adding fruit

[gimpmeister]

My next batch will be the "Cherries in the Snow" recipe from the Joy of Home Brewing. I was wanting to use raspberries instead but since they are more fragile than cherries I don't think that I should boil them. Will they flavor the beer enough if I add them to the secondary? And is using frozen berries enough to maintain sanitation?

 

[adiochiro3]

I would pasteurize whatever you put in -- frozen or not -- so as not to ruin all of your efforts. I did fresh peaches in an ale last summer that were fantastic. Dropped them into the primary 3 days in (after primary fermentation settled down). I would think you would have plenty of raspberry flavor with this method. If I remember right, it's about a 1/2 lb. fresh fruit/gallon of beer.

You can also soak the raspberries in vodka overnight to sanitize, I believe.

 

[pfredop]

Yes you could soak in vodka for sanitization. You coyld also pasturize. Bring the berries and H2O up to 155-160 and hold for 25 mins or so, cool and add to secondary. Alot of brewers dont worry too much about any sanitization if adding the fruit to secondary because as long as primary ferm is complete, you would essentially be pouring alcohol on them anyway. Whatever way you choose. If you do choose to pasturize, be sure not to boil the fruit or you will be setting the pectin in it and making jelly. Have fun and good luck!

 

[microbusbrewery]

Freezing does little if anything as far as sanitation goes. Bacteria and wild yeast survive freezing just fine (hence the reason for freezing yeast slants).

Freezing does help break down the cell walls of the fruit aiding in the extraction of flavors. Speaking of flavors, you'll get different flavors from unpasteurized vs pasteurized. I prefer the fresh fruit character of unpasteurized fruit...usually it works out but I've also had a batch of peach/apricot wheat get infected with a wild yeast.

I've never tried sanitizing with vodka but it seems like it should work. The most recent episode of The Sunday Session talks about sanitizing fruit with sulfites at 100 ppm. I haven't tried that yet either but I like the idea.

As for amounts, it varies from fruit to fruit. I've had good luck with the ratios that Randy Mosher recommends in Radical Brewing. 1-4 pounds per gallon for tart cherries, 0.25-3 pounds per gallon for raspberries. I tend to go with the higher end of the range.