I'm making a raspberry wheat ale with about 50/50 Pilsen and wheat. To not overpower the fruit, I'm using only 1 oz of Hallertau hops at 60.
My question is about how to get as much fruit flavor into the beer without producing any weird off flavors. When planning this recipe, I looked at a few examples which added fruit at various stages, in the secondary, in the primary after boil, and even in the boil itself. What has been you guys' experiences with getting the most out of your fruit? I'm even getting crazy and thinking about doing all three; adding some raspberry juice or puree with 15 minutes left in the boil, putting 40 oz in the primary, and another 40 oz in the secondary!
This sounds absurd after typing it, but is there any reason not to do it that way? Would that produce any off-flavors? Seriously though, I'm planning to add about one 40 oz package of lightly crushed frozen raspberry (in a grain bag) to the secondary and rack the beer on top of that. I want the beer to be very fruity and tart so I might even add two 40 oz packs for a total of 80 oz of raspberry, unless someone advises against it for a sound reason.
Thanks for the help in advance!
My question is about how to get as much fruit flavor into the beer without producing any weird off flavors. When planning this recipe, I looked at a few examples which added fruit at various stages, in the secondary, in the primary after boil, and even in the boil itself. What has been you guys' experiences with getting the most out of your fruit? I'm even getting crazy and thinking about doing all three; adding some raspberry juice or puree with 15 minutes left in the boil, putting 40 oz in the primary, and another 40 oz in the secondary!
This sounds absurd after typing it, but is there any reason not to do it that way? Would that produce any off-flavors? Seriously though, I'm planning to add about one 40 oz package of lightly crushed frozen raspberry (in a grain bag) to the secondary and rack the beer on top of that. I want the beer to be very fruity and tart so I might even add two 40 oz packs for a total of 80 oz of raspberry, unless someone advises against it for a sound reason.
Thanks for the help in advance!