Fermentation with or without ingrediance???

[elbastardo]

I have done A fiew batches of partial mash with some differant fruits. On some I have left the fruits and hops in during the fermintation, But I end up losing allot of potential beer because of the sediment.

I have learned my lesson on the hopps, Ill definatly use A hop bag filter next time

Is it worth leaving in the fruits for the fermintation for more flavor/ sugars?

If so is there A better way not to loose so much?


Thanks for any input

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Did you post this drunk? (Heh, sorry I had to take a crack... no malice intended!)

Yeah a bag is the best way to dry-hop or add fruit to your beer. For best results with less beer loss and more fruit/hop flavors, put your fruit or hops at the bottom of another fermentation vessel and rack the beer on top of that. With the fruit it will ferment again but it will be much weaker. The reason you'd want to do this in a second vessel is because very-active fermentations in your primary create a lot of CO2 which can scrub out the flavors you want.

Just make sure you sanitize the bag first; you can use a sanitizing solution (iodophor, star san, etc), boil it, or run it alone through a dishwasher with a high-temp dry cycle. Also, if you worry about the bag floating at the top and that worries you that it won't extract the maximum flavor possible (it's a pretty common worry, though I let them float) you can sanitize some glass marbles or any pieces of food-grade stainless steel or glass that will weight the bag down.

Hope that helps!

 

[elbastardo]

Legally I can operate A can opener At this point

Home brewing is much more rewarding in the end, SO much more so than knitting or quilting. But neither of those end up calling Xs or bieng woken by the cops for some kind of "You cant sleep in the kids sand box" Law, Or at least at that particular park Who knew


So then letting the fruit ferment more isnt really adding more flavor? And is possibly doing more harm than good?

Thanks

 

[Reno_eNVy]

HAHA awesome.

And no no, if you add fruit the sugars are going to ferment... that is unless you use chemicals to halt the yeast or pasteurization. The difference is that there is a much smaller amount of sugar present in the fruit than was initially available at the peak of your primary fermentation; yeast too. This will result in a weaker fermentation and less scrubbing of flavors.

Sorry if I'm explaining this in a confusing way. My brain isn't working right as on account of it being filled with information for final exams.... weeeeeeeee.