Fermenting with Fruit Question

[gregblatz]

Hi All,
I'm making a variation of Ed Worts Apfelwein.
2.5 gal apple juice
1 15oz can of Oregon blackberries
Montrachet yeast

I have never used fruit in the fermenter and I'm not sure what the best practices are.

I'm about 2 weeks in, fermentation is slowing down. I'm not sure if I should get the fruit out of the picture or not. I was considering racking to a secondary, but I'd like to leave it as-is if possible.

Any tips on how to handle fruit?

Thanks

 

[Pardon_My_Flocculance]

Hi Greg - I've made a strawberry cream ale a number of times and always get good reviews. My process has always been to add the strawberries after the primary fermentation is over and leave them in for 7-10 days. Not sure exactly how blackberries will react, but I can tell you that strawberries start to get pretty ugly after a week, so I would recommend pulling the fruit out before it gets ugly and/or starts to break down. My ales always come out with a fantastic fruit flavor, so as long as you've used enough, you should be happy with it. If you think you need more, I would suggest adding more fresh, and not leaving what you have in for longer. I'd pull a quick sample and taste it to know for sure where you're at.