Secondary fermentation with raspberries

So, I'm makin a raspberry wheat, American style, and I was going to get about 2-3 lbs of fresh raspberries to put in the secondary fermenter. The question is if I should leave them as is when I put them in or crush them first?

I've done this but I froze the raspberries, then thaw them out before you rack on top. No need to crush them up, as the freezing/thawing process opens them right up.

I've also used up to 6 lbs or so with a 5 gal batch. Good stuff!

Word! I'll keep that in mind to use more raspberries. Thanks. What about adding the berries to the end of the boil?

I cant say that I've tried that. Don't take my word as the gospel, but I dont think that would be as beneficial for flavoring purposes as utilizing them in the secondary.

Lgaddy44 said:

I cant say that I've tried that. Don't take my word as the gospel, but I dont think that would be as beneficial for flavoring purposes as utilizing them in the secondary.

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That's what I thought. I did some research and some people put the fruit in at the end of the boil. Others were concerned about additional fermentation from the sugars of the fruit giving the beer a "wine" flavor. I can see that happening in the primary and not so much in the secondary. I'll let you know how it turns out putting the berries in the secondary. Thanks!

Berries in secondary. Berries in the boil will create pectin and you'll have a lovely beer berry jam. LOL

I usually just make a puree with them with a hand blender and then heat them up to pasteurize them. Put them in the carboy and rack on top of them. To be honest, I've never used more than 1 1/2 lbs of Raspberries and the flavour is fine.

Nice! I'll try to avoid making beer berry jam!

Thanks for the input.

pcollins said:

Berries in secondary. Berries in the boil will create pectin and you'll have a lovely beer berry jam. LOL

I usually just make a puree with them with a hand blender and then heat them up to pasteurize them. Put them in the carboy and rack on top of them. To be honest, I've never used more than 1 1/2 lbs of Raspberries and the flavour is fine.

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How long did you leave it in the secondary?

I leave it in only for a week or so.

I have used Raspberries (canned - pasturized) in the secondary, and it came out great.
I first put them in the blender to increase surface area, and make it easier for the yeast to get to them.
It added a nice aroma, and a subtle taste - very nice.

No harm in leaving it for more than a week, say two weeks.

I've done multiple batches with raspberry wheat/hefe. I've always done 2 week primary, 2 week secondary, and a 2 week tertiary. Its my only beer that I've used a tertiary with, and I don't know if that's a common process, but its worked for me. I could probably get away without racking a second time, but I mainly did it to let all the raspberry debris fall out. Always been happy with the final product though.

I am doing one of these next and have an extra couple of questions that fit in quite well with this thread rather than start off a new one.

When you rack on to fruit, how do you calculate the impact on ABV of the fruit sugars? Is it a case of taking another gravity reading after racking, a fourth before bottling and add both sets of abv calculations together?

e.g. Alcohol calc after primary = 6.5%, alc after secondary 1.5% total abv for brew =8% or am I completely barking up the wrong tree?

Also, is there anything to suggest that just adding fruit to the primary after the first lot of fermentation has stopped, letting it sit for a couple of weeks, then bottling is a bad idea?

Apologies to OP for the thread hijack (once we arrive in Cuba you will all be free to go!)

You've also got to account for the fact that fresh raspberries naturally have water in them. So you'll be adding water, I've always used freeze dried raspberries, they have the sweet taste with no water