Adding Fruit Puree to a Wit

I have a Belgian Wit that has been in the primary for a week, and I want to add some blueberry puree, but now I'm not sure how to do it. I don't want to rack to a secondary if I don't have to. Is it alright to just add it to the primary a week in? Should I stir it in, or will that mess up the the trub at the bottom of the bucket and bring out off flavors? I feel like I should have just added it to the primary when I first but the wort in there!

C'mon guys, I know you can help!

j

I've aggitated trub to get a stuck fermentation going before and didn't notice off flavors. I say go for it, but rack to secondary after a week to get the beer off the puree.

If it's been in primary for a week, just add the puree now. No need to stir or anything. Then bottle in another week or so and call it good.

I'd just pour it in the primary. Last time I did a raspberry wit I didn't secondary, just cold crashed for a few days and the fruit sludge had all settled out with the yeast.

Hampshire said:

I have a Belgian Wit that has been in the primary for a week, and I want to add some blueberry puree, but now I'm not sure how to do it. I don't want to rack to a secondary if I don't have to. Is it alright to just add it to the primary a week in? Should I stir it in, or will that mess up the the trub at the bottom of the bucket and bring out off flavors? I feel like I should have just added it to the primary when I first but the wort in there!

C'mon guys, I know you can help!

j

Click to expand...

I havethe same question exactly.. I actualy wanted to use real fruit, but if purée is better I'll do that. I just don't want purple beer... I want aroma, but not much color

I'm doing raspberries though

I opted for the fruit puree for sanitizing reasons, although I've read a lot about people using fruit here. I'm too much of a newbie to really have an opinion yet. I poured in the puree last night without stirring, and my little yeasties are having a ball.

Thanks for the tips, although I don't think I have any way to cold crash it. Next week I will transfer it to my bottling bucket, and if it's all gunky, I suppose I could transfer back into the original bucket (cleaned and sterilized of course) for another week.

I'll let you know how it turns out! this is my first experimental beer.

How much purée did you add? I am doing raspberries not blue, but the addition should be close to the same. Maybe a little less for me I think

I used one 3lb can. we'll see how it works! good luck!

Another old thread that may help me...

I just did a partial mash wit - and I want to do a fruit addition. I was thinking to pour in a large can of oregon fruit puree (either blackberry, apricot or plum) into the primary after 2 weeks fermentation. Then let it sit another 2 weeks.

My other option would be to rack the beer onto the fruit puree in secondary. And another 2 weeks in the secondary.

Does anybody have advice on this front? I've never used the Orgeon fruit before but it seems like a good idea to add a fruit flavor to the wit. Thanks!!!

Did this a few weeks ago with fresh peaches. Peeled them, then sliced and tossed into the blender with just enough water for the blender to be able to do its thing. Poured in about two blenders full straight into the primary. Fermentation kicked off again just as strong as the primary for a few days, then racked to keg after about another week.

No real problems unless you count the fact that there was zero peach flavor to the beer whatsoever. Still a decent tasting wheat, though, and a bit stronger from the extra fermentables.

How many peaches did you use?

Also, how long did it sit in the primary before you added the peaches?

Don't remember exactly how many, but it was quite a few. Just a good sized bag of locally grown peaches from the local farmer's market. Enough that I was concerned at the time that I might be overdoing it. Probably close to a gallon in pureed form.

Added them when the beer had been in primary for a week and a day.

You say that your fermentation kicked in strong again for a few days? And you added the peaches to the primary after 8 days?

My only guess is that you fermented away all the peach flavor. I recently did this with a Mango wheat. I added 2# mango to the primary bucket and 3# of mango to the secondary, only waiting 5 days to rack into the secondary. I should have waited longer in the primary but I was worried the mango pieces were going to go bad in the primary bucket.

The mango flavor is barely noticeable after 2 months in the bottle, and the beer is more sour than fruity...so I learned my lesson.

From now on, I won't think of doing a major fruit addition until at least 2 weeks so the yeast has a chance to concentrate on the designated fermentables first. Otherwise, it will destroy the fruit flavor and convert the fruit's sugar into alcohol instead of blending with the beer. Of course, every experience is different so I can't say this is a law of good brewing.

Unibrow said:

My only guess is that you fermented away all the peach flavor.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's my guess, too. I saved a dozen or so back for the family to eat and they were extremely flavorful peaches, so it's not a problem with the fruit used.

Not a big deal, it was an inexpensive kit beer that I just thought I'd try to jazz up a bit. Still finished off the keg, it just wasn't peachy tasting...

Wondering if simmering the puree for a bit might help bring out the flavors a bit more? Just a thought....

I've never heated up fruit - but most people on this forum seem to think it will detract from the flavor unless you keep the temp control very strict.

Either way, I'm going to try adding a can of fruit puree to my wit next weekend, so I'm hoping this will be better than the mango fiasco.

just from reading, and peoples experiences it seems you need to keep it in there for at least a week or few.