brewawan

Recipes 

I want to make a Raspberry Irish Red Ale coming up here, and I was wondering how properly to add the fruit. From what I understand I need to boil, freeze, then add to beer after primary fermentation is complete. This is correct, right?

Does anybody have suggestions based off their experience?

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Black Cat Brewery "Forget Superstition"

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Primary: #15 AG Irish Red Ale(from Brewing Classic Styles)
Secondary/Kegged:#14 AG American IPA
Drinking: Anything that falls into my hand

Ooompa Loompa

Recipes 

Don't boil!!!! Boiling releases pectins, and you're trying to make beer, not jam My suggestion would be rinse really well, freeeze, then when you are ready to add the fruit to the beer bring some water to a boil, then kill the heat and add the fruit to pasturize it. Freezing will kill most of the nasties, this should kill the rest. I would suggest adding to the primary after initial fermentation has subsided, but others may advise adding to secondary. It's really a preference thing.

malkore

Recipes 

buy frozen, un-sweetend raspberries at the grocery store. let them thaw abotu halfway.
then mash them up inside the bag by squeezing it all up.

then, sanitize the outside corner of the bag, cut the corner off, and then 'pipe' the raspberry mush into the secondary, like its a bag of fancy cake icing.

lastly, rack the beer on top of it, and let it go 2-3 weeks.

you might wanna put a filter of some type around the racking cane when its time to remove the beer from secondary. raspberries fall apart and are easy to rack by accident.

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Malkore
On tap: Camelot Ale, Lancelot's Wheat, English Brown Ale, Steam Beer, HoovNuts IPA
Bottled: MOAM, Braggot, Raspberry Melomel, Merlot, Apfelwein, Pyment, Sweet mead, Cabernet

Primary -
Secondary - Vanilla mead

Gal in 2009: 27
Gal in 2010: 34
Gal in 2011: 13
Gal in 2012: ~

cubbies

Recipes 

What I have done in my experience, is buy frozen fruit (saves you a step), and then in a pot add just a little water, not even enough to cover the fruit. Turn on the heat and cover the pot. Bring to a temp around 160 and let it sit there for 10 minutes. Then cool, add to the secondary and rack the beer on top. Works like a charm.

How much raspberries you planning on using? I would go light if I was you. Raspberries can be quite strong. I wouldnt use any more than a pound if this is your first attempt.

jota

Recipes 

my LHBS told me to I could go with a puree. I am going to go to the secondary in a few more days and will let you know how it turns out

wizardofza

Recipes 

I've always been told to use frozen when possible because when the fruit is frozen it destroys some of the cell walls of the fruit, giving off more flavor.

I'm interested to use fruit myself. I've used extract but wasn't too pleased with the effect. Probably because of my own doing though.

Fatgodzilla

Recipes 

No Irishman would waste raspberries in an ale. Get a life and eat your raspberries with ice cream and make your Irish ale like an Irsihman would.

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sonetlumiere85

Recipes 

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