Fruit after carbonating?

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mcbethenstein

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Ok, I'm totally gonna sound like a newbie here. But can I take a hefe that I kegged and transfer out to a secondary with raspberries and hibiscus? My hefe is not good. In fact it sucks right now. See my experience chronicled here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/experts-please-help-shrimpy-hefe-weizen-300408/

The next hefe is shaping up nicely... so far. And I really don't want to dump the old one. But I know it won't get drank quickly, and I need the keg space.
So my question is this. Can I depressurize the keg. Then transfer the beer on top my berries. I would repitch a packet of Munich yeast in case there isn't enough left in the hefe to take care of the fermentables in the berries.
I've heard other members reference doing this, but I couldn't find anything in a search. I'm pretty sure I am going to dump the batch otherwise, but of I can salvage it, that would be great. I recently made a 3 gal batch of raspberry hibiscus Weiss that I LOVE, and it's almost gone. My base recipe is a little different, as is the yeast, but I think it would be in the ballpark of what I made before. See thread here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f75/raspberry-hibiscus-weiss-295138/

So, would this be a waste of $15 in berries? Am I going to end up oxygenating the beer? Do the risks outweigh the benefits?
 
I wouldn't do it. To make a good fruit beer, you need a good base beer. Chances are, if you don't like the beer now, you won't like it then, either. There's a saying about crap in = crap out, and it's pretty accurate - what you're thinking about is in the same vein as those who want to sour or distill their mistakes.

I dump my beers I don't like and find no shame in it. When I can pick out glaring flaws, I rarely find they "get better with time." There's a difference between flavors melding together over time and off flavors/mistakes. You don't want to drink it, and it's taking up valuable space. Your next Hefe is already in the bag (or fermentor, if you will). Doesn't sound like a huge loss to me.

But on the flipside, if $15 isn't that much for you, then try it out for the experience. Afterall, I could be wrong!
 
I wouldn't do it. To make a good fruit beer, you need a good base beer. Chances are, if you don't like the beer now, you won't like it then, either. There's a saying about crap in = crap out, and it's pretty accurate - what you're thinking about is in the same vein as those who want to sour or distill their mistakes.

I dump my beers I don't like and find no shame in it. When I can pick out glaring flaws, I rarely find they "get better with time." There's a difference between flavors melding together over time and off flavors/mistakes. You don't want to drink it, and it's taking up valuable space. Your next Hefe is already in the bag (or fermentor, if you will). Doesn't sound like a huge loss to me.

But on the flipside, if $15 isn't that much for you, then try it out for the experience. Afterall, I could be wrong!

+1, you can't polish a turd.
 
Ha. Ha. Ha. In all seriousness the base beer is not that bad. Just has a sulfury yeast thing going on. It's drinkable... Just not the best hefe ever. If I do put raspberry and hibiscus into it, it would MORE than cover up any flaws. My hope is that the addition of a few fermentables will help the new yeast eat up the off flavor I'm finding. So I guess my question is not should I do it, but can I do it? And how?
 
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