Fruit Beer Wild Strawberry Blonde

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WildGingerBrewing said:
Without looking it up on my computer, I think it was 1.040. Pretty low. Cold crashing now to get ready to rack onto berries Saturday.
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Wait, I thought I am supposed to leave in the primary for 12-14 days, then rack into a bucket on the strawberries for 7 days, then rack to a carboy for 7 days, and then cold crash for 7 days. Please detail the correct procedure
 
ire2661 said:
Wait, I thought I am supposed to leave in the primary for 12-14 days, then rack into a bucket on the strawberries for 7 days, then rack to a carboy for 7 days, and then cold crash for 7 days. Please detail the correct procedure
Click to expand...


You are correct. But i like to drop the temp of the beer down before racking onto the berries to compact the trub and leave as much of it behind as possible. Once i add the berries, i bring it back up to 65 or so then the day before i rack to terrtiary, i will lower the temp again to try to compact whatever is left. The bring the temp back up and let it age for a week or so. Then crash it prior to kegging.

I just racked onto my berries. I bought a huge muslin bag and put all the berries into it and tied it up. Then racked the beer on top. Hoping this will keep most the seeds and stuff from the berries contained. I've tried it this way but wanted to give it a shot. Certainly cant hurt. Cant wait to drink this one again. Its been too long.
 
WildGingerBrewing said:
You are correct. But i like to drop the temp of the beer down before racking onto the berries to compact the trub and leave as much of it behind as possible. Once i add the berries, i bring it back up to 65 or so then the day before i rack to terrtiary, i will lower the temp again to try to compact whatever is left. The bring the temp back up and let it age for a week or so. Then crash it prior to kegging.

I just racked onto my berries. I bought a huge muslin bag and put all the berries into it and tied it up. Then racked the beer on top. Hoping this will keep most the seeds and stuff from the berries contained. I've tried it this way but wanted to give it a shot. Certainly cant hurt. Cant wait to drink this one again. Its been too long.
Click to expand...

I am not quite understanding, should I leave in my primary for 12-14 days at 68 degrees, then cold crash for 1 week, then transfer to secondary bucket with strawberries for 1 week at 68 degrees for 1 week, then transfer to carboy and leave for 1 week at 68 degrees, then cold crash for another week, then bottle? I just want to make sure I'm doing this correctly. Thanks!
 
I think you are over-thinking the process. Relax. Leave the beer in primary for 2 weeks. Rack onto berries for a week. Rack into tertiary for a week, then bottle or keg. That is the most basic instructions for fermentation. However, to help answer your question, over the years, as I have increased the size of my brewery and, mainly when I added temp control, I started tweaking my processes for each beer I make. With this one, I do something similar to this...about 12 days into primary fermentation, I will drop the temp down to compact the trub. About 2 days later, I then rack into a bucket on top of the berries. The berries are frozen, so the beer is going to remain at a very low temp for a few days, regardless of what you do to it prior to racking. Once I have racked onto the berries, I set my ferment fridge temp to about 65F. As the berries thaw and warm up, so does the beer. But I do not want it to get above ~68F. After about 6 days in secondary on berries, I will again lower the temp of the beer to try to compact any remaining gunk and seeds left in the beer. After a day or two, I will then rack into tertiary and bring it back up to no more than ~68F. After about 6 days in tertiary, I will cold crash for racking to the keg.

If you follow the basic instructions, you will make a great beer. As you become a more experienced brewer, you will find the things that work for you and will start to tweak your process to suit you. There are many things that I did years ago, that I don't do anymore, just because I don't feel that they are necessary any longer. It's just the things I have learned about my equipment and process over the years. Hope this helps!
 
