Fruit Beer Requiem Raspberry

MikeRoBrew1 said:

Again not to spam the thread but I think it's not very nice to tell people this is safe to make without sanitizing your berries. Sure it's easier, and some people have had success but it also sucks to waste $40. Either sautee the berries or use camden.

I REALLY wish this info was in the original post, or else that I had done some more research before trying this. So far it has turned me off from brewing it again, which is a bummer.

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agreed. brew it again, you won't be sorry

MikeRoBrew1 said:

Again not to spam the thread but I think it's not very nice to tell people this is safe to make without sanitizing your berries. Sure it's easier, and some people have had success but it also sucks to waste $40. Either sautee the berries or use camden.

I REALLY wish this info was in the original post, or else that I had done some more research before trying this. So far it has turned me off from brewing it again, which is a bummer.

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The first rule of brewing... Sanitize, Sanitize, Sanitize! I would not trust anything to luck... if there is a way to sanitize it, do it! Anything post boil, find a way. Working as a biologist, I've found you can never be too sanitary. Just be a little OCD about being clean and you shouldnt have any more infections.

yeah campden tablets are really the way to go. Otherwise you're beer with have a pectic haze, or you risk infection.

Alright guys I have no secondary...Is there anyway to put the berries in the primary..or transfer to a bottling bucket with the raspberries...Or do I just try to find a cheap plastic bucket to use as a secondary?

cmendo2005 said:

Alright guys I have no secondary...Is there anyway to put the berries in the primary..or transfer to a bottling bucket with the raspberries...Or do I just try to find a cheap plastic bucket to use as a secondary?

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That might work as long as you wait till the fermentation of the complex sugars are almost completed before you add the berries. The yeast might ignore the complex sugars once the fruit sugars are added, so you definitely dont want to add the berries right away, Also, you will end up with a TON of trub once you add all of the berries. I wouldn't be surprised if the beer is really cloudy once its done. good luck! dont forget to sterilize the berries!

cmendo2005 said:

Alright guys I have no secondary...Is there anyway to put the berries in the primary..or transfer to a bottling bucket with the raspberries...Or do I just try to find a cheap plastic bucket to use as a secondary?

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Oh i didnt notice you had a bottling bucket! heck ya! do that. Both my fermentors are bottling buckets. that way I dont have to siphon anything.

So you'd suggest siphoning to a bottling bucket, adding the berries, taking out the berries and just bottling that? Or would I have to siphon it from the bottling bucket to the primary, clean it out, than siphon it back to the bottling bucket?

actually. kinda... if I'm making this again, i'm actually planning on doing a tertiary fermenter. so if i were you after 7 days transfer to the bottling bucket with berries, then after another 7 days, transfer back to your original to get rid of the berries. once it has aged for a week, put it in the bottling bucket, prime it and bottle.

So 3 weeks total before bottling?

cmendo2005 said:

So 3 weeks total before bottling?

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from my experience brewing this... it will take a while to age. i think a tertiary fermenter will help get rid of some of the seeds and help clear up the beer. my lines keep clogging up with seeds. lol

In my experience a full week is not necessary for the secondary fermentation with berries. after 4-5 days, I racked off of the berries. That being said, I would allow more than 7 days for primary fermentation.

I did:
14 in primary
5 in secondary
3 in tertiary

The berries tend to clog the siphon, so I recommend tying a hop bag or cheesecloth around the tip of your siphon, acting as a filter. Otherwise you will have little bits of berries in your beer.

After racking off of the berries, I let it sit for 3 days, racked and bottled.

JonnySax said:

from my experience brewing this... it will take a while to age. i think a tertiary fermenter will help get rid of some of the seeds and help clear up the beer. my lines keep clogging up with seeds. lol

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That's weird man...maybe you're not leaving it in the primary long enough? When I made this, I left it in the primary for two weeks. 100% of the seeds had flocculated, but there were tiny bits of berry flesh floating around...

Tie cheesecloth or some sort of filter around your siphon tip. Problem solved.

Maybe I should just buy that cheap bucket as a secondary and go 10 days primary 5 days secondary 3 days in bottling bucket than bottle and leave for a few weeks? Because right now I'm pretty confused =P

cmendo2005 said:

Maybe I should just buy that cheap bucket as a secondary and go 10 days primary 5 days secondary 3 days in bottling bucket than bottle and leave for a few weeks? Because right now I'm pretty confused =P

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that's what I would do...

why buy a crappy bucket though? I just browse craigslist or other classifieds, and I find second hand carboys for $10 or less quite easily.

I've never been able to find one I look all the time on craigslist and not willing to spend 20 some on a glass carboy=\

cmendo2005 said:

I've never been able to find one I look all the time on craigslist and not willing to spend 20 some on a glass carboy=\

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yo man people list them for 20 but cant sell them, email people and say 10 dollars or nothing, and youll hav yourself a carboy.

cmendo2005 said:

I've never been able to find one I look all the time on craigslist and not willing to spend 20 some on a glass carboy=\

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It's worth the investment. If your willing to spend it on cherries, do it here. You will minimize risk of infection. Please think of the beer! Won't anyone think of the beer!

Delaney said:

That's weird man...maybe you're not leaving it in the primary long enough? When I made this, I left it in the primary for two weeks. 100% of the seeds had flocculated, but there were tiny bits of berry flesh floating around...

Tie cheesecloth or some sort of filter around your siphon tip. Problem solved.

