Adding blueberry to a wheat brew, How much?

I have bavarian wheat beer kit that I ordered and will be here tomorrow. SWMBO wants a fruity beer so I was going to try adding blueberries to this, which Ive never done.

From what Ive read, I want to add this to secondary correct? Whats the best way to do this? They need to be smashed up correct? put then in the secondary first, then add beer on top of them?

How much should I use for a 5 gal batch?

Thanks for the answers in advance.

From my experince, I froze the fruit, crunched it a little then put it in the secondary. I the syphoned the beer over it. If you syphon first you will splash the beer when you put fruit into it. BAD. I used 5-6 lbs of cherry in my wheat over the winter and got a good taste. You could use that as a guide, but as they say your milage may vary. You also could use extract right before bottling.

Id prefer to use real fruit. Ive heard the extract doesnt taste as good. I think another recipe I read once said 7 lbs so somewhere between 5 and 7 sounds good.

If I just buy the 1 lb bags at the grocery store I should be good. Should they be rinsed before use, then refrozen. Or out of the bag is good?

shbrewer said:

From my experince, I froze the fruit, crunched it a little then put it in the secondary. I the syphoned the beer over it. If you syphon first you will splash the beer when you put fruit into it. BAD. I used 5-6 lbs of cherry in my wheat over the winter and got a good taste. You could use that as a guide, but as they say your milage may vary. You also could use extract right before bottling.

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No sanitizing? You didn't boil it first?

From what I have read, I think you add it at the brewpot after turning off the heat and you want to hold it at pasteurization temps (above 160F) for a half hour or so. Do not go above 180F (I think, can not remember) or you will gelatize the pectin in the fruit.

Fresh fruit will have wild yeasts on its skin (I have made sourdough starters from raisins) and or wax, pesticides, etc...

I would think you would want to pasteurize at least?

I am drinking a Blueberry Wheat from a BYO recipie and it is very good. I added two ounces of extract to the secondary. That's what the big boys at Sea Dog Brewing recommended.