Hey guys. I want to make a Strawberry Blonde. I need advice though on what I should use to rack with the strawberries. Currently I have a fermenting bucket, a bottling bucket, and a 5 gallon better bottle that I use for secondary. Do I need to get another fermenting bucket or Should I rack to secondary, the put strawberries in existing fermenting bucket a few days later and rack the beer onto it?
Strawberry Blonde Dilemna
- Thread starter BonzoAPD
- Start date
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I'd do this by simply adding your fruit to the carboy then racking your fermented beer ontop. Let it sit for 1-2 weeks then rack to your keg or bottling bucket. Least number if transfers lessens chance of mistakes, oxidation and infection.
Snisup
Well-Known Member
You ferment in your normal primary vessel for a week or so then rack onto the strawberries (frozen, I hope) in whatever vessel you want. Leave for another week or so until the FG has stabilized. Strawberries will dry out your beer slightly so don't be surprised at a FG below 1.010. Install blow off tube because you will have a big mess if not... Something like this:
scoundrel
Well-Known Member
If it were me, I'd get another bucket. That being said, be aware that strawberry is very subtle in beer, so you will need to add a crap load to get anything out of it.
Additionally, refrigerate it once you rack on the strawberries to minimize re-fermentation and preserve the berry flavor.
When I do strawberry blondes I put my frozen strawberries in a fermentation bucket and rack from primary into the bucket. It's a lot easier to get the strawberries in and out of the bucket. As long as you make sure your siphoning is good you shouldn't have too many problems from oxygen exposure from doing secondary in a bucket.
I add frozen berries to a 2nd bucket and rack on to them. For a 5 gallon batch, I use 6lbs of whole frozen berries and the flavor is nice. Not strong but not weak either. You know you're drinking strawberries. It's not sweet though. As someone else mentioned, it dries it out a bit which is a good thing for my taste. It's very light and refreshing.
