Bend, OR via Central Michigan--Fruit Beer Question

[Chippewa]

Hi Everyone,

I've enjoyed reading the site, so thought I'd become official. Went to college and lived in Mt. Pleasant, MI for a while (as I see another recent new member has as well), but now I live in the brew heaven of Bend, Oregon.

Been brewing for a little while, and am beginning to experiment with partial mash brews. Drinking a honey wheat now, and have a rye IPA bottled and about 2 weeks from being ready to drink.

I do bring one immediate question. I am interested in using a stock of fresh peaches in our freezer for a Peach Pale Ale (primarily at the request of the Mrs.). I have read fruit recipes that call for adding fruit puree directly to a primary fermenter at the same time as the yeast pitch, and some call for the fruit addition to a secondary fermenter for a week or two, only to then be moved to a 3rd fermenter. Does anyone have experience with either of these methods (ideally both) that isn't already listed under the "fruit beer" section of HBT?

Thanks in advance for the advice and I look forward to learning more!

Dave

 

[McKBrew]

Welcome to the forum. I can't help you on the fruit question, but someone will.

 

[BrianP]

Welcome to HBT.

I can't help you with your fruit beer question. However you might find something using the search function (or do a google search and add site:homebrewtalk.com as a search term).

My wife is a CMU alumni from way back. Are The Cabin or the The Wayside still around? She went there back when they had the 'end of the world' party. But it's still quite the party school.

 

[david_42]

I don't quite understand your question. Are you looking for input from people who haven't listed recipes in "fruit beer"?

 

[Joker]

I believe it is usually recommended to add the fruit to the secondary to retain as much flavor as possible. It will still kick fermentation back into action so keep the blow off tube on or/and or keep an eye on the airlock.

 

[Chippewa]

I'm interested in any/all advice from anyone who has experience in using fruit in beer. I really just wanted to let people know that I'd already read the "fruit beer" section of the site. The recipes and notes were very helpful in that section.

I've read everything from steeping fruit at the end of the boil as the wort cools, to adding it to a secondary fermenter---and almost everyplace in between! I've read that adding it to a boil will risk developing a haze and that adding it to a primary might mess with the yeast. So, while it looks like there is almost no wrong time to add fresh fruit, I was just wondering if anyone had done any experimenting with it and had some advice.

As for CMU, I graduated back in '97, but have visited here and there since then. Both the Wayside and the Cabin were still standing. The Wayside has a new sports bar attached to it, O'Kelley's--which was actually really nice--I haven't been in the club section of Wayside since my days of borrowing ID's. And, the Cabin has had a total makeover, it is all exposed pine panels and logs on the interior now.

Thanks for the notes and welcomes everyone, and I'll probably be jumping into this brew at the end of this week.

 

[Chippewa]

Thanks GaryA.

Adding to the secondary does seem to be the most common route as I read through notes and recipes. Plus, I only have about 3 lbs of peaches, so I want to maximize their usage.

 

[Joker]

I have only used extract for the blueberry wheat I make, adding 2 oz at bottling. So purely going by what I have read Oregon Puree seems to be a popular way to go.

 

[clayof2day]

Welcome to a fellow Chippewa! And to answer BrianP, yes they are still around. The Cabin was closed for a while, but in my time ('01-'05) it was up and running.