1st batch raspberry wheat - am i doing it right?

[synchros]

This is my firsr attempt at a fruit beer and not sure how raspberries in secondary should behave/look.
Primary went well, dropped frozen berries(no sugars or preservatives) into carboy and allowed to thaw. Racked to carboy and sealed. Half my raspberries floated half stayed on the bottom. Also some bottom dwellers turned white 24 hours later.
thoughts? Is this normal behaviour

Thanks

 

[brewd00d]

Thats normal. Thats the same description as what mine batch went through.

You should have let them thaw out and smashed them up a little to break the skins of them open so when you put them in the secondary, the juices come out.

Hopefully it still works out for you. I did two raspberry wheats, one i did raspberries in the primary (smashed up) and the other i did in the secondary. The secondary turned out a little sweeter more color. The one with the raspberries in the primary cleared up real nice and had the flavor of raspberry, but no sweetness.

With that said, i preferred the raspberries being put it primary.

 

[birvine]

Exactly as it should be.

Brent

 

[synchros]

Thanks a lot, i feel better. Any recommendations on time in secondary, i was plabning to wait to the berries to setttle and beer to clear before racking afew times to remove pits/debris so i dont clog up the keg

 

[brewd00d]

The longer the better. lets all the bits and pieces settle down. i had mine sit for 3 weeks. cleared up just nice.

 

[birvine]

When I did mine there were still some raspberries (white by then) floating on the top. When I keg something like this, first I give the keg a shot of CO2 to purge it of any oxygen. Then I use a pre-boiled fine metal or paint strainer and hang it into the keg to catch any debris then I rack through the strainer into the keg.

Brent

 

[synchros]

Well day 2 and im still paranoid that my berries are rotting i have a pile of floating berries which are now brown. A tonne of bubbles but nothing in the airlock. Wont the top berries rot if not submerged in the alcohol?

 

[Jamison]

I just brewed a Raspberry Cream ale with 3lbs. of frozen organic raspberries. The berries were still floating after a week and had turned mostly white. Smelled great though. I wouldn't worry about no bubbles in the airlock. I didn't get any noticeable in mine either. I was told that there really isn't a lot of fermentable sugars in the berries so fermentation may not take off again. You used frozen berries which is good. Freezing is supposed to rupture the cell walls so the flavor is transfered to the beer more readily, mashing them is not really necessary. The only thing I would suggest is using ORGANIC berries. Non-organic berries are cheaper, but they might have chemicals on them which could be detrimental to your yeast.
Here is a link with a lot of good info (and some pictures!) on brewing with raspberries-
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f75/requiem-raspberry-56285/

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[synchros]

Thanks jamison, the pic helped rid me of my fears! I totally used organic berries (happened to be on sale)
I will give everyone an update in the weeks to come.
Cheers

 

[Jamison]

I just cracked a couple more of mine. I will absolutely be brewing with raspberries again!

 

[synchros]

Looks great, nice red to match the fall colors!

 

[synchros]

Kegged my raspberry wheat thursday to let carbonate over the long weekend, took my first sip tonite (3 days later) and it tasted great. A little bitter perhaps but i hope it will mellow in the weeks to come. Thanks for help gents.
cherrs