NB Cream Ale w/ White Labs Cream Ale Blend

So, my next project, which I should be brewing on Thursday is going to be the Northern Brewer Cream Ale extract kit w/ specialty grains brewed w/ the White Labs Cream Ale Blend and then secondaried over some farmer's market strawberries.

My plan is to primary in my 6.5 gallon glass carboy for 3-4 weeks and secondary on the strawberries in my brew bucket for about 2 weeks before bottling. I'm going to add yeast nutrient to the boil as the blend uses lagering yeast in it, and I'm going to be brewing in the 65-75F range. Hopefully, this helps the yeast out and cuts down on the rhino farts. I plan on doing a nice starter beforehand.

For the strawberries, I'm considering a star san rinse to get rid of bacteria on the outside and then blending them in a sanitized blender. I hope to use 8 to 10 pints, which should give me about 5 lbs if the math I've looked up is right.

All thoughts and suggestions welcome. Better to have the information before I brew instead of after .

I'm doing a cream ale this weekend with blueberry extract (I don't want purple beer haha) I'll be using that same yeast, but I'll try to keep it in the lower/mid 60's. I have read some people lager it for a month, but I won't do that, I'll just keep it in the fridge after it's carbonated. That'll be the 'lagering'. Does the nb cream ale use flaked corn? That will have to be mashed, that's why I'm substituting maltodextrin.

This is the link to the kit: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/cream-ale-extract-kit.html I don't believe it requires any mashing. None of the reviews mention it. I won't be lagering either, though I may cool the starter down to give the lager yeast a head start.

Ok, ya there is no flaked corn in that recipe. The biscuit and honey malt seen like a nice touch. I may have to think about that now, maybe dropping some crystal and adding in some honey malt?

Pop the berries in the freezer overnight. Take them out, cover with water and bring to a light boil. Let that go for a few minutes to sanitize, cover and take off the heat. Let it cool, blend and dump it into the secondary and rack onto that.

My goal was to use ripe, in season strawberries. I'm concerned that the freezing and cooking will undermine the idea of using fresh berries. Has anyone tried using fresh berries with any luck?

using fresh anything without proper pasturization (whoa is thqt a word??) is asking for an infection..... hence the freezer and the light pasturization (sp?) process (boil shortly) any other way with fresh anything will bring you problems

Yeah as long as u don't boil too long, just enough to sanitize, it shouldn't take away from the freshness. The freezing will help rupture the cells allowing the flavors and juice to be more readily available to mix with the wort... and then boiling will kill any nasties that can cause an infection. Any sort of fresh, ripe produce is bound to be covered in pollen, wild yeast and bacteria that can spoil the brew.

Well, due too the sudden heat wave, brewing was postponed. I do have a 2000 ml starter bubbling away, however. Tentative brew date now is Monday.