I'd like to add a fruit to my Hefe kit

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wheatie

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I don't have a particular fruit in mind, thinking along the lines of a berry of some kind. When should I add it? Should it be fresh? Frozen? An extract? I don't want an overpowering fruit flavor...just a little hint of it would be good.

Also, the dude at our local brew supply shop said that a Hefe doesn't need to go into the secondary...a week, a little more in the primary then bottle. If that's the case, when would I add the fruit?

Thanks so much!
 
I did navel oranges in my most recent Hefeweizen and it turned out GREAT! I used 4 oranges and 1/2 of the orange zest (no white pith) in the primary. I steeped it in 140F water for 20 mins. Then added to primary right after pitching yeast and aerating in a nylon paint strainer bag.

To answer your question about secondary's, I don't use them for any of my beers unless I'm bulk aging or oaking a beer. I went 2 weeks in primary for this one and then kegged and force carbed.
 
you should add the fruit after primary fermentation is over. allot of people add it in a secondary to preserver the taste and aroma of the fruit. you should buy them fresh then mash them up and stick them in the freezer. this will break up the cells and give the yeast better access to the juice. extracts can taste artificial in a beer once the yeast eat the sugars.

as far as secondaries go they are completely by preference. IMO you could just add any secondary time to the primary and get just as good results. typically i leave the beer in the primary for 3 weeks then bottle.
 
I prefer the turning fresh fruit into puree for sanitation purposes, then adding to secondary. Check out the Jamil show podcast on the Brewing Network regarding fruit beers. It's very educational and will discuss the different techniques you can use. Also discusses the results of whole fruit vs purée vs extract.
 
TipsyDragon said:
you should add the fruit after primary fermentation is over. allot of people add it in a secondary to preserver the taste and aroma of the fruit. you should buy them fresh then mash them up and stick them in the freezer. this will break up the cells and give the yeast better access to the juice. extracts can taste artificial in a beer once the yeast eat the sugars.

as far as secondaries go they are completely by preference. IMO you could just add any secondary time to the primary and get just as good results. typically i leave the beer in the primary for 3 weeks then bottle.
Click to expand...

Quick question; if you stick with just keeping your brew in the primary for three weeks (as I do), when would you add the fruit? Do you wait a week, or just add it right away?
 
CrookedTail said:
Quick question; if you stick with just keeping your brew in the primary for three weeks (as I do), when would you add the fruit? Do you wait a week, or just add it right away?
Click to expand...

Typically you wait until active fermentation is over, usually it's finished within a week. (let the krausen settle) I added my oranges and zest at the beginning because that's what the recipe called for.
 
wyzazz said:
Typically you wait until active fermentation is over, usually it's finished within a week. (let the krausen settle) I added my oranges and zest at the beginning because that's what the recipe called for.
Click to expand...

Ok cool. I'm looking to brew a similar hefeweizen (except with clementines) in about a week or so. I'm also looking to brew an apple spice brown ale for the Fall, so I want to use the correct method for both.
 
Thanks for the replies! Still don't know what I'm gonna do. ;) Berries sound good, oranges/clementines sound good too! Also may leave as is, since I've never brewed a hefe before. Wishing I had yet another carboy so I could do a half plain, half fruit batch to see what I prefer. I know I'll like a little fruit, but not sure about the hubby. (Of course we'll both pretty much drink anything that resembles beer, sooooo)

This one is specifically *my* batch though, so I may just do fruit afterall. :)
 
wheatie said:
Thanks for the replies! Still don't know what I'm gonna do. ;) Berries sound good, oranges/clementines sound good too! Also may leave as is, since I've never brewed a hefe before. Wishing I had yet another carboy so I could do a half plain, half fruit batch to see what I prefer. I know I'll like a little fruit, but not sure about the hubby. (Of course we'll both pretty much drink anything that resembles beer, sooooo)

This one is specifically *my* batch though, so I may just do fruit afterall. :)
Click to expand...

Either way it should come out good. Hefe's are great, and pretty easy to brew. Just make sure you get a quality yeast strain.
 
n00b question: what defines quality yeast? The kit came with Munich, is that quality enough?
 
wheatie said:
n00b question: what defines quality yeast? The kit came with Munich, is that quality enough?
Click to expand...

I think you really just need to find the strain that you like the best. I'm partial to WLP300, it's a Banana Bomb when fermented at 70-72F!
 
wheatie said:
n00b question: what defines quality yeast? The kit came with Munich, is that quality enough?
Click to expand...

Danstar Munich? That's a dry yeast. I've never tried it, but I've heard it's decent. Not great, but decent.

Stay the hell away from Safbrew WB-06. I used it once on a hefe and it sucks. There's a lot of reviews out there that say the same thing.

Your best bet is one of the liquid yeasts. Wyeast 3068 is the best of them. It'll cost more money, but it's totally worth it.
 
i've used a non-fermentable peach extract and it came out great. directions were to use the whole bottle for a 5 gal batch just before bottling. i knew that the extract would come out tasting artificial, so i went with 3/4 of the bottle to just hint at the flavor. the whole batch only lasted 1 bbq.
 
Another question: I have this bottle(a little more than a quart) of peach nectar sitting in my fridge...we'll never drink it. Think it would work? It says it contains 45% juice, and the ingredients are water, peach puree, sugar.

I've already brewed the beer, it's in the primary with a blow off tube.
 
You could use it but since it contains sugar I'd wait until primary fermentation is over and then add the nectar to the beer. Taste it after that secondary fermentation settles down and see where you're at.
 
So i've had a questions what are the pros and cons of fruit extracts. I love Hefs and it seems like every brew has a raspberry wheat extract kits and I've always been on the sideline not sure wether to get one or not. Are fruit extract pretty good?
 
Fruit extract is easy to add, stores well, and allows you to "add to taste".

Real fruit doesn't store well, is more difficult to add, but gives you the most natural and freshest flavor.

That IMHO is the difference.
 

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