beyond the obvious steps of washing and pitting -- is it better to freeze pitted halves or juice it? Better to sanitize now or later if I freeze it?
And lastly, I have access to a Champion juicer rather than a press that holds back pulp. I saw a recipe where a guy juiced the fruit, froze it for a year, then thawed it in his fridge and let pulp settle out of the juice. Any wisdom in that?
Thanks,
Michael
I'm looking for tips on picking/processing apricots to brew melomel few weeks from now.
I'm considering making a very large batch of apricot melomel which hopefully will be ready for a wedding next year. There is an apricot tree near my house that is free of pesticides and is falling over with fruit -- easily 50 lbs on the tree, though I probably won't pick that much.
I do not have a recipe yet, though my goal is to make something champaign-like (a little sweet, a lot tart, some sparkle in the finished melomel).
Any suggestions for how to process the fruit now when it's ripe? Beyond the obvious steps of washing and pitting -- is it better to freeze pitted halves or juice it? Better to sanitize now or later if I freeze it?
And lastly, I have access to a Champion juicer rather than a press that holds back pulp. I saw a recipe where a guy juiced the fruit, froze it for a year, then thawed it in his fridge and let pulp settle out of the juice. Any wisdom in that?
Thanks,
Michael