Berry Hefeweizen

I've got a hefeweizen fermenting away and will soon be to the point where I steep and add berries to the mix for flavor.

I'm contemplating using strawberries ... are there any complications or anything that will make them harder to use than say blue or raspberries?

Are you getting the puree or are you doing the berries fresh and blending them yourself? if you are doing the fresh berries, you need to take a few extra steps before just throwing them in as they have some wild yeasts and bacteria naturally growing on them. The information has been referenced several times in this forum, you can use the search feature to find the info on using fresh fruit. If you are using the puree out of the can, just toss it in.

i like to split my batches and do 2 different fruit additions could do one raspberry and one strawberry.

that is assuming you are bottling

I was planning on doing fresh berries ... i'll look around see what i can find. Thanks!

Lessons learned...

I added 4# of fresh strawberries to my favorite hefe recipe because SWMBO likes fruity beers.
I quartered them after a good rinse (one at a freaking time!) under the kitchen faucet. Then they were tossed into a pan of hot water (just enough to cover the fruit) and brought to a boil. The burner went out at first sign of boil and the berries went into the secondary fermenter.
The beer turned out fine...no yeasties or off flavors.
BUT...
The beer is overwhelmingly strawberry. Even SWMBO said, "wow. that's very strawberry."

Next time: 2# of frozen (frozen fruit is already clean) strawberries and they are going into the primary. It'll give the flavor more time to mellow.

oh wow. my recipe calls for 8# of fruit, maybe I should cut that back.

8# sounds like too much for a hefe, but that is just my opinion.
last thing...fructose (fruit sugar) is yeast crack. they love the stuff and can just about fully ferment it. the more fruit you add, the drier your beer will be. with 8#, i imagine you will be approaching champagne-ish dryness. it may come across as tart instead of dry, but it will taste different for sure. just be ready for it.

Just remember that it's alot easier to add something than it is to take extra out. You could start with the lower amount, then draw off a sample and decide if you like it or need more. There will be some mellowing as it conditions, but you'll know if it is too little or too much.