Using double boiler to sanitize fruit

[h22lude]

I'm going to be adding 4 pounds of strawberries to my fermenting beer. To sanitize I may try to pasteurize them in a double boiler. I'll mash them up, put them in the double boiler and heat to 160°F for 30 seconds. Has anyone done this?

 

[WFox93]

In complete honesty, I didn't know you had to sanitize fruit. I have added fresh blackberries and strawberries to a couple of beers and had no issues. even soaked in sugar in open air and the fridge. That being said, I have only been brewing for a year or so and have made my fair share of mistakes.

 

[snowtiger1987]

You can sanitize fruit but you run the risk of setting the pectin which will contribute to chill haze in the beer. I normally just add fruit after primary fermentation is complete so I don't worry too much about infection then.

 

[h22lude]

I did it a little differently. I washed the berries then put them in the food processor. I added a little boiled water to make them a little runny. I put that into a pot and heated them to 160°F for 60 seconds to pasteurize everything. Let them chill and added them to my FV. I probably should have waited another day or two. Fermentation took off like crazy and clogged the keg I was purging. In hindsight I should have taken the poppet out of the post first. I tasted it the next day and it was perfect. I'm making a sort of clone of Tired Hands Strawberry Milkshake IPA. I had a can about a year ago and loved it. Going off memory, this tastes pretty close.