Tips on adding fruit to beer

Im a beginner brewer with a couple batches under my belt, I really want to make a fruit beer for the summer...any tips on what types of beers are best for this and techniques used to add fruit into my batch. Thanks.

GregBrews88 said:

Im a beginner brewer with a couple batches under my belt, I really want to make a fruit beer for the summer...any tips on what types of beers are best for this and techniques used to add fruit into my batch. Thanks.

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Wheat beers are a very popular summer beer to add fruit to.

To prepare the fruit it must be pasteurized to avoid infection. This is easy to do. Place the fruit in a sauce pan with a little water and heat to 160F. After 60 seconds remove from heat and cool.

You can add the fruit during secondary or in the primary after fermentation has stopped. This will cause a secondary fermentation.

Clonefarmer said:

To prepare the fruit it must be pasteurized to avoid infection.

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Just wanted to throw my $0.02 in here. As it's been discussed thouroughly, it isn't necessary to pasteurize (if you don't want to go that route). I HIGHLY recommend doing a search, if for nothing else not to stir the hornet's nest again.

As far as styles, fruited stouts are common, too, but need to be approached somewhat differently than wheat beers, as stouts are a much stronger flavored beer.

Thanks alot. We're from the same area what LHBS do you use? I go to the one in Northampton.

I used the one in Northampton for my first few brews but have switched to AHS.

cactusgarrett said:

Just wanted to throw my $0.02 in here. As it's been discussed thouroughly, it isn't necessary to pasteurize (if you don't want to go that route). I HIGHLY recommend doing a search, if for nothing else not to stir the hornet's nest again.

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Add your fruit to 2ndary and rack the beer on top. Already alcohol in the beer, so it will kill germs. Heating drives off flavor and aromatics.

Do crush and freeze your fruit first though. It breaks down the cell membranes and lets more flavor out.

I'm a big beer fruiter. PM with any specific ???s.

Do you crush, freeze and then thaw, or do you freeze, thaw, then crush?

Always add your fruit to a brew AFTER you know the beer is good.

I'm relying on the raspberries to make this fruit beer what it will be. My recipe was very simple. Just .75lb of Carapils, Extra Lite DME, Clear Candi Sugar, and some yeast nutrient. Fermenting with WLP001 Cali Ale. OG was 1.056 I am going to take a reading tonight (8 day in primary) and If I am at or near Estimated FG I will take another hydro on Sunday. If there is no change, Sunday night I will rack onto fruit and secondary for 10more days. After 10 days I will monitor the SG for satbility and then rack over to tertiary for another 10. Bottle and wait at least the "required" 21 days befor serving it to SWMBO.

This recipe was very simple, I hope it is not bland, I use Biess DME and I know their Extra Light DME has some carapils init, but I wanted to ensure good head retention and have some mouth feel to it, the Candi Sugar was to "crispen" and raise the OG a little.

I am hoping the Raspberries impart a nice tartness to this brew.

I'm doing a berry beer now. 6 pounds combined of blackberry, blue berry and raspberry.

After making the wort (3 pounds extra light DME and 1 cup course brown sugar) and being in primary for 2 weeks, I pureed my thawed* berries and poured them into my secondary with 1 pound of brewers honey. Racked the beer on top.

What I should have done was made sure primary was really done. It wasn't. Secondary was explosive. Literally. I used a blow off tube and berry slurry plugged it up. Explosion #1. After unclogging it, berry slurry filled the beer bottle I was using on the other end. Explosion #2.

After 10 days of that, I'm in thirduary** for a week now.

*The berries were bought fresh. I froze them for keeping till I was ready.

**I totally just made up that word.

I used a total of 5.25 lbs of XLDME and 1 lb of clear candi sugar. I will never buy candi sugar after this last brew day. LHBS raised the price from $5 (which was pricey) to $7.50, I know times are tough, but I will save my money for yeast, DME and grains. That is quite outrageous. The last time I bough Candi sugar it was Brewers Best, this time it was LD Carlson, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it. I don't know what the fruit is going to do to the ABV% but it is estimated to be about 5.43%.

Keep us posted on ow the beer turns out with that candi sugar.

Zul'jin said:

...thirduary**...

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"Tertiary" is used a lot here...

Sometimes the beers decides it doesn't like the fruit and spits it out.

DubbelDach said:

Add your fruit to 2ndary and rack the beer on top. Already alcohol in the beer, so it will kill germs. Heating drives off flavor and aromatics.

Do crush and freeze your fruit first though. It breaks down the cell membranes and lets more flavor out.

