My strawberry brew is working 3 feet away from my PC. I used a 6# bag of frozen berries, in a pale ale- 5# of pale 2 row, 1# of Victory for the maltiness. 2oz of roasted for color. About 4 gallons. OG 1.028. Pitched onto yeast from last batch I bottled that day- Nottingham. My primary went fast, I kept it warm. I racked to 2nd after one day, was bubbling once/minute, and pretty clear. I thawed the berries in a pot with a quart of water, and smashed with a potato masher. Turned off the heat when it started bubbling. Probly about 1 1/2 gallons. I poured them into the secondary, and went to dinner. By the time I got back 2 hours later it had blown the cap off the 3 pc bubbler, and puked red slime/foam all over. Wish I had seen it. Anyhow, I stole a sample after one day. I'm gonna like it.
Oops, forgot to put in about the sour mash. I tried souring 1 1/2# of grain 2 days early. It got sour, alright. Smelled sour in initial fermentation, but had little taste in sample. Time will tell, probably add subtle hints. I sure liked the Hout Sour Blackberry I tried at Ballast Point Brewing a couple weeks ago, but it was soured naturally (accidentally?) in the oak keg.
I brewed a smaller beer this time, I plan on drinking lots of it on hot days this summer. Whole fruit doesn't add a lot of sugars- 95% water? But I didn't take a hydro test at secondary, or after adding fruit. Seemed meaningless, what with all the junk floating around...
Anyway, it's been fermenting for 6 days. Still got a 2" layer of peels floating on top. Color is about gone from the peels, light pink now. Beer is red fersure.
Next time I'll wait longer for the primary to stop. And more yeast to settle out. I wouldn't put the fruit in the primary unless you can make a 5 gal batch in a 10 gal fermenter.
Perhaps I'll make a hydrometer reading now- just to have another sample. Good stuff, Maynard.