Adding fruit to secondary, how to sanitize the fruit?

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32indian

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If someone were to add fruit to secondary fermentation to add fruit flavor and aroma to a brew, how would you sanitize the fruit? do you need to sanitize the fruit? what if you used frozen pasturized fruit?

Beer in question is a generic "Wheat Beer", fruit I'm planning to use is "Rasberry"

I'm thinking 5 pounds of pastuerized frozen berries to 5 gallon batch added to the secondary fermentor.

Or, would I be better off "crushing" the 5 pounds of rasberries and adding just the juice to the secondary fermentor?

-Tom
 
32indian said:
If someone were to add fruit to secondary fermentation to add fruit flavor and aroma to a brew, how would you sanitize the fruit? do you need to sanitize the fruit? what if you used frozen pasturized fruit?

Beer in question is a generic "Wheat Beer", fruit I'm planning to use is "Rasberry"

I'm thinking 5 pounds of pastuerized frozen berries to 5 gallon batch added to the secondary fermentor.

Or, would I be better off "crushing" the 5 pounds of rasberries and adding just the juice to the secondary fermentor?

-Tom

Sometimes people do a quick blanching of the fruit, others don't worry about doing anything. Just add the fruit to secondary. The alcohol content of the beer inhibits nasties from infecting it.
 
I have found that with blackberries, freezing them, then thawing them in a pan & heating to 160F for 15 minutes totally destroys the berries' structure for maximum juice release. This also pasturizes them.
 
david_42 said:
I have found that with blackberries, freezing them, then thawing them in a pan & heating to 160F for 15 minutes totally destroys the berries' structure for maximum juice release. This also pasturizes them.

good idea. never heard of it done that way before.....
 
As soon as some fresh fruit comes into season, leanig towards peaches, I am going to make a fruit weizen. I plan on making a course puree to add to the secondary and using campden tablets to sanitize the must prior to racking. After secondary fermentation, filter with a 20 micron filter. I am currently debating using a traditional weizen yeast or a neutral ale yeast. I know there are mixed opinions using sulfites in beer but I liked to see if there is any difference not cooking the fruit to sanitize.
 
So it sounds as if using frozen fruit, thawing it, heating to 160 deg. F. in small amount of water, holding at that temp. for 15 minutes, then putting it in a grain bag or large hop bag, and squeezzing all the juice out and putting that juice in the secondary to ferment out with the beer would add the fruit flavor and aroma I so much seek?
Seems to me that using just the juice would prevent racking problems if using whole fruit (pulp, seeds, ect..., in pick-up tube).
Or is it better to just dump the "sanitized" fruit into the secondary and rack the beer from the primary fermentor on top of it?

BTW: this beer is for the "ladies", I call it........"Liquid Panty Remover"

Simple, Clean, and fruity tasting, with no hoppy aftertaste!
 
Seems to me that using just the juice would prevent racking problems if using whole fruit (pulp, seeds, ect..., in pick-up tube).
Or is it better to just dump the "sanitized" fruit into the secondary and rack the beer from the primary fermentor on top of it?

With my Blueberry wheat I used dried blueberries, rehydrated them in 160f water for about an hour then pitched then straight into the secondary. I racked it to a 3rd fermenter just to let some of the "chunks" settle out and didnt have a single problem in the entire process. In fact i checked the beer tonight and as soon as I get done with some stuff around here that I cant avoid I'm gonna be bottling it.

Remember when you add the juice or fruit you will get another ferment with noticable airlock activity. I didnt get a second krausen but with the airlock activity it wouldnt have shocked me if I did.
 
Pumbaa said:
Remember when you add the juice or fruit you will get another ferment with noticable airlock activity. I didnt get a second krausen but with the airlock activity it wouldnt have shocked me if I did.

I have a Huckleberry Hefe in my secondary right now and I got a HUGE second krausen. The first time I made this beer I added the fruit to the primary and it worked great - I think I'll do that from now on. When I added the fruit to my 5 gal. secondary my airlock was full of crap within a couple hours. I replaced it with a blowoff hose and that sucker spewed for nearly a week. It finally subsided but now all the berries are kinda stuck at the top of my carboy. I shake it up a bit every day to try to get them down in the beer (where the yeast is) but I'm not convinced that it's working as well as when I put the fruit in the primary. On top of that, I'll probably have to rack to tertiary just to try to clear the thing up. All that fermentation in the secondary has created another layer of trub at the bottom of the carboy and clarity is pretty close to nil.