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This is exactly my method, too. I just wanted to throw it out there that pasteurizing is not necessary, and I've actually experienced it to be detrimental, as it was mentioned heating drives off fuity goodness. But there are many ways to do it, to be fair to all.

DubbelDach said:

Already alcohol in the beer, so it will kill germs.

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So it's not necessary to sanitize secondary, racking cane or bottling bucket either?

Clonefarmer said:

So it's not necessary to sanitize secondary, racking cane or bottling bucket either?

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Seems like you are pushing it there. You can have all kinds of stuff in there. Not to mention dust.

As far as the fruit goes you are giving it a good washing so it is going to be clean. Just not sterile.

I like to use fruit frozen in bags from the store. It is already steam pasturized and when you thaw it you can work it into a pulp in the bag.

Pasturizing on the stove gives the fruit a different flavor, more jam like and the pectin can make your beer very hazy. Not bad just different.

Fresh fruit is loaded with wild yeast and other crap you don't want in your beer so I would do something.

I have made a lot of fruit beers it is my wifes favorite. FYI if you use 3 or more pounds of rasberries (unless it is a lambic) you will probably lose your base beer in the flavor. It just becomes a fruity carbonated beverage.

Schnitzengiggle said:

I used a total of 5.25 lbs of XLDME and 1 lb of clear candi sugar. I will never buy candi sugar after this last brew day. LHBS raised the price from $5 (which was pricey) to $7.50, I know times are tough, but I will save my money for yeast, DME and grains. That is quite outrageous. The last time I bough Candi sugar it was Brewers Best, this time it was LD Carlson, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it. I don't know what the fruit is going to do to the ABV% but it is estimated to be about 5.43%.

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Sounds like a good brew.. and an Extract one I think I may do this one possibly split it and do 2.5 gal on strawberries and 2.5 gal on blue berries. I actually really like that abita strawberry Harvest (call me a women if you will) but it is great on a hot afternoon. And, several people have asked me to do a blueberry beer so. This sounds like the ticket... let us know how it goes.

Schnitzengiggle said:

Do you crush, freeze and then thaw, or do you freeze, thaw, then crush?

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I've done the second method, but no reason the first can't work.

Zul'jin said:

I'm doing a berry beer now. 6 pounds combined of blackberry, blue berry and raspberry.

After making the wort (3 pounds extra light DME and 1 cup course brown sugar) and being in primary for 2 weeks, I pureed my thawed* berries and poured them into my secondary with 1 pound of brewers honey. Racked the beer on top.

What I should have done was made sure primary was really done. It wasn't. Secondary was explosive. Literally. I used a blow off tube and berry slurry plugged it up. Explosion #1. After unclogging it, berry slurry filled the beer bottle I was using on the other end. Explosion #2.

After 10 days of that, I'm in thirduary** for a week now.

*The berries were bought fresh. I froze them for keeping till I was ready.

**I totally just made up that word.

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Primary may very well have been done. You added a considerable amount of fermentables to 2ndary, which will ferment. Definitely expect more fermentation when adding fruit to 2ndary, as fruit = sugar.

cactusgarrett said:

This is exactly my method, too. I just wanted to throw it out there that pasteurizing is not necessary, and I've actually experienced it to be detrimental, as it was mentioned heating drives off fuity goodness. But there are many ways to do it, to be fair to all.

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Amen!!!

Clonefarmer said:

So it's not necessary to sanitize secondary, racking cane or bottling bucket either?

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Yeah, I see where you're going, but as another poster said, there's dirt and such because I keep my brewery in my garage. So I figure that if I'm rinsing everything anyway, might as well use sanitizer. Not pasteurizing is about preserving the flavors and aromas in the fruit, not about taking a shortcut and not sanitizing.

I just picked about a pound of Mulberries from my tree; goin in a blonde. Is a thirduary (props!) recommended? This is my first attempt at fruit.

Isn't the reason for pasteurizing to kill the wild yeasts on the fruit that would cause off flavors? Not to kill bacteria?

We juiced a flat of blueberries and added them to the boil at flame out and let sit for 15 mins or so.

I've always pasteurized. I won't say it's necessary but I have not found it to be obviously detrimental. Check my recipe and others for discussions. Boiling fruit is not advised but I have not run into issues described above when I've limited temps to 160F.

Fruit is for wine & meads. Just say no to fruit in your beer...

Hey guys, I racked to a third this weekend and tasted; pretty tart. I prob can't change that now, but what can you put in there to sweeten it up w/o starting another fermentation? I remember seeing it on another thread but can't find it again. Thanks.

