Adding fruit to secondary

So im making a black raspberry wheat beer (wild raspberries from the backyard which is exciting!)

So my plan is to first use store bought frozen blackberries (1.5 pounds) and put them in at the end of my boil to cool it down and use the sugars from them. Then I want to use the higher quality backyard berries (2 pounds) in at secondary. Now i plan to just have them frozen and slightly mashed and assume that the freezing and the alcohol will be sterile enough...

Also I plan to add few oz of chocolate malt in with just basic wheat extract and some 20 L crystal.

I'd recommend just adding the fruit to secondary. I find you get a lot of the fruit flavor coming from conditioning....I think adding it to the boil just has a chance for losing more flavor during primary fermentation.

davesrose said:

I'd recommend just adding the fruit to secondary. I find you get a lot of the fruit flavor coming from conditioning....I think adding it to the boil just has a chance for losing more flavor during primary fermentation.

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Agreed, but I plan on adding my first addition at the end of the boil. I'm relying on the fruit for some of my fermentables. If I don't, my abv will be just under 4%, which is a bit low. I'm guessing that 2 pounds in the secondary should give it some significant flavor.

2# in secondary will give you plenty of flavor. You don't need to mash them, just freeze them, then rack on top of them. the freezing will rupture the cell walls, mashing them will make them break up. They will turn white and sink in 5-7 days

check out this thread.....
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/raspberries-boil-not-noil-127803/

here is my last brew, 36 hours into secondary with Raspberries

zaprozdower said:

I'm relying on the fruit for some of my fermentables. If I don't, my abv will be just under 4%, which is a bit low.

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Why not add some DME or dextrose to boost ABV? They're cheaper, are more effecient, and won't impart off flavors from boiling.

zaprozdower said:

Agreed, but I plan on adding my first addition at the end of the boil. I'm relying on the fruit for some of my fermentables. If I don't, my abv will be just under 4%, which is a bit low. I'm guessing that 2 pounds in the secondary should give it some significant flavor.

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Adding to the secondary will actually introduce more sugar, and you will most likely see a start-up in fermentation again. Though, using fruit for fermentables will be mostly unpredictable with regards to how much fermentables or a boost in ABV you're going to get, but you'll get some nonetheless. I would actually count on MORE fermentables from adding to the secondary as opposed to the boil. If you wanted more fermentables from the boil, i would rely more on extract or sugar.

So how long do you leave the fruit in secondary before bottling. I will be bottling a fruit wheat beer this weekend after three weeks on the fruit. I also froze fruit before adding to secondary.

JFry said:

So how long do you leave the fruit in secondary before bottling. I will be bottling a fruit wheat beer this weekend after three weeks on the fruit. I also froze fruit before adding to secondary.

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Freezing shouldn't matter with regards to contact time. It depends mainly on two things: the type of fruit and the type of beer. With a strong fruit (ie. raspberries) and a delicate beer (ie wit or wheat), i, personally, would leave it on the fruit for no more that a couple days. On the other end of the spectrum, with a "weak" fruit (ie. blueberries) and a stronger beer (stout) you can extend the contact time.

Three weeks might be a long time, but there is no "wrong" answer and ultimately you'll be your own judge. In the future, if you can, simply sneak tastes from the secondary every couple days to determine when you should bottle based on your flavor preference. Sorry i couldn't provide any more decisive answers in your case.