adding fruit

Ok so I have read ALOT of threads on this. I want to add fruit(raspberries) to my brew. Its been in the primary for a week now. I have read that you shoud rack on top of the berries in a secondary. But I have also read that this can blow your air lock off due to the fermantation of the fruit. Not to mention the cleaning of the secondary(carboy). So can I just add it right into the primary now that the intial fermentation is done? Im using 2.5lbs of frozen raspberries. Due I thaw the berries? Or can I throw them in frozen? Should I stir the berries in or just put ontop?

There is no reason you can't add them straight to the primary.

Freezing doesn't kill bacteria. If the raspberries have some wild yeast or bacteria, it can affect the beer. You might not notice anything for a month or more, but wild yeast (Brett) and bacteria work slowly, and can start to create some strange flavors in the beer. In some beers they are deliberately added.

I like to pasteurize fruit before I add it to beer. To pasteurize, add the fruit to a little water and heat. Don't let it get too hot or you will create a pectin haze which will leave the beer cloudy. To pasteurize, get to at least 145 F and hold for 30 minutes, or 160 F for 5 seconds. I like to get it somewhere between 150 and 160 and hold it there for 10 minutes. ...... cool and add to beer.

Should I stir them in or just pour in?

So I just added them right into the primary. I didnt stir just added them riht in. Some were still frozen so I hope that dosent hurt it. Anyway I will post in about 2 weeks with the results. I am going to let it sit in the primary for another week the transfer to a secondary carboy for another week or two then right into the keg it goes.

Are the berries floating? I have heard of mold starting on partially submerged fruit. Typical solution is to push them down with a sanitized spoon to get them wet. If they aren't floating, no worries.

They are floating but I did make sure they were all covered in the brew first.

You might need to go back every couple days and make sure they haven't dried out.

Update. Beer is done...... Ummm.... Pretty fruity... I have a very overpowering raspberry flavour.. Even after a month. I would recomend maybe only 1.5 pound of raspberries in primary.

dispater said:

They are floating but I did make sure they were all covered in the brew first.

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Floating is good. Floating berries with a faded color mean that all of the flavors and color have been extracted from the berries.

I've only brewed one fruit beer and that was Sam Calagione's KiWit recipe in his Extreme Brewing book. In that recipe he calls for 4 lbs of diced kiwi to be added at the end of the BOIL, steeped for 20, and then dumped into the primary along with the wort. Normally you'd want to avoid boiling the fruit because it'll release pectins that will cloud your beer, however wit beers are naturally cloudy so it really doesn't matter and extracts a lot more of the kiwi flavor. Clogged the heck out of my siphon though.