@ Absolut Ninja

Pretty sure Splenda isn't fermentable

DubbelDach said:

Add your fruit to 2ndary and rack the beer on top. Already alcohol in the beer, so it will kill germs. Heating drives off flavor and aromatics.

Do crush and freeze your fruit first though. It breaks down the cell membranes and lets more flavor out.

I'm a big beer fruiter. PM with any specific ???s.

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The alcohol in the beer won't kill any wild yeasts such as. If you're drinking the beer young, this shouldn't be a problem. If you're doing any aging at all, you might want to be wary.

sundowner said:

Fruit is for wine & meads. Just say no to fruit in your beer...

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That's right. Beer is only for flowers (hops).

Absolut_Ninja said:

Hey guys, I racked to a third this weekend and tasted; pretty tart. I prob can't change that now, but what can you put in there to sweeten it up w/o starting another fermentation? I remember seeing it on another thread but can't find it again. Thanks.

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I realize this won't help at this point, but whenever I brew something that will be getting fruit added in secondary, I take steps to insure primary fermentation ends high (i.e. a shorter mash with a higher temp) because the fruit dries the bejesus out of it.

I know this is old, but I wanted to add my $0.02 since this is the first thing that comes up on Google when you search for pasteurizing fruit for beer. My wife is gluten intolerant so I've had to play with non-traditional ingredients quite a bit. I've probably now made two dozen beers with raspberries, blackberries, or both raspberries and blackberries.

1) If you want a really fruity flavor, you need to add the fruit in the secondary. I don't want a really fruity flavor. I'm looking for more of a note, not the whole song. The quantity of fruit is as important as when you add the fruit. So I add my fruit at the end of the boil since I'm going for a specific flavor.

2) I have only played with raspberries and blackberries, so I don't know how other fruits react, but what I like to do is:
a) Freeze fresh fruit,
b) When I start the beer I pull the fruit out of the freezer and set it with my other ingredients,
c) I don't boil more than than 2 gal for a 5gal batch (I just don't have the equipment), so when the boil is done, I turn the stove off, and add some water to bring the temp down to 200*,
d) I add the fruit. If I only add a pound it brings the wort down to about 180* (if it doesn't I add more water to get to 180*), which is on the high side but has been fine. If I add more than 1lb it brings the temp down more. I watch the temp to make sure I stay above 160*.
e) I keep the temp between 160-180* for 15min.
f) I then cool and pitch as normal.

I play with sorghum since I brew GF (sorghum makes cloudy beers). But, when I use just rice or do a non-GF brew, my beers come out crystal clear (no pectin haze).

For this past winter I made a (non-GF) milk stout with chocolate (powder and nibs) and 1lb of raspberries and 1lb of blackberries. It was fantastic.

Sorry for bringing back the old post but I've got a question on the topic.

In the next month or so I'm wanting to make a sweet potato beer for the early fall.
I was planning on using a strong brown ale, using spices in the main boil (similar to a pumpkin beer). I was going to add the Sweet Potatoes in the secondary.

Is there anything I need to watch out for (with the starches and what not)? What method should i use in adding the potatoes? I was planning on boiling them be able to mash them.....

i rarely reply to anyone who resurrect an old thread, but felt compelled to this time.

Adding sweet potato to secondary is going to give you pretty much nothing.

Mashing in brewing terms is a starch conversion process done around 150 F with active enzymes, not just 'mashing' boiled root vegetables.

Thanks for correcting my use of the word mash, sorry if i offended you.

I guess from now on I'll ordered smushed potatoes and gravy from KFC.

Posing removed

WreckinBrewCo said:

Sorry for bringing back the old post but I've got a question on the topic.

In the next month or so I'm wanting to make a sweet potato beer for the early fall.
I was planning on using a strong brown ale, using spices in the main boil (similar to a pumpkin beer). I was going to add the Sweet Potatoes in the secondary.

Is there anything I need to watch out for (with the starches and what not)? What method should i use in adding the potatoes? I was planning on boiling them be able to mash them.....

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So I am wondering what you ended up doing? Even though it may be late to respond, but I would think it would be best to almost to have the potatoes already cooked and mashed, and then add the mixture to your boil with the spices and such. My husband is the "head brewer" in our house and I am just the lowly assistant, but he makes a pumpkin beer in a similar fashion (takes canned pumpkin and puts it in the oven for a few then adds to the boil). I really love the way the pumpkin turns out, its by far one of my favorite beers he makes.
I would think doing it this way would give you a nice sweet potato casserole taste after its all done.