I've got an AG batch of Ed Wort's pale ale in the secondary and it has been there for 2 weeks and progressing nicely, however I am considering adding fruit to it and going another 2 weeks before racking and bottling. Is this a good idea at this point or have I missed the window?
Thanks!
i've made a few fruit beers and with all but one batch, added the fruit to the secondary. the first one was in the boil, to kill whatever may have been on the fresh, macerated fruit. anyways, adding fruit to the secondary is probably a better idea (short of the sanitation argument) because you will retain more of the fruit aromas/flavors then adding it to the primary, due to the vigorous fermentation. the majority of my fruit beers have the fruit added at secondary with no ill-effects.
If you add it to the secondary (which you can probably still do with no issues), you should consider a third stage to let things clear and settle. Check my Raspberry Ale recipe for a discussion on this.
I think I'll make the fruit slurry and heat it up to 160f and let it cool, add it to carboy and go another week or two, then rack over for the above mentioned third stage. I think it'll come out good. Hope so anyway....
Thanks for the replies, and happy brewing!
I just read your recipe and actually read it before and it is where I got the inspiration to add the fruit to this batch! (as you can probably tell from my last post) Thanks!!
I just read your recipe and actually read it before and it is where I got the inspiration to add the fruit to this batch! (as you can probably tell from my last post) Thanks!!
Add frozen, bagged fruit directly to the secondary. Then incorporate a tertiary to clear everything up. Using frozen, then thawed fruit will help to retain "freshness" and as much fruit character as possible. Just thaw and dump into the secondary. The condition of the beer by the secondary phase should work well to keep any baddies from growing.
That way you don't have to deal with a fruit slurry hazing up everything, and racking/separating to the tertiary will go a lot better.
Adding fruit to secondary.
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