dried cranberries

manhattanksbrewer · 12-19-2010, 11:22 PM

I want to add dried sweet cranberries to an extract recipie. But not sure how much or when would be best time to add them and should i reconstitute them first??

jimmythefoot · 12-20-2010, 01:02 AM

i added 2 1/2 lbs of blueberries for a little over a week in a carboy after the primary was done. the color was great but the flavor to me was very very mellow. it did smell a little like blueberry but not that much to me.

some guy on here said he adds extract right to his keg and skips the whole racking beer onto fruit in a secondary. i am gonna try that next to see how that goes as far as flavor and aroma.

you kind of have to just wing it cause there are sooo many ways to add fruit to your beer and i am still unclear which way gives you the best results.

manhattanksbrewer · 12-20-2010, 01:13 AM

I was thinking i would reconstitute them and put them in muslim bag all tied off and put them in bottom of primary fermenter before i pour wort in!

**birvine** · 12-20-2010, 12:37 PM

M...

I think you'd be better off at least steeping them in your primary to ward off any nasties that might infect your beer. Either that or put them into your secondary where you have the alcohol as a safety net.

A few years back I added several pounds of raspberries to my secondary. I had much less flavour from them than anticipated.

B

manhattanksbrewer · 12-20-2010, 02:23 PM

thanks that is good idea

mendozer · 01-04-2011, 04:30 PM

Why not add it for the last minute or two of boiling? it would kill bacteria (and berries contain a ton of mold spores) and maybe steep out flavor. I'm thinking of doing this so i don't know

**birvine** · 01-07-2011, 11:19 PM

Boiling fruit supposedly makes the beer hazy due to the pectin. Not firsthand knowledge, by the way, just from much armchair brewing along with the real thing.

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mendozer · 01-08-2011, 01:11 AM

pectin does do that, but can it be countered with irish moss or other clarifiers?

**birvine** · 01-08-2011, 11:17 AM

Not sure if pectin can remove pectin haze. Good question, though. I want to add mango to a blonde ale and this info could help.

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mendozer · 01-08-2011, 03:15 PM

mango in a blondie sounds good. I don't care much about haze. if my irish moss doesn't work, screw it. It still tastes good. haha