WildGingerBrewing said:
I think you are over-thinking the process. Relax. Leave the beer in primary for 2 weeks. Rack onto berries for a week. Rack into tertiary for a week, then bottle or keg. That is the most basic instructions for fermentation. However, to help answer your question, over the years, as I have increased the size of my brewery and, mainly when I added temp control, I started tweaking my processes for each beer I make. With this one, I do something similar to this...about 12 days into primary fermentation, I will drop the temp down to compact the trub. About 2 days later, I then rack into a bucket on top of the berries. The berries are frozen, so the beer is going to remain at a very low temp for a few days, regardless of what you do to it prior to racking. Once I have racked onto the berries, I set my ferment fridge temp to about 65F. As the berries thaw and warm up, so does the beer. But I do not want it to get above ~68F. After about 6 days in secondary on berries, I will again lower the temp of the beer to try to compact any remaining gunk and seeds left in the beer. After a day or two, I will then rack into tertiary and bring it back up to no more than ~68F. After about 6 days in tertiary, I will cold crash for racking to the keg.

If you follow the basic instructions, you will make a great beer. As you become a more experienced brewer, you will find the things that work for you and will start to tweak your process to suit you. There are many things that I did years ago, that I don't do anymore, just because I don't feel that they are necessary any longer. It's just the things I have learned about my equipment and process over the years. Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

I just racked onto the strawberries today. I cold crashed it on Fri morning so it was cold crashing for 2 full days. I am gonna leave it in there for 6 days like you said and then put it back in to cold crash from Sat morning until Sun night before transferring again. I am shocked at how many 8 lbs of strawberries are. I was worried I wasn't gonna have enough room in the bucket. Btw, the FG came in at 1.010 so its a 5% ABV and I am very pleased!
 
ire2661 said:
I just racked onto the strawberries today. I cold crashed it on Fri morning so it was cold crashing for 2 full days. I am gonna leave it in there for 6 days like you said and then put it back in to cold crash from Sat morning until Sun night before transferring again. I am shocked at how many 8 lbs of strawberries are. I was worried I wasn't gonna have enough room in the bucket. Btw, the FG came in at 1.010 so its a 5% ABV and I am very pleased!
Click to expand...
Perfect! Glad to hear it is coming out right. And yeah, 8lbs of strawberries takes up quite a bit of room!

I racked into tertiary yesterday. The aroma is great and it tasted really good. I will rack to the keg this coming weekend and start carbing.

I also brewed the base again yesterday. Still trying to dial in my efficiency on my new system. I got 70% this time, so I'm feeling better about it. OG was 1.050. A couple more tweaks and I think I will be ready to brew something else. With this base, I think I am going add raspberries to it. Or cherries. I'm not 100% sure yet. I figure I have a couple of weeks to decide. :mug:
 
This is interesting, I came home from work and the bubbler is clicking every 2-3 seconds and I'm pretty sure it wasn't doing that yesterday. I transferred the beer onto the strawberries on Sun morning (4 days ago). Is this normal?
 
I tasted it when I transferred it from the bucket to the carboy, and it tasted more like grapefruit than strawberries. Should I be alarmed?
 
I wouldnt be. But then i didnt taste it. What did you use for strawberries? Fresh? Frozen? If frozen, what brand? I have found that some of the "off-brands" have a slightly off taste. That's one of the reasons i thought i would try fresh this time. Wal Mart brand strawberries always gave me a little "off" flavor and produced a really pink color. Dole brand seems perfect everytime.

On another note, i am racking mine to the keg today and putting the new batch on raspberries next weekend. Found a Founders Raspberry Ale that was great. So it helped me make my final decision on what type of berry to use.
 
Damn, I did use the Wal-Mart brand. I wish I knew that earlier. Oh well, I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
Im sure it will be fine. Dont worry. No matter what, you made beer. And it's going to be good. And you're going to enjoy it so much, that you are going to do it again!
 
So at the least minute, i changed my mind. Racked onto 8 lbs of blackberries this morning. Excited to try it!

Also kegged the strawberry on Monday and started drinking it on friday. Its damn good. The fresh berries seemed to work out really well. I will definitely use fresh again!
 
I bottled mine today. I tasted it again and it definitely has more of a grapefruit flavor than a strawberry flavor. Hopefully it will condition in the bottles and taste better. I'll update you again once I taste it in 2 weeks
 
they only sold strawberries in 3 KG bags here so I have about 13lb of berries now. if you've ever had the Fruli strawberry beer how does this compare in terms of intensity of the strawberryness? is it in your face with 8lbs? think 13 lb would be too much and overwhelm it?
 
tried my version of this - this weekend came out really - really tart. strong grapefruit finish. Smells amazing, but really tart finish.
 
