Beer ready to keg, thinking about adding fruit

[Lbm]

I have 10 gal of beer that's ready to keg, but no room in the beer fridge for it. It's a cream ale. I have a sh!tload of fresh strawberries that I just picked and was thinking about adding some and letting it sit for another week. I've never added fresh fruit to my beers and I was wondering if this would be a good idea. Also, if I do, how should I prepare the strawberries? How much should I use? How long should it stay in the carboy before racking off?

My thought was that I would wash them and maybe purée them and let them sit in some vodka overnight to kill off any bugs then dump the whole thing in the carboy. Should I heat/cook them first or anything? Also, I have no idea how much I should use.

Since fermentation is complete, will the strawberries make the beer to sweet? I have it in two 5 g carboys, so I could just add fruit to one, but I think I'd rather add it to both if I decide to do it because half the beer is going to my brewing partner (he's good with it).

Would I be more apt to get infected beer if I add fresh fruit?

Realistically, I could kill one of my kegs tonight (pretty sure). I also have a few 2.5 g kegs that are empty, just not the extra fridge room...although I could probably make room for those in our main fridge just to keep them cold until I could carb them.

What should I do?

 

[TallDan]

What should I do?

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uepFO4psgKE[/ame]

 

[Lbm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uepFO4psgKE

Always good advice. I've been slacking lately in this department - life has just hit me upside the head and I haven't had time the past few weeks. Should have easily been ready by now. Now finally drinking again and coming up with these crazy ideas!

 

[TimmyWit]

Don't fruit the beer

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAXk8h1iHAw[/ame]

 

[ktblunden]

Since you have 10 gal, I'd say go ahead and add strawberries to half the batch. I haven't ever done a fruit beer, so I don't know quantities or how to prep them, though.

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

Fresh fruit carries three big risks: pesticides, bugs, and bacteria.
1. Pesticides: A good washing *should* mitigate this down to an acceptable level (since you'd just as soon eat them raw).
2. Bugs: Washing *should* get rid of most little buggers. If not, you might get a little extra protein in the brew.
3. Bacteria: Probably the more likely risk. Since the brew is nearly complete fermenting, it has a higher resistance than, say, a brew in the first day of primary. Soaking in vodka will help this; just a little won't affect the flavor, while a lot will be noticeable. I'll recommend 1-2 pounds of berries for a noticeable, but not dominating, flavor.

Unless you boil the fruit, you *shouldn't* need any pectic enzyme to stave off the cloudiness. I wouldn't worry too much about extra sweetness, even with unfermentable fructose. In fact, most of my fruity beers appear to be more tart after the fruit goes in. Puree the berries to increase the surface area for flavor extraction, if that's your goal.

I think the strawberry cream ale is a brilliant idea for a summer brew, and I'm likely to steal it. Even trade for my advice.

 

[secondbase]

Fruiting half of it would be a safe bet. I'd recommend freezing the fruit you plan on adding, and then letting it thaw out to break the cell walls down. Some people like to puree the fruit for easy integration, racking, and cleanup but I usually just add the fruit after it's thawed out. A quick starsan rinse followed by a normal rinse should do the trick. As stated, you won't need to add pectic enzyme unless you cook the fruit. Strawberries don't give off the most assertive flavor, so I'd start with 1 pound for light flavor, 2 for medium, and 3-4 pounds for full strawberry flavor. Let us know how it turns out!