When to put in the Fruit?

i am brewing a strawberry flavored Porter this Friday. when is the best time to put in the strawberries? during the boil (beginning, middle, end?); in the primary fermenter (to help the yeast); in the secondary?
i have read many different ways to get it done. which gives the best flavor profile? thanks for your help!

Secondary. You'll lose flavor if you add it in the boil or primary. Just make sure to pasteurize the fruit, and don't leave the beer on the fruit for more than two weeks.

NEVER boil fruit

Here's what worked for me. Still has PLENTY of flavor and aroma, even though I added to primary.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24627

I don't understand why everyone says to add to secondary because primary will lose flavor. Everyone I know that has brewed a fruit beer has done it in the primary, including my LHBS, with no ill effects. Still tastes and smells like fruit, no horrible infections, great color, and it's a little easier.

Adding it to the secondary isn't going to do anything different, the sugars will still be fermented by the remaining yeasts because they are simpler sugars that are more readily fermented. The flavor compounds are going to stay regardless of when you put the fruit in, and if you do a secondary, you have to rack off the fruit to a tertiary for a week or so, so there is really no difference, except more waiting, and more work.

Well, I've been told that the active fermentation of a primary will take away all the aroma of the fruit. Perhaps not the flavor, but an important component of it. I could be wrong; I'm just going off what I was told when I first looked into adding fruit. Putting raspberries in the secondary for my half-wit worked perfectly, so I figure I'll stick with that technique.

I hear ya, I got TONS of conflicting info, so I did it the other way, and it worked great. Whatever works for ya, maybe I'll try it the other way next time and do a comparison. But remember razyr, NEVER boil the fruit.

ooo fruit beer.... I will definatly have to try that...

is it much harder than without it?

how do you sanitize the fruit ?

It's a bit more difficult, but not ridiculous. Basically, you heat the fruit to ~160ºF for about 20 minutes, and then cool it, and put into the secondary, racking the beer on top. Leave it alone for two weeks, then rack the beer to a tertiary for further clarifying. A week in the tertiary, and you should be good to go! Oh yeah, you should use a 6gal for the secondary, otherwise you'll run out of room. The fruit takes up a significant amount of space. A 5gal tertiary is fine.

Think about it for a moment...primary or secondary?

Wouldn't you rather place $10-20.00 of fruit in a brew that you KNOW tastes good first? Secondary for sure.

If you brewed and placed the fruit in the primary and the brew got contaminated you'd have a nice fruity flavored sucka$$ beer. Who wants that?

I like to add fruit to the secondary, this way I can let the brew sit on the fruit for a few weeks without worrying about a ton of extra fermentation taking place. I find it just gives me a little more control, but that's just me.

I was thinking about adding lychee fruit to one of my next brews...
*whats a good type of beer to add fruit to?
*What should I do to the fruit before placing it into either the primary or secondary?

Thanks

I made a Honey Cherry Wheat earlier this year. It's been bottle conditioning for about a month now. I pasteurized mine and put in the primary, then racked after 10 days to secondary. It sat in secondary for about 2 weeks and cleared great. I tried one tonight and it's finally starting to mellow. It initially tasted sour ( right before bottling) and lingered on the palate for a while. Should be just about right in another month or two. I would like to try this recipe again and put the fruit in the secondary. Next time I think I'll use an Ale Yeast instead of the Barvarian Wheat Yeast. So many brews to do though.

I added raspberries to one of my beers right after the boil was done and the temperature dropped to about 180. The beer was so-so. I've since heard from many sources that secondary is the place to do it.

AquaPuppy377 said:

I was thinking about adding lychee fruit to one of my next brews...
*whats a good type of beer to add fruit to?
*What should I do to the fruit before placing it into either the primary or secondary?

Click to expand...

I think wheat beers are the most popular, but porters and stouts are also good for fruit. I don't think any other style is really compatible with fruit additions, but experimentation is what it's all about.

great! thanks for all the input. i seem to be overwhelmingly advised to place the fruit in the secondary. that is what i will try. in a couple of months i will let you all know how it turned out.