Correct way to use Fruit in Cider?

Hi guys,

I've really poured through the forums on this one but couldn't come up with enough data that satisfies.

What is the correct way to use fruit in cider?

I've read use in primary.. I've read use in secondary (after sorbistat k as a back sweetener creating a still cider to throw into bottles).

Ive read a 1 lb of frozen, I've read 1lb of puree'd, Ive read 2lbs allowed to sit in vodka for a minute. I've read canned.

I guess my real unanswered questions are when is the preferred time to use it? How should I sterilize it (and particularly if it is fresh) ?

Someone in posts previous mentioned canned cherries and I've also read frozen rasberries. Both sound interesting.

Appreciate your thoughts.

Really there is no set rule as to when and where to add other fruits or berries to cider. Everyone has their own opinion, or each recipe calls for it's own way of doing it.

My personal opinion is this... the next batch of cider I make, I'm going to add some raspberries to. These raspberries are from my property, and have been sitting in the freezer for a couple months now. I plan on adding 1 pound of them to a gallon of juice. The way I'm going to do it is to blend them up in the blender with a little of the apple juice, then pouring that into my 1 gallon primary bucket (when it arrives this weekend). To this, I'll add one crushed campden tablet, and some pectic enzyme, and let it sit for 24 hours. After that, I'll pitch the yeast, and airlock, and stir once a day for about a week, then rack to secondary.

I'm sure others will post their own way of doing it, and their's may be better than mine, but that's my personal opinion...

Either way you go, let us know how it turned out, and remember, RDWHAHB...

All of these methods work, which is why you won't see a 'best'. If you are working from a recipe, follow it as closely as possible. I generally start with fresh fruit, freeze the fruit, thaw it, heat it for 15 minutes @ 160F, cool and add it to the secondary. I've done puree in the primary, fresh fruit with or without pasteurizing, etc. They all work.

I'm in the middle of trying this myself, I put frozen blackberries and raspberries that I had soaked breifly in vodka into the secondary. I don't know if it will turn out any good, but it sure is a beautiful color.

I really appreciate the help.

What is the reasoning behind freezing first? To kill thriving bacteria? And wouldn't heating to 160F prior do the same?

Thanks again.

Freezing bursts the cell walls => more good stuff accessible to yeast.

Thank you Dave.

david_42 said:

Freezing bursts the cell walls => more good stuff accessible to yeast.

Click to expand...

Pectic Enzymes will do the same thing without freezing and is usually recommended in any fruit brews.

I'm glad I read this post! I was planning a straight Apfelwien, but now I think I'm going to add some raspberries in the secondary. Sounds delicious!

THE REASON TO ADD IN SECONDARY RATHER THAN PRIMARY:

Later addition of fruit will better preserve the aromatic qualities of the fruit. One drawback of this is you will probably want to transfer to a tertiary because of the second round of fermentation and the added pulp. You do this to settle out the extra pulp and dead yeast, unless you have a way to filter it. Personally it's not a big deal to add another stage to get a better finished product.

Also, ciders tend to go pretty dry. If you want yours carbonated and a bit sweeter, you can't stop fermentation early. My solution to this is to add about 1.5 cups of lactose with the priming sugar in the bottling bucket. Lactose is a non-fermentable sugar that will sweeten up a dry brew and let you carbonate as usual.