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my fermenters are bottling buckets.. so I dont us a siphon. thats why when i went from my secondary to my keg to age, i got a few seeds in there... not many, but enough to clog up my fittings on my keg. next time i'll just use a tertiary for a couple days to let everything settle.

cmendo2005 said:

Maybe I should just buy that cheap bucket as a secondary and go 10 days primary 5 days secondary 3 days in bottling bucket than bottle and leave for a few weeks? Because right now I'm pretty confused =P

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why are you confused? there are so many ways a beer like this can be brewed. as long as you are sterile, it should work! just do what woirks for you and your equipment

So - I just FINALLY kegged mine today. I did seven days in the primary and five in the secondary after I racked on top of the raspberries. I moved to a tertiary and it's probably been in there for about a month to a month and a half. Work really gets in the way of brewing!!!!

My OG was 58 and my FG was 14. So, I should end up right about 6.0% ABV.

While siphoning I filled up a small cup and took a taste. It tasted amazing! I can't wait for this to carb up.

Also, FYI, I just used frozen raspberries and let them thaw. I didn't do anything special as far as boiling them, or using any additives. Sounds like some people may have had issues, but I'd tend to think that was equipment sanitation?

I use StarSan and give everything a good soaking before anything comes in contact with ingredients or equipment. Knock on wood, but I've had good luck so far!

I'll be back in a couple weeks to give an update after this is carbed!

In the meantime, tomorrow I'll be brewing a Killkenny Clone. I've made it before and it was a such a big hit, it will be my first re-brew. I think it's so good that I intend to keep one of my five taps always dedicated to it!

::

CrayZJ,
Would love to hear about your Killkenny Clone...please share the recipe. Would love to brew some for my nitro tap.

Cheers

Just have to say - After drinking this beer for several months, I recently tried it with a splash of bourbon and it tasted amazing! The tartness of the raspberry really went well with the bourbon flavor.

Hey guys, just tried making this for the first time everything worked out, until I siphoned the original into the bottling bucket on top of a little star san and the raspberries, dumped all the original yeast crap outta the first bucket, been in the "secondary" for a few days and no action in the airlock...Basically my question is after you add the raspberries should you get some airlock action sitll?

cmendo2005 said:

Hey guys, just tried making this for the first time everything worked out, until I siphoned the original into the bottling bucket on top of a little star san and the raspberries, dumped all the original yeast crap outta the first bucket, been in the "secondary" for a few days and no action in the airlock...Basically my question is after you add the raspberries should you get some airlock action sitll?

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How long was it in primary? if it was in there a while, the yeast may have went dormant and might take a while to get rebooted

About a week only, will it do that by itself?

how was the airlock activity when you racked it to the secondary? if it was low... again it might just take a while to get back up to speed. I wouldnt worry about it until a few days into it. if its giving you issues... buy a smack pack and pitch some more yeast.

It was pretty slow by the time I was racked it into my secondary, if it kicks back up by itself I'll just leave it be for a little than

yep. not to worry. just if you dont see any activity in a few days... check the seal if you are using a bucket first, and then pitch some more yeast if need be. hope it goes well!

Alright guys, onto my next question I apologize but just wanted to double check if anyone knew how much corn sugar should I use to carb a beer like this? The calculator I used said around 7 oz 201g does that sound about right if anyone else has done it?

cmendo2005 said:

Alright guys, onto my next question I apologize but just wanted to double check if anyone knew how much corn sugar should I use to carb a beer like this? The calculator I used said around 7 oz 201g does that sound about right if anyone else has done it?

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Dude, it depends. You have to add different amounts based on the temperature that your bottles are stored at for carbonation, and the amount of beer you are bottling.

tastybrew.com

If you are bottling 5 gallons then I don't think you should ever have to add more than 5 oz. of corn sugar.

I thought it seemed like alot also and that's why I'm asking. One website gave me 7.02 one gave me about 4.3. Its the 5 gallon batch the recipe calls for. Probably around 65 degrees or so was just curious if anyone had the amount they used.

cmendo2005 said:

I thought it seemed like alot also and that's why I'm asking. One website gave me 7.02 one gave me about 4.3. Its the 5 gallon batch the recipe calls for. Probably around 65 degrees or so was just curious if anyone had the amount they used.

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If I were you I would invest in a brewing program like Beersmith. It makes brewing SO much easier. It helps with everything from recipe tweaking to carbonating and everything in between. I bought it and I LOVE it!

You also have to consider how many volumes you want to carb to. Every beer style has a recommended number of volumes, but ultimately it's your beer! That's what makes this such a great hobby.

Alright well, thanks for all the help guys finally bottled and well see how it is in a few weeks..

I'm confused. Why would you expect airlock activity in secondary? Is it due to the sugars in the raspberries? I usually just use tin foil on the secondary opening since fermentation is finished by then... I also go 14 days in primary 90% of the time.

I have a question, what if I decided not to add berries? Would it still be good?

Thanks.

marty1966 said:

I'm confused. Why would you expect airlock activity in secondary? Is it due to the sugars in the raspberries? I usually just use tin foil on the secondary opening since fermentation is finished by then... I also go 14 days in primary 90% of the time.

I have a question, what if I decided not to add berries? Would it still be good?

Thanks.

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the air lock is necessary because the yeast left after racking to the secondary will have a field day with the simple sugars in the berries.

The beer smelled delicious before adding the berries... I would guess it would be a great beer without the berries. I dont think i would ever make a beer that had non traditional ingredients that wouldnt be good without said ingredients... All the recipes I've designed with crazy stuff like peppers and peanut butter, will have a solid base beer to start with.

has anyone added Brett Brux with the berries in the secondary? if so, how was it?

Ok so I finally tried mine yesterday after carbing for 19 days. My girlfriend and I both loved it. The raspberries added just enough without being overwhelming. I'm quite happy with how it turned out. This will likely be on the rebrew list!

21 days in primary, too late to rack onto raspberries?

Thanks, Jim.

No way, throw it on top of some raspberries for a week or so and then bottle/keg.