So I have 5 gallons of cider in my primary sitting at just above 1.000.
I put 5 gallons of juice and 16oz of blackberries in the primary around 4 weeks ago.
My plan is to add another 16oz of fresh blackberries and 1/2 oz or calypso hops to the secondary, I plan on freezing/soaking the berries in vodka or whatever booze i have laying around to sanitize the berries before I rack into the secondary.
My question is, do i need to smash the berries to help bring the flavor out? Or just drop them into the secondary and hope the flavor comes out of the berries? They will only be in as long as the hops are in (5-7 days), basically looking for the most flavor out of fresh berries as possible (maybe a little for color?)
Thank you for the help
I put 5 gallons of juice and 16oz of blackberries in the primary around 4 weeks ago.
My plan is to add another 16oz of fresh blackberries and 1/2 oz or calypso hops to the secondary, I plan on freezing/soaking the berries in vodka or whatever booze i have laying around to sanitize the berries before I rack into the secondary.
My question is, do i need to smash the berries to help bring the flavor out? Or just drop them into the secondary and hope the flavor comes out of the berries? They will only be in as long as the hops are in (5-7 days), basically looking for the most flavor out of fresh berries as possible (maybe a little for color?)
Thank you for the help