mux

Recipes 

I think you just need to freeze them. The freezing also helps break down the fruit. In racking wheat that i boiled the peel of 3 lemons onto 5 pounds of frozen raspberries.

ZombieBrew83

Recipes 

I used the extract version of this recipie:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f75/strawberry-alarm-clock-v3-0-strawberry-blonde-132129/

The extract ingredients are in a post toward the bottom of the first page. This recipe turned out so well that I plan on trying it with raspberries, cherries, or watermelon next time.

MMJfan

Recipes 

Cool. Thanks for the recipe suggestion zombie. Sorry for the questions, but did you use DME or LME? I've only got 3 brews in me and I've yet to use anything other than LME.

I'm going to get my fresh strawberries today and cleaning, halving and freezing them and planning on brewing this beer sometime after my vacation.

ZombieBrew83

Recipes 

I used 3.3 lbs of Wheat LME and 3.3 lbs of Gold LME. I also used 8oz of Crystal 10L to bump the sweetness a bit because I was worried the berries might make it too tart. The beer is still on the tart side but quite quaff-able. I am so pleased with this beer! The nose is simply divine. It's a lot like a jar of strawberry preserves. It carbed up to perfection after 3 weeks in the bottle.

I mostly use LME because it's a little cheaper than DME and I know that my source is fresh since I live near Midwest Supplies. If you are looking to keep your beer lighter in color, DME is the way to go. Funny thing about this hobby is there is never only one way to do things to make good beer and it is always fun to learn from experimenting. Good luck! Be sure to post your results in the recipe thread.

jpmg

Recipes 

I did raspberries with my hefeweizen. I bought them frozen then heated it to about 115-120F for 15 minutes. This really helped to break it down and it got a bit juicy. I really liked how it turned out and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Heating the fruit not only broke it down more allowing for easier infusion of flavours and aroma, but it may have contributed to a more sanitary way to adding fruit. Personally, I don't believe that freezing fruit kills bacteria, but instead just puts them into a dormant state.

Desp

Recipes 

I was under the impression that a minimum of 140 degrees was required to kill bacteria. . .

jpmg

Recipes 

I admit that my decision to 'pasteurize' the fruit at 115-120F was based on anecdotal evidence; none of the information I came across during my research cited any empirical evidence to support that temperature range as being sufficient to kill any bacteria which may have been on/in the fruit. My decision to use that temperature range was largely based on three things:

(1) my assumption that the alcohol content of the beer (which had completed primary fermentation) would inhibit unwanted bacterial growth
(2) the well-documented experiences of others who had skipped the pasteurization step altogether without any negative consequences.
(3) my hesitation to go to a higher temperature range as others had anecdotally claimed that it might reduce the flavour of the fruit

Again, I found the greatest benefit derived from heating the fruit came from the accelerated breakdown of the fruit's cellular structure allowing its juices and flavours to go into solution at a much more rapid rate.

riss_rizzo

Recipes 

Ever hear of freezer burn? It's caused by a type of bacteria that thrives in below freezing temperatures, and usually causes diarrhea. Just an example of the freezer not killing all bacterias. Also if you look into food prep laws, there are reasons restaurants need to heat foods to the temps they do... bacteria. I know not everything that applies to food directly translates into brewing, but, somethings are relatively universal. I have not used the fruit and am no authority on the subject, but it seems to me that adding fruit at flame-out would probably be the safest way to ensure the best of all worlds. The only way I see that fruit would "lose flavor" would be that the fruit was heated with water, and naturally the water would carry away juices and sugars. If it was heated in the wort, then the juice and sugar would still be right where you want it. Just a little out loud thinking....