Just picked my strawberries! I overshot my pick and got 22lbs, when all I needed was 16lbs. All well ate a bunch when cleaning them and canned a few pints for jam. Oregon Hood strawberries are here for only 2 weeks each year and probably the best IMHO out there! Blonde beer has been fermenting for 7 days so probably this weekend will add these babies!! Can't wait!! ImageUploadedByHome Brew1402536625.248732.jpg
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That is awesome! Wish i could pick my own for this beer. Cant wIt to hear how it turns out!

Blackberry Ale came out a nice purple-ish color. Hahaha sample was pretty good though. Fresh berries, not frozen, from now on!
 
I cleaned and cut the stems off, then I vacuum sealed them and froze them. Remember that the beer is fermented by the time you add the berries, so most things won't live in the alcohol. Next time, I won't vacuum seal them. There was really no advantage in that over a freezer bag, as far as I can tell.
 
I vacuumed sealed all my strawberries yesterday...should I thaw them some before I add to secondary to get optional results?


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I honestly cant say. I doubt it. The pink color i always get is from "color added" off-brand frozen berries. The fresh did a great job of keeping the beer "beer colored". But it does reduce the amount of particles you will get when transferring.
 
Well its been 2 weeks of conditioning in the bottle and the grapefruit flavor is still evident. Lesson learned not to use Wal-Mart brand frozen fruit. Its a bit of a sour beer and not what I expected, but still drinkable.
 
Mine is the same way and I used dole only difference was they were sliced and not whole.


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Yup really strong and tart grapefruit finish...

But it is still good and very drinkable


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I might just go with the strawberry flavoring the sell at my homebrew shop next time
 
Grapfruit flavor is weird but i would almost guarantee it from the frozen berries. Last version i made not only tasted like grapefruit juice but looked like it too. Theres a pic on here somewhere. I would suggest fresh berries before trying a syrup/extract flavoring. Just my $0.02 though.
 
I put together a three gallon partial mash of this

four pounds pale ale base
1/2 pound Carapils
One can 1.4 pounds Alexanders pale extract
Safale s-05
Used your hops to scale
Full three gallon boil
Came in O/G 1.052

Going to do three separate secondary / tertiary

One for strawberry
One for Cherry's
One for peaches

I like that I can cold crash the one gallon jugs easily
 
I made this a couple of weeks ago and racking into tertiary tonight. I have the same pink color as others have described. I didn't use walmart strawberries, but wasn't able to get Dole brand either.

I've got the same pink color as others have described.

I'm hoping it turns out good!!
 
Yeah my wort is still in primary . I'm getting impatient lol. Waved to know if it has to stay in primary for 10 to 12 days can I put it in secondary after 8 days. I have to go out of town on the 10th day. For three days
 
frankjones said:
Yeah my wort is still in primary . I'm getting impatient lol. Waved to know if it has to stay in primary for 10 to 12 days can I put it in secondary after 8 days. I have to go out of town on the 10th day. For three days
Click to expand...

As long as fermentation is complete, you can rack to secondary, but it will not hurt anything to leave it in primary until you return.
 
Well I racked onto 8lb and 6lbs of strawberries. I decided to change the lbs up because these berries were so sweet and knew I would be adding more fermentable sugars in the secondaries and wanted to see/taste any differences... Sure enough one of my split batches had a small 2nd fermentation. My FG on the two split batches were 1008 - added the 8lbs on this one, and 1016 - added 6lbs on this one. I have had a couple tastes so far in the last couple days and it is amazing already. My wife even said I should just keg it now because it already tastes so good.
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Put 6 gallons into tertiary today after 7 days on 9lb strawberries. Noticed a very tart taste, almost sour. Lots of dry strawberry taste but it's in the background. Does that mellow with time or does it have a strong tartness after carbing/aging?
 

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