2nd Brew-ABH Honey Wheat Ale w/ Fruit?

[JABBC]

Hello All,

It has been about a year since I have posted and also about a year since my first brew. I couldn't have done the first one without all of your help, so Thanks. My first brew was a muntons nut brown ale.

I am wanting to get started on my second brew and I think that I want to do the Austin Home Brew Honey Wheat Ale DME.
I was reading the comments and noticed that someone put strawberries in during the second stage of ferminting. I was wondering how this is done. Can any fruit be used? are they cut up or anything? What fruits should I keep away from? and What are good fruits that could be added.
The Strawberries sound really good but I am curious as to what else could be added. Maybe a combination of fruits.

Any info or help about adding fruits or about the ABH Honey wheat ale would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[JABBC]

Also wanted to add that in the comment about the strawberries they added 5 lbs of them. Any comments about how much to add would be appreciated too.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

You can add pretty much any fruit you want. I usually use about 10# of fresh, rinsed, and macerated fruit for a 5 gallon batch. You can also use juice or frozen concentrate. I've made many good fruit beers with frozen concentrate. I use about 3-4 containers, depending upon how much fruit flavor I want.

For adding fruit, you will usually add it to secondary so the escaping co2 from primary doesn't whisk away the volatile fruit aromas. I've also added whole, macerated, fruit to the boil. For a honey wheat, I would try either strawberries, blueberries, cherries or maybe peaches. Go with juice if you add cherries or peaches, to avoid the pits on your first fruit batch.

 

[JABBC]

Great!! Thanks

 

[JABBC]

Quick kinda silly question. What is macerated?

 

[Altayre]

It means to soften or break up, so crush the fruit a little is what is meant.

 

[JABBC]

So my brew kit that I got for my first brew only came with a single fermentation bucket. I wanted to get a second fermentation stage setup. Would it hurt to save a few extra bucks and just get another bucket or should I really get a Carboy as the second stage.

 

[JABBC]

Also should I get the BrewVint Yeast Fuel that AHS offers.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

You can always get yourself a secondary; you will need one (or many) the longer you brew. I would get a carboy for secondary. I doubt you will need the yeast fuel, but I haven't used it. You should have enough nutrients in the wort for the yeast to be happy.