Sanitizing fresh fruit

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TX-straggler

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Ow long should I sanitize strawberries before freezing?
Prepping them for a strawberry blonde.
Thanks
 
For zero minutes...

Just wash them and freeze as planned. Between the wash, freeze, and dump into already fermented beer, you will have nothing to worry about. If it's really killing you to not sanitize, dunk them in StarSan for 30-60 sec after washing...
 
You can also puree them in the blender with one ounce of vodka per pound of frozen strawberry. My strawberry blonde is at 4+ weeks in the secondary with no infection.
 
Don't have a problem sanitizing, was just worried if you leave em too long soaking in sanitizer it might draw out the juices of the fruit.....
So I just gave em bath in starsan for a couple minutes, drained, bagged, and froze em.
We'Ll see I guess ;)
 
I agree with all of the above.

A word of warning about strawberries - you'll need quite a few if you want a strong strawberry flavor. I used 5 pounds for a 4 gallon batch, and it's noticeable but not definitely not super fruity.
 
Anyone willing to post their recipe would be awesome. Just wanna see if I'm on the right path. Brewing this Strawberry Blonde and I only have 4 weeks. Will be force carbing so I think I have enough time.
 
My Strawberry Wheat turned out well. The recipe (for a 4 gallon partial mash) was the following.

2lbs 2-Row
1.5lbs White Wheat Malt
.5lbs Crystal 10L
.5lbs Flaked Wheat
2.5lbs Wheat LME

.8oz Willamette (4.9% AA) for 18.6 IBUs
Safale US-05
Fermented at 65F

5lbs frozen strawberries

After krausen dropped, put strawberries into bucket and racked beer onto strawberries. I let this sit for 1 week before bottling (but made sure FG had finalized).
 
Sanitize with booze if with anything at all. 80 proof will kill a lot of baddies, 100 proof will kill them better, 195 proof will not do as good of a job as 80 proof.

Technically this is called mascerating. The alcohol does draw flavors out of the fruit, but you can add the booze to the fermenter.
 
Title: Gentlemen Prefer Blonde Ales

Style Name: Blonde Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Efficiency: 70%

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.049
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV: 4.83%
IBU: 20.44
SRM: 6.34

FERMENTABLES:
9 lb - Pale 2-Row (85.7%)
1 lb - Victory (9.5%)
0.25 lb - White Wheat (2.4%)
0.25 lb - Carapils (Dextrine Malt) (2.4%)

HOPS:
1.25 oz - Willamette (AA 3.7) for 60 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
0.25 oz - Willamette (AA 3.7) for 30 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil

MASH STEPS:
1) Infusion, Temp: 152 F, Time: 60 min
2) Sparge, Temp: 168 F

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
2 tsp - Irish Moss
1 tbsp - Gelatin

YEAST:
Wyeast - American Ale 1056
Optimum Temperature: 65° F

NOTES:

1.25lb:1gal Strawberry puree ratio. Add to Secondary for 3 wks. Add gelatin, 5 days @ 50°F. Cold crash 48 - 72 hours @ 36° F.

Bottle condition: 3 wks.


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