First AG and fruit none-the-less...please help if you can.

[PilotBMP]

Ok, so I think I'm ready. I decided on a blueberry ale for my first AG. My questions is the amount of blueberry's. #5 enough? Also, do I put all 5 in the boil for 60 mins? What do I do after that, add it to the primary? Also, do I partially mash the berries to release the juices? Just some questions I couldn't find answers to.

 

[the_bird]

Put them in the secondary - not the boil, not the primary. If you boil them or put them in the primary, you'll lose all the aromatics and a lot of the flavor. Freeze them, then heat them in a small amount of water to 160° for ten minutes; they'll be a pile of sanitized mush at that point. I can't tell you how much to use, but 5# sounds like a lot.

 

[banjopicker16]

I have heard many times that fruit brewers never put enough in. So, I say, 5# is good! Always try to overdo it. When you make a fruit beer, you want the fruit to be noticable.

 

[PilotBMP]

So we are all in agreement to put them in secondary?

 

[greg75]

So we are all in agreement to put them in secondary?

Yep. If you're really concerned about the sanitation of your blueberries, you could always go with puree. These purees are completely sterile:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/beer-flavorings.html

I'd imagine you could get blueberry puree for cheaper than Northern Brewer sells it if you looked hard enough, but this was the first place I thought of. I'm contemplating a cherry wheat for my next AG, and I think the puree route is the way I'll go. Northern Brewer also sells fruit extracts that you can add at bottling/kegging, also on the same webpage.