Adding fruit to primary

[Rob2010SS]

Im trying to avoid a secondary fermenter in a wheat beer im going to be adding blueberries to. Ive ALWAYS transferred to secondary when using fruit. Im thinking this time im going to just open the top of my brew bucket and gently set them in the beer in a weighted bag. Im mainly doing this to try and reduce the chance of oxidation but a small part of me is trying to save a bit of work lol.

How easy is it to oxygenate a beer this way? Am i better off transferring to a secondary vessel on top of the blueberries when it comes to oxygen or am i better off this way?

 

[Staticsouls]

The sugar from the fruit should reactivate fermentation, so if you are quick about it you should be fine. Havent had oxidation flavors in my fruit beers personally.

 

[Dgallo]

What @Staticsouls souls said. In all reality, you’re at a far higher risk of oxidizing your beer when racking it into a secondary verses opening the lid. You can avoid the chance completely if you add the fruit to your FV after the tail end of your fermentation when there is still 10 points left. This way your yeast are still in suspension eating and producing co2 which has two benefit, zero lag time for your second fermentation and will purge your headspace of any oxygen that got in when opening the lid. Good luck. I’ve been following your other post about this beer. Very interested to see your results.

 

[Rob2010SS]

What @Staticsouls souls said. In all reality, you’re at a far higher risk of oxidizing your beer when racking it into a secondary verses opening the lid. You can avoid the chance completely if you add the fruit to your FV after the tail end of your fermentation when there is still 10 points left. This way your yeast are still in suspension eating and producing co2 which has two benefit, zero lag time for your second fermentation and will purge your headspace of any oxygen that got in when opening the lid. Good luck. I’ve been following your other post about this beer. Very interested to see your results.

Thanks for the info man. I'm pretty sure that it's already at FG as we speak so I missed that boat a little bit. At least I feel better about adding to primary now.

I'll keep you posted on this beer.

Thanks.

 

[Jag75]

To me it depends on what your gonna do with the finished beer . Bottle or keg. If your gonna bottle your gonna move it anyway so I'd rack (closed transfer) over the blueberries in a clean vessel that your gonna bottle out of. If your going to keg just drop in your primary.

 

[Rob2010SS]

To me it depends on what your gonna do with the finished beer . Bottle or keg. If your gonna bottle your gonna move it anyway so I'd rack (closed transfer) over the blueberries in a clean vessel that your gonna bottle out of. If your going to keg just drop in your primary.

Going to keg it, force carb it, and then bottle it from there.

 

[Jag75]

Going to keg it, force carb it, and then bottle it from there.

Good deal , I'd just dump in then .

 

[Dgallo]

Total side argument but secondary fermenters are bs in general. No one uses them professionally because they are unneeded. They were pushed on homebrewers through bad science by companies that have investments in kits and equipment. Recipes in kits call for you to rack to a secondary on day 5-7 which is the cause of most people’s issues with VDK and Acetaldehyde. The only reason they suggest it is to free up a fermenter to entice you to brew again and buy another of their kits. Capitalism at its finest. Youre better off investing in a fermenter where you can drop the trub verse using a secondary.

 

[HearthBakedCory]

Going to keg it, force carb it, and then bottle it from there.

If you don't already have one, invest in a Clear Beer Draft System. Those berries can be a nightmare in the keg. Also you can ditch the bag if you have one, never had an issue with a clogged dip tube.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Total side argument but secondary fermenters are bs in general. No one uses them professionally because they are unneeded. They were pushed on homebrewers through bad science by companies that have investments in kits and equipment. Recipes in kits call for you to rack to a secondary on day 5-7 which is the cause of most people’s issues with VDK and Acetaldehyde. The only reason they suggest it is to free up a fermenter to entice you to brew again and buy another of their kits. Capitalism at its finest. Youre better off investing in a fermenter where you can drop the trub verse using a secondary.

I agree with you. The only time I've used secondaries is when I'm adding things like fruit or when I use my whiskey barrel. Everything else is limited to a primary and then right to a keg from there.

If you don't already have one, invest in a Clear Beer Draft System. Those berries can be a nightmare in the keg. Also you can ditch the bag if you have one, never had an issue with a clogged dip tube.

Yeah I've heard decent reviews about that system. I don't ever dry hop in the keg or add fruit to the keg. It's always in the fermenter so that's been kind of a low priority thing for me.

 

[isomerization]

I have had great luck with nylon bagged (paint strainer) fruit in primary . Unlike hops, there seems to be plenty of space for the beer to get into the bag and access all the fruit.

Also +1 to adding as fermentation winds down (like dry hopping). Why let the yeast go to sleep, only to be put back to work!