AHU
 
Is there any reason NOT to add fruit to the PRIMARY after 3 or 4 days when fermentation is slowing and you are about to rack to secondary? This would eliminate any problems with krausen in the 5 gallon carboy, and excessive trub from the fruit.

Leave it in primary another 5 days or so, then rack to secondary. So total time in primary would be about 9 days, which in my opinion, is not harmfull.

I may try this!

-Tom
 
quick question...when you racked to secondary and put the blueberries in...did you rack to a 7 gallon or 5 gallon carboy?
trying to figure out if i need to get another set of carboys to do fruit beers...
thanks in advance!
 
OK, I did do this, and it worked fine for me.

When primary ferment was 4 days old, and just about done, I added 3.5 lbs. of raspberries that were steeped in 160 deg. F water (just enough to cover) for about 20 minutes to sanitize, this pretty much turned them into a "slurry" of thick consistency, yet great smelling raspberries.
I added this whole mess to the primary bucket, fermentation resumed for about 3 more days with thin layer of foam on top, not real bad.
I then racked into glass carboy for seconday ferment, I used a 6.5 gallon one just to be safe, but it was NOT needed, a 5 gallon one would work fine. 95% of raspberry skins and trub stayed behind, some floaters got thru (mostly raspberry skins), this posed no problem.
After 7 days in secondary, I racked to bottling bucket and bottled with priming sugar as normal. That was a week ago. I guess it's time to try one tonight! :D

-Tom
 
thanks for the quick reply!
sounds like a plan. my only issue is that i don't use plastic anymore - only glass carboys. i'm thinking about straining the blueberries after i steep and before i add to the primary.

let us know how it tastes, tom!
 
AllHopped up said:
When I added the fruit to my 5 gal. secondary my airlock was full of crap within a couple hours. I replaced it with a blowoff hose and that sucker spewed for nearly a week. It finally subsided but now all the berries are kinda stuck at the top of my carboy. AHU

Same thing happened to my secondary when I added cherry puree.
 
Franiblector said:
let us know how it tastes, tom!


I tried it, still needs some more time to carbonate in the bottle, but, the 3.5 lbs. of raspberries was plenty, VERY GOOD! Mine is a light beer, only 3.6% alcohol and 15 IBU's of tettnager hops so the fruit flavor stands above the others.
I brewed this as a 10 gallon batch, and split it into this version with the real beeries, and the other 5 gallons went into a keg, where I added 4 oz. of the raspberry fruit flavoring extract, then force carbonated it.
The one with the exctract may be a little better beleive it or not, I was suprised as well. Of course with it being force carbonated, it is already up to the proper level and the fruit flavor is just about perfect for my taste. My wife even liked it :eek:

I will be making this one again.

-Tom
 
I put this in another thread recently, but my MO has always been to just add the fruit to the end of the boil, after the flame is off so they do not in fact boil, and steep them for about 15 minutes. Then, you can either add the whole mess to the primary or strain them out at that point. I have added whole fruit to the primary from the get go and it did not inhibit primary fermentation at all...
 
jeffg said:
I put this in another thread recently, but my MO has always been to just add the fruit to the end of the boil, after the flame is off so they do not in fact boil, and steep them for about 15 minutes. Then, you can either add the whole mess to the primary or strain them out at that point. I have added whole fruit to the primary from the get go and it did not inhibit primary fermentation at all...

Because there was such activity in my secondary after the fruit I will probably do this next time. It was like having two carboys to ferment and needing a third to age.
 
Hey all,

I am doing my first berry beer right now, as the beer is in the primary, and I am planning on putting some rasberry into the secondary. This post has a lot of great info, but one thing I am looking for, having never made a fruit/berry ale, is how everyone is coming up with the amount of fruit to add. I am brewing a light bodied ale with probably around 5.5%ABV. It is going to have some hop characteristic as I am a hop head. I want to have a crisp tease of berry, but not too overpowering or sweet. This is a 5G batch. Do you all out there have some metrics for coming up with the amount, or is it just FYN? (Follow your nose)....

any help would be appreciated. as of right now I was leaning toward 2 lbs. Is that not enough?
 
