[pete b]

I don't know you can say Freezing is = to sanitation.  Freezing yeast to normal freezer temps doesn't kill it, why would wild yeast die off?  I would think you really want to avoid Lacto, Pedio, and Brett in your melomel, but I don't know maybe you do?  If you want to avoid them I am pretty sure  Freezing for <24 hours wont do the trick.  Plus these berries have been through a lot to reach that shelf you bought them off of, who knows what dirt, from what surface got kicked up or came into direct contact to those berries...

From what I understand, honey has some natural antimicrobial properties in addition to the low pH and alcohol content of a finished mead. I've heard several reports of people intentionally trying to make a sour mead and being unsuccessful, so I have little concern with unintentional contamination.

Personally, I've never sanitized fruit in any melomel (primary or secondary) and have never run into any contamination issues.

Honey is said to be the only natural food product that doesn't spoil. According to accounts from the time Alexander the Great's body was packed in honey when he died to preserve it for the long ,hot journey home.
I made mead before beer and had to learn the hard way when I started brewing beer to take sanitation seriously. My girlfriend had been making mead for years before that and had come to learn that infections just didn't happen and would, for instance, give the bottle bucket and autosiphon a quick rinse with tap water before use. Now I apply the sanitation I find necessary for beer to mead just out of habit.

My understanding of honey's ability to stop anything from growing is only in its pure form.  The sugars are so condensed that the cell walls of any normal yeasts or bacteria are broken by the pressure thereby killing anything that gets in the storage container.  This won't be as true once you dilute the honey.  If the yeast can survive to ferment it, the bugs can survive to infect it, prior to completing fermentation.  As has been said once the PH drops and there is alcohol present you should be okay adding fruit, hops, coffee, spices, nuts or whatever.

Paul

Good points Paul. It may be just the ph and alcohol and nothing to do with the honey. Also, I bet the wine yeast has a huge advantage over other bugs, first in the high gravity pre-fermentation environment and later in the high alcohol low ph environment.

[JJeffers09]

If this was all true about honey and its ability prevent any microbes from spoiling a batch then I wonder what is mead?

[yso191]

I just put 3+ pounds of blackberries into secondary.  How long should I leave it before racking?

[Scot (one T)]

The short answer is...when it has reached the desired taste level.  Every batch of fruit is different and will require a different contact time.   I know this sounds dismissive, but there is no exact answer.   Fortunately, mead is quite forgiving and will hold up to numerous samplings and additions.   I have a lime mead that I added lime juice to 5 different times.  I kept tasting it and adjusting as I went.  BTW..this mead is going to second round of NHC so I'll stand by this method. 

[yso191]

Thanks Scot

[CurlyFry]

I don't know you can say Freezing is = to sanitation.  Freezing yeast to normal freezer temps doesn't kill it, why would wild yeast die off?  I would think you really want to avoid Lacto, Pedio, and Brett in your melomel, but I don't know maybe you do?  If you want to avoid them I am pretty sure  Freezing for <24 hours wont do the trick.  Plus these berries have been through a lot to reach that shelf you bought them off of, who knows what dirt, from what surface got kicked up or came into direct contact to those berries...

I was just thinking that. I'm new to the forum, but not to homebrewing. I've always kept my yeast in the freezer and it's never killed them. I've done this for years. I do agree though that the fruit will release more juice after being frozen, just not so sure it will stop a wild yeast from kicking up fermentation.

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