Adding fruit and when

[Merleti]

When do you think adding fruit to beer is best? My main concern is infection.
I live about 7 min from a blueberry farm, so getting it fresh is not an issue.
Do I freeze and add? Or do I pick fresh and add 10-14 day when the alcohol content is higher?
Thank you for your response in advance.

 

[ArizonaGoalie]

I've done strawberry, peach, and blueberry blonde ales. Every time I used frozen fruit, put it into a secondary, and racked on top of it after 10-14 days in the primary.

Each time it worked out very, very well. The purple tint of the blueberry ale was quite nice.

 

[alby44]

Recently completed a raspberry brown ale....purchased organic raspberries that i submerged in water. brought it to 160 or so, cooled, then pitched in carboy. racked beer on top and let it ferment for 10 days.

drinking it now and its amazing! Plenty of methods on this site that will help you yield similar results. good luck!

 

[Merleti]

Thank you for giving me your experience with your success. It make me feel like it is worth taking the plunge. Thank you again.

 

[thejuanald]

I'm planning on making a wheat beer for the girlfriend that has peach and mango fruit added in secondary. We were thinking of making a fruit puree and then adding some water to that and put it on the stove to reduce. Then after that we would let it cool and add it to secondary then racking on top of it. I figure that will be better for adding the flavor as there will be much more surface area of the fruit exposed.

Is that a good idea?

 

[alby44]

I'm planning on making a wheat beer for the girlfriend that has peach and mango fruit added in secondary. We were thinking of making a fruit puree and then adding some water to that and put it on the stove to reduce. Then after that we would let it cool and add it to secondary then racking on top of it. I figure that will be better for adding the flavor as there will be much more surface area of the fruit exposed.

Is that a good idea?

Yup, sure is, and very similar to what i did. Combo of water/fruit will yield a puree that you can let cool to 65 or so. Then rack as usual.

 

[thejuanald]

Yup, sure is, and very similar to what i did. Combo of water/fruit will yield a puree that you can let cool to 65 or so. Then rack as usual.

Great! Thanks. Using fruit is very new to me so I hope it works out well!

 

[helibrewer]

One of the brewers in my area puts his fruit in the mashtun. Since he ferments and kegs from 10bbl unitanks there is no secondary to use.

 

[Toga]

I have used strawberries and black raspberries for separate batches. I put them in pan with some water, mash with a potato masher, turn the temp to low and let it slowly rise to 160 degrees to pasteurize the mix. I then rapidly cool and pass it through a sanitized fine mesh stainless steel strainer to remove the majority of the seeds and skins. I add the now juice to primary when pitching my yeast or after fermentation is almost completed. Either method has produced tasty results.

 

[TheCanisDirus]

I have used strawberries and black raspberries for separate batches. I put them in pan with some water, mash with a potato masher, turn the temp to low and let it slowly rise to 160 degrees to pasteurize the mix. I then rapidly cool and pass it through a sanitized fine mesh stainless steel strainer to remove the majority of the seeds and skins. I add the now juice to primary when pitching my yeast or after fermentation is almost completed. Either method has produced tasty results.

I'm not a fruit beer guy so i've never brewed one over the years but the extended family is asking for something "purple haze like" so i was thinking of dumping the fruit in right after high krausen... have you noticed a difference in taste adding it to primary during or post initial fermentation? Curious as id think post high krausen, like adding sugars in a Belgian, would allow a gentle switch for the yeast in breaking down complex to simple sugars and "might" be better for flavor? I have no idea... school us fruit guys :cross:

 

[Merleti]

TheCanisDirus Looking to get schooled on this. I am as well over and over.
For the most part I see heating to 160 deg. and then adding first or second.
Helibrewer suggest adding it to the mash tun. I would think enzyme break down like it does in the grain.
TheCanisDirus I'm not a fruit beer guy either.
I'm lucky enough that my son plays Baseball with a friend who's family has a blueberry farm. They have 5 sp. of blueberries and honey. As a homebrewer I like to use tradition techniques. Use what is around you.

 

[wanders]

Every time I used frozen fruit, put it into a secondary, and racked on top of it

Yep I think this is the way to go, it's what Randy Mosher recommends in Radical Brewing.

And speaking of Radical Brewing here's an short excerpt concerning blueberries that may be of interest to you Merleti:

Blueberries
1 to 3 pounds per gallon
Blueberries are another fruit that does not hold up well in fermentation. The fresh blueberry character is so delicate that it often gets lost in the context of a beer, even a light one ... Cooking may actually enhance the flavor of blueberries, so you may be able to use a couple jars of jam in a beer like a wit or weizen, where the pectin haze won't be a problem..

Good luck with your fruity endeavors

 

[Toga]

I'm not a fruit beer guy so i've never brewed one over the years but the extended family is asking for something "purple haze like" so i was thinking of dumping the fruit in right after high krausen... have you noticed a difference in taste adding it to primary during or post initial fermentation? Curious as id think post high krausen, like adding sugars in a Belgian, would allow a gentle switch for the yeast in breaking down complex to simple sugars and "might" be better for flavor? I have no idea... school us fruit guys :cross:

I have added when pitching the yeast and when fermentation is almost complete. Both produced good results. I found with strawberries I got better aroma if adding when fermentation is almost complete vs when pitching my yeast. With black raspberries there was not much of a noticeable difference when adding either way.

I added 4 lbs of strawberries to 5 gallons of blonde ale over the weekend. I pureed them, pasteurized the puree, cooled, then added them to primary. The beer was almost done fermenting when added. It should be tasty.

 

[richlong8020]

I have thrown mine in primary with the yeast. I've added it to secondary too. Both ways are great. Since I use buckets I just pour it in a bag and toss it in.


~RDWHAHB~

 

[Merleti]

Ok brewed and bottled. I tasted it and it seemed watered down. With the volume of blueberries 7 lbs. I added some water when I was sterilizing it in a pot. I think it watered down the beer. I did the same recipe without the blueberries and the beer tasted good. The volume before the blueberries and water was 5 gals after it was 6 gals.