Adding fruit puree

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TxBrewHouse

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I'm making a cherry wheat. I've read numerous posts for adding the purée to the primary and I've read many where you add to the secondary. Which is the best to add the purée to.
 
I have only done one beer with puree and i added it to the secondary. The end result was severely over carbed bottles, and that was after 3 weeks in secondary.
 
I have never added fruit to the primary. The active fermentation (CO2) will drive off the aromas you want to capture from the fruit. Add it to the secondary.
 
I added 6 pounds of cherry puree to the secondary for my stout....you just have to give it time to ferment, it's going to be slower so be patient.
 
I added the cherry puree to a beer that was kegged a chilled to 40 degrees. I kept the beer at 40 degrees and very little sugar fermented out of the cherries. The sweetness of the cherries remained until the keg ran dry.
 
Not sure it will work with bottling because it will cause problems with bottle conditioning. When you raise the temp for the bottles to carb the yeast will start eating the sugar in the fruit. It will change the fruit flavor making it tart like if you added it to the secondary at a higher temp. Don't know how much sugar the fruit would contribute. There might be enough there to cause bottle bombs just from the fruit. Might still need some priming sugar but not sure how much. If you are bottling the secondary is the best place and keep it normal fermentation temp for 2 weeks. I've done this with blueberry beers and watermellon beers resulting in nice refreshing tart fruit beers. Never tried this approach with cherries but I have had other tart cherry beers and enjoyed Them.

Edit After rereading the earlier posts I see some have had issues with over carbed bottles and cherry puree even after 3 weeks in the secondary. Might be better to add them to the secondary and after a couple weeks keep checking gravity readings until it stabalizes for a few days
 
I've read numerous posts for adding the purée to the primary and I've read many where you add to the secondary. Which is the best to add the purée to.

That's part of the beauty of this hobby. Both are right, and if you ask this question you will not get a single answer. Both sides of the argument produce great beer.

Traditionalists will say add to secondary. Latest thoughts are you can add everything to primary. I think all will agree that you need to wait until main fermentation is over before adding.

My personal opinion is wait at least 2 weeks, rack to secondary and add to secondary.
 
If you look at the apricot ale recipe on NB web site. They add the puree 2-3 days after start of fermentation.
I will be brewing this beer in the next week.
 
i just did a peach pale ale and my secondary is at my parents dry hopping an IPA for my dad so i had to add it to the primary after primary fermentation

i have also done a few in the secondary and a few the same time i pitched the yeast.

all have turned out tasty beers
 
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