Let me preface this post by saying this is only my "second" attempt at making mead. My first time involved two batches of JAOM made a month apart. Each of those batches was made with three 1 gallon carboys. Both turned out great and family and friends loved it. Unfortunately it's all gone now. 
As we all know though, JAOM is a simple recipe and I am trying something a little more advanced now so to speak.
Right to the point: I'm making a sweet vanilla blueberry melomel. Will racking onto crushed or pureed (in a blender) blueberries a month into fermentation using Lavlin 71B result in any adverse effects because of oxygenation?
Would it be better to just give the berries a couple of crushes with a potato masher or even leave the berries solid to avoid adding oxygen at this point?
What about adverse affects from decomposition of the berries in the secondary?
Can anybody give me an idea for about how long I should leave the mead in the secondary with the fruit? I was going to leave it in the secondary for one month to get it off the remaining lees again.
I'm assuming that I should be adding more water to fill the volume of the carboy because of the decrease in volume that will result from leaving behind some of the mead in the primary due to the lees and berry remnants? I also assume that this will result in a little further fermentation due to the dilution of the mead with the water and addition of more berries?
Background: I started three 1 gallon batches (I only have 1 gallon carboys at the moment) of blueberry melomel four weeks ago using Lavlin 71B yeast. I did a little light reading about the benefits of adding fruit to the primary vs secondary and decided to do both. My plan was to add one pound of blueberries to the must of the primary at the start of fermentation (which I did) and an additional pound in the secondary after racking the mead after one month's time.
The first pound of blueberries for each carboy was prepared by simply crushing the berries with a potato masher and then adding the mush to the must in the carboy and then I shook it all up very well. I degassed as best I could over the first week and then after that I let it do its thing.
I deduced from reading various various posts here that 4-6 weeks max was about how long you want to wait to rack the mead off the lees of 71B and into a secondary because of adversely affected flavor. It's been four weeks now and I think I'm ready to transfer the mead to secondary carboys. I will also be adding a split vanilla bean to at least two of the secondaries (maybe even all of them) because I LOVE vanilla. I plan to add an additional 1/2 teaspoon of pectic enzyme to the secondary as well.
I apologize for the questions due to ignorance and thank you for any insight!
Ingredients per gallon:
3.5 pounds clover honey
2 pounds of Private Selection brand frozen blueberries (1 pound crushed/mashed in primary and 1 pound planned to be added to secondary)
1 split vanilla bean (in secondary)
Two packs of Lavlin 71B rehydrated with Go-Ferm and split between three 1 gallon carboys
1 tsp Fermaid-K
1/2 tsp of DAP
1 campden tablet (crushed)
1 tsp of pectic enzyme (split evenly between primary and secondary)
Arrowhead mountain spring water (poured to fill carboy)
I staggered the Fermaid-K and DAP nutrient additions over the first 4 days and degassed, oxygenated, and punched down the cap as best I could for the first week. After that I let the carboys sit in the dark.
I've also got a 1 gallon batch of traditional mead using the same ingredients and process as above minus the pectic enzyme (and blueberries of course) that I started the following day using one packet of Lavlin 71B (also hydrated with Go-Ferm).
As we all know though, JAOM is a simple recipe and I am trying something a little more advanced now so to speak. Right to the point: I'm making a sweet vanilla blueberry melomel. Will racking onto crushed or pureed (in a blender) blueberries a month into fermentation using Lavlin 71B result in any adverse effects because of oxygenation?
Would it be better to just give the berries a couple of crushes with a potato masher or even leave the berries solid to avoid adding oxygen at this point?
What about adverse affects from decomposition of the berries in the secondary?
Can anybody give me an idea for about how long I should leave the mead in the secondary with the fruit? I was going to leave it in the secondary for one month to get it off the remaining lees again.
I'm assuming that I should be adding more water to fill the volume of the carboy because of the decrease in volume that will result from leaving behind some of the mead in the primary due to the lees and berry remnants? I also assume that this will result in a little further fermentation due to the dilution of the mead with the water and addition of more berries?
Background: I started three 1 gallon batches (I only have 1 gallon carboys at the moment) of blueberry melomel four weeks ago using Lavlin 71B yeast. I did a little light reading about the benefits of adding fruit to the primary vs secondary and decided to do both. My plan was to add one pound of blueberries to the must of the primary at the start of fermentation (which I did) and an additional pound in the secondary after racking the mead after one month's time.
The first pound of blueberries for each carboy was prepared by simply crushing the berries with a potato masher and then adding the mush to the must in the carboy and then I shook it all up very well. I degassed as best I could over the first week and then after that I let it do its thing.
I deduced from reading various various posts here that 4-6 weeks max was about how long you want to wait to rack the mead off the lees of 71B and into a secondary because of adversely affected flavor. It's been four weeks now and I think I'm ready to transfer the mead to secondary carboys. I will also be adding a split vanilla bean to at least two of the secondaries (maybe even all of them) because I LOVE vanilla. I plan to add an additional 1/2 teaspoon of pectic enzyme to the secondary as well.
I apologize for the questions due to ignorance and thank you for any insight!
Ingredients per gallon:
3.5 pounds clover honey
2 pounds of Private Selection brand frozen blueberries (1 pound crushed/mashed in primary and 1 pound planned to be added to secondary)
1 split vanilla bean (in secondary)
Two packs of Lavlin 71B rehydrated with Go-Ferm and split between three 1 gallon carboys
1 tsp Fermaid-K
1/2 tsp of DAP
1 campden tablet (crushed)
1 tsp of pectic enzyme (split evenly between primary and secondary)
Arrowhead mountain spring water (poured to fill carboy)
I staggered the Fermaid-K and DAP nutrient additions over the first 4 days and degassed, oxygenated, and punched down the cap as best I could for the first week. After that I let the carboys sit in the dark.
I've also got a 1 gallon batch of traditional mead using the same ingredients and process as above minus the pectic enzyme (and blueberries of course) that I started the following day using one packet of Lavlin 71B (also hydrated with Go-Ferm).
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