Fruit puree fermentability

I'm building my next recipe, a raspberry ale that's going to use some wild hops, among others. Trying to build the recipe in BeerSmith to get an approximate OG/FG and est. ABV since I do not own a hydrometer yet, and I see that fruit is not listed in Beer Smith (for good reasons I guess). How would I approximate how much a store bought raspberry puree would increase the OG/FG (I know berries differ but more of a guess)

Thanks

bellmtbbq said:

I'm building my next recipe, a raspberry ale that's going to use some wild hops, among others. Trying to build the recipe in BeerSmith to get an approximate OG/FG and est. ABV since I do not own a hydrometer yet, and I see that fruit is not listed in Beer Smith (for good reasons I guess). How would I approximate how much a store bought raspberry puree would increase the OG/FG (I know berries differ but more of a guess)

Thanks

Click to expand...

A hydrometer is a must, how do you know when fermentation stops?
there only around 4$ just go get one!

Sometimes i look at the "Nutrition Facts" and do the math.

In something like fruit puree we can guess that most of the carbs are sugars, and probably simple sugars that will ferment out

So if 100g of pureed pear contains 14.7g of carbs, chances are that means it's 14.7% sugar by weight.

HypnoFrogs said:

A hydrometer is a must, how do you know when fermentation stops?
there only around 4$ just go get one!

Click to expand...

I currently ferment in a plastic vinegar bottle. A hydrometer is the least of my worries!

Thanks Slim, I'll check when I buy it.

I generally ignore the sugar/alcohol contribution of fruit (whole, chopped, or pureed).

Fruit is approximately 10% sugar by weight. That is 1 lb of fruit will add about the same sugar as 0.1 lbs of table sugar. That would mean 1 lb of fruit in 5 gallons would increase the gravity by 0.001

But ...... since the fruit doesn't fully dissolve, and contains liquid,the fruit left in the fermenter will have absorbed some alcohol; probably more than the sugar it contributed to begin with. So I just call it a wash and ignore it.