Fruit Addition?

[Gravity]

I have brewed the recipe listed and its about to enter its 3rd week of fermentation. I'm thinking of adding fruit and curious if anyone has tried a similar grain bill wth fruit additions and was happy with their results. What fruit did you add and what amounts?

I have 12.5 gallon and i'm thinking of adding fruit (perhaps Kiwi, passion fruit, mango, cherry) to the 2/5 batch.

Give a gander to the recipe and let me know if anything comes to mind.


Ingredients:
------------
19 lbs 8.3 oz CHÃTEAU PALE ALE (4.3 SRM) 49.6 %
19 lbs 6.4 oz