I think it depends on what type of fruit you are using. I have my beer in the primary now for a strawberry blonde clone and plan to add 8 lbs of strawberry for 4 gallons of beer. (its a 5 gallon batch but I am taking 1 gallon out into another secondary to compare and also to allow more room for another fermentation from the fruit) I initially only bought 1 4lb bag and after some research found out I should be using more since strawberry is a flavor, and smell, that can get covered up easily. I am also during a puree and using frozen fruit.

Sorry this is just my 2 bits for what I am doing, didnt really answer your questions.
 
so, you are going with 8# for 4G beer for a definite fruit/berry flavor. That is good to know. I think that I am going to plan on working up from lighter berry flavor to more over a couple of batches. I was even thinking of splitting this batch up and trying different levels, but I don't have any small carboys yet.
 
2 pounds to 5 gallons will be a little on the light side.

There is no "magic formula", only experience can guide you.

My last batch with raspberries, a 1.046 starting gravity, and 3.5 pounds of frozen berries was about right for my taste (5 gallon batch). But my hopping rate was low as well, 15 IBU's to be exact.

If you keg your beer, you can always add more berry "juice", from pasturiezed and squezzed berries thru a grain bag, or strainer. OR......add some of the fruit flavoring extract that comes in 4 oz. bottles to the keg. Start with 2 oz. of extract and taste, you can always add more.

The "flavoring extract" will not add any red color to the beer, the real fruit (raspberries) will add a red color to the beer. So if you don't want color, use the extract flavoring. I kind of like the red hue it gets with real fruit, they say you can taste with your eyes as well as your tongue.
 
I am all for the color too. I brewed a light bodied and colored beer specifically so that the berries would have more effect. I am not set on the amount-maybe I will try your 3.5# and see. This is definitely an experimental brew. This is the first brew that I tried a partial mash, first brew with whole hops, and will be the first with fruit!
 
I had a raspberry ale at a local brew pub (the Manayunk Brew Pub, to be exact) and they had used real raspberries - 500 lbs of them actually, a little more than will fit into my five gallon brew tank). The color was spectacular, a deep ruby red, and the taste was better than my (extract based) raspberry ale too. My next fruit ale, which will go into the secondary in a week or so, will use real fruit.
 
so what has everybody decided for sanitizing the fruit. I should be racking to secondary on sunday and I think I am going to put the 8 lbs of strawbewrries in a pot and heat for 20 minutes @ 160, that is unless anybody else can convince me of another way. This is my first fruit beer so def open to other options. my fruit is 8lb of frozen, whole strawberries.

I was origainlly going to puree, then heat in the pot, but think that is not need since they will absorb a lot of water and probably turn to mush in the pot without using a blender.
 
Sounds right based on what everyone above said. Tell you what, I am doing my first batch of fruit beer that uses actual fruit (as opposed to extract). I will do the same and we can compare notes. I will be using blue berries, if I can find them, or else raspberries.
 
My strawberry brew is working 3 feet away from my PC. I used a 6# bag of frozen berries, in a pale ale- 5# of pale 2 row, 1# of Victory for the maltiness. 2oz of roasted for color. About 4 gallons. OG 1.028. Pitched onto yeast from last batch I bottled that day- Nottingham. My primary went fast, I kept it warm. I racked to 2nd after one day, was bubbling once/minute, and pretty clear. I thawed the berries in a pot with a quart of water, and smashed with a potato masher. Turned off the heat when it started bubbling. Probly about 1 1/2 gallons. I poured them into the secondary, and went to dinner. By the time I got back 2 hours later it had blown the cap off the 3 pc bubbler, and puked red slime/foam all over. Wish I had seen it. Anyhow, I stole a sample after one day. I'm gonna like it.

Oops, forgot to put in about the sour mash. I tried souring 1 1/2# of grain 2 days early. It got sour, alright. Smelled sour in initial fermentation, but had little taste in sample. Time will tell, probably add subtle hints. I sure liked the Hout Sour Blackberry I tried at Ballast Point Brewing a couple weeks ago, but it was soured naturally (accidentally?) in the oak keg.

I brewed a smaller beer this time, I plan on drinking lots of it on hot days this summer. Whole fruit doesn't add a lot of sugars- 95% water? But I didn't take a hydro test at secondary, or after adding fruit. Seemed meaningless, what with all the junk floating around...

Anyway, it's been fermenting for 6 days. Still got a 2" layer of peels floating on top. Color is about gone from the peels, light pink now. Beer is red fersure.

Next time I'll wait longer for the primary to stop. And more yeast to settle out. I wouldn't put the fruit in the primary unless you can make a 5 gal batch in a 10 gal fermenter.

Perhaps I'll make a hydrometer reading now- just to have another sample. Good stuff, Maynard.
 
Mine is on its way. I racked to the secondary and added about 2.5 lbs of blueberries. I put them in enough water to barely cover them in a pot and heated them up for ten or fifteen minutes. They went a bit longer and a bit hotter than I had planned because I took a little longer in sanitizing my secondary. However, they are in since this afternoon and were bubbling away by nine o'clock. This is going to be some really blue beer.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
Some people will eat anything bourbon flavored just to say they ate healthy.:drunk:

When you refer to a "#5019-Wheat-2", what is the #5019. Is this a recipe from a certain book?
 
Continuing saga of Strwberry Tart:

I racked to tertiary today. I used a racking cane with the red plastic end, and tipped the carboy. Not to much sediment, but at least two inchs of peels floating on top. I figured the end cap would plug up when the peels got that low, but a pleasant surprise: the peels are floating, and pretty airy. When the got to the cane, air came through and I lost my syphon- just as my 5 gallon caboy came to within 1 inch of the top! PERFECT! I just HAD to sample some to lower the level a couple inchs. Plenty of flavor, with a hint of sour, but not as sour as Simcoe would have made it. The peels tasted tart, but not of strawberry, I think I got all the flavor out of them. They were also very pale, almost white, so I got the color too. It's certainly red, but pretty cloudy, and wasn't getting better with the trub and peels. Dropped my Hydrometer on the concrete today, after 12 batchs, no readings til another trip to LHBS. I'll check back in a week...
 
I planned on doing mine last night and when I went to check on the beer in the primary it was still bubbling about 1 bubble per minute and there was a good amount of foam on top still, although most of the yeast had fallen. I am waiting till at least tonight, probably more like wed or thurs. before i go to secondary with fruit.
 
jro16 said:
When you refer to a "#5019-Wheat-2", what is the #5019. Is this a recipe from a certain book?
That's just my numbering system. It stands for 1) the 19th batch brewed in 2005, 2) it's a Hefe Weizen,3) and I only have 2 left.

If you look at the sig again you will notice they're all gone, but I really have 1 keg left.

I took a keg to TX with me this month and it got killed right off. I WILL DEFINITELY make this one again! A real winner.:ban:

Incidently, my recommendation is that BEFORE you add any fruit to a beer make sure it is good and drinkable before wasting your fruit.
 
Nothing much to report on Monday night, but one lesson I take from this is, for blueberry beer, use extract! Mine looks like grape juice! :D
 
I ran into a small, but minor issue, in that in the time from when I decided to use the rasberries to last night, my wife inadvertantly used most of them, so now I only have about 10oz of them left. I needed to rack to the secondary since it was already in the primary for 8 days. I am going to get some berries today or tomorrow and add them to the secondary. The brew looked great though. My lightest brew yet, and it was already clear (posting about that too in another area).
 
I racked last night on top of about a gallon of strawberry mush. 8lbs heated on stove for 20 minutes turned into a sludge. This morning I had a blowoff from the strawberries starting another fermentation. I took out about 16oz of beer using a turkey baster and am hoping there is more room now. It was bubbling at about a bubble every 2 seconds.
Ive got a question. Is this going to make the alcohol content go up with another ferment of the sugars in the strawberries?

I am thinking I am going to have to go to a 3rd carboy to clarify unless I just let it sit for a week or so longer. It was pretty cloudy and a lot of strawberry parts floating around!!
 
Same issues, same thoughts - I may siphon it back to the primary, clean out the secondary and put it back in for a week or so to get more clarity. What a nuisance! :D

When I saw the fermentation fire up, the first thing I thought was that it would probably be a pretty strong final product. And you put in a lot more fermentable than I did.
 
Re: alcohol from strawberries...

My 6# bag of frozen berries said "servings per bag 19. Calories per serving, 50."

SOoo, that's about equal to 1/2 lb of sugar... not much added alcohol... but it sure blew off at the 3 hour mark....

I racked Sunday to tertiary, not much clarity yet...
 
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