Advice on Racking to a "secondary fermentation" sought.

[Gueron]

I am getting ready to rack ( I think that is the appropriate term) a brew (I'm not sure what the appropriate term is here, since it is definitely not a wort, it has been fermenting for a week or so) into a a secondary bucket. I am doing this to add strawberries to the brew.

I've been told it would be best to use my auto siphon to take part of the brew into pan that I will then bring to a boil before adding the strawberries, and then pour that into the next bucket, before allowing to rest for about two weeks before bottling.

Should I add any more sugars for the yeast (White Labs WLP566 Saison II) when I do this?

Is there anything else I should be doing to rack this brew?

Thanks

 

[user 108580]

Wait, so you're going to boil some wort with strawberries in an attempt to sanitize the strawberries before adding to the secondary fermentor?

I've never heard of that, but I'm no professional. Usually people just leave whatever they're going to add in some vodka to kill off any nasties.

And no, you dont need to add any more sugar unless you desire boosting the alcohol content of the beer.

 

[Pie_Man]

I am getting ready to rack ( I think that is the appropriate term) a brew (I'm not sure what the appropriate term is here, since it is definitely not a wort, it has been fermenting for a week or so) into a a secondary bucket. I am doing this to add strawberries to the brew.

Yes, racking basically means transferring. You can call it beer at this point, since it has yeast and has undergone fermentation.

I've been told it would be best to use my auto siphon to take part of the brew into pan that I will then bring to a boil before adding the strawberries, and then pour that into the next bucket, before allowing to rest for about two weeks before bottling.

You were told to boil a portion of your beer, add the strawberries to the boiled beer, wait two weeks, and then add the rest of the beer? That seems like a really bad idea. The beer won't have any viable yeast left to consume the sugar from the strawberries and you're inviting spoiling agents since there's no yeast to fight off anything else.

Here's what I would do, you have several options that I'm aware of to sanitize the berries. I would freeze the strawberries to break their cell walls, this supposedly extracts more flavor. I would then sanitize the strawberries one of three ways:
1. Submerge them in vodka for a few days.
2. Pasteurize them in just enough water. Bring the solution to about 170 for 20 minutes, or so. That should work, but I'm not a pasteurization expert. Pasteurization should maintain more of the strawberry flavors and aromas than boiling.
3. Boil the strawberries in water for about 10 minutes.

Once cooled, at the strawberries to your secondary and rack all of the beer on top.

Should I add any more sugars for the yeast (White Labs WLP566 Saison II) when I do this?

Is there anything else I should be doing to rack this brew?

Thanks

The strawberries already contain sugar. I don't see a reason to add any additional sugars.

 

[Maddoghoek]

Boiling fruit will release pectin and make your beer harder to clear. It will also drive off some of the aroma. You'll get a sort of haze. Of corse if it's a wheat beer (which are normally hazy anyway) then no biggie. You can do a few things. The vodka as suggested will kill nasties. I've heard of using camden tablets for a few days. Some frozen varieties of fruit are pasteurized before packaging. If you do boil, you can get pectic enzyme (most LHBS that do wine would have it) to avoid the haze. Some people just toss them in and everything works out just fine as well.

 

[thughes]

"Maddoghoek".......Ren and Stimpy fan?

 

[solbes]

Lots of options.

1) Camden tablet crushed into water and strawberries would be my first suggestion. Freezing the strawberries first will allow the walls to be broken down easier. Add sanitized berries to secondary and rack beer on top. Done
2) Soak strawberries in vodka for a day or so and add berries to secondary. Rack beer on top
3) Agree on pectin advice above, boiling will make your beer hazy. Hold strawberries at 170F for 10 minutes or so in water to pastuerize.
4) Use canned Oregon whole strawberries or strawberry puree (no sanitizing necessary). Rack beer on top

 

[Gueron]

Thanks for the replies, and specifically on terminology Pie Man.
This will be my sixth attempt and fifth beer, and the most complicated process thus far, so I am understandably concerned. Allow me to clear up the information I have provided.

This is my own recipe. In the initial boil I added a pound of frozen strawberries. I want to add about three to five pounds of strawberries to the secondary fermentation, primarily for flavoring. I do not want an overwhelming sweetness, but I would like a bit of a sweet tartness (or tart sweetness) to make the beer more of a refreshing beverage. At the Home Brew store I use in San Antonio, I was told to decant some of the beer to a pan (when I am racking to the second tank), bring to a boil, and add the strawberries, and boil for 20 minutes (to kill any nasty bacteria) before rejoining the strawberry/beer mixture with the beer for the final stage of tank(bucket) fermentation.

The options that you have presented me are:
1. Soak the strawberries in vodka for a day, before adding to the secondary ferment, or
2. Use Camden tablets and water to soak the strawberries in (For how long?) before adding to mixture, or
3. Bring the strawberries to 170° for 10-20 minutes, cool and add to the mixture.

So a few further questions:
- If I use frozen strawberries does it change anything.
- If I use water to heat or soak the strawberries in, won't it affect the gravity? Not that I am very comfortable with the whole triple scale hydrometer thing.
- If I choose either Camden tablets or raising to 170°, does it matter if I use the beer or water?

Thanks again.

 

[solbes]

Frozen or not, I would still suggest something to kill the wild yeasts/stray bacteria thats present in the berries. It might work out okay though doing nothing to sanitize. For option #2, soak the strawberries for 24 hours. Yes if you use water to soak the berries in, you may slightly affect the body of the beer. But you are adding fermentable sugar as well, so alcohol will be added. I don't see why you couldn't remove a portion of the beer to do the campden soak, just seems like more work. I'm guessing 1-2 quarts will be needed to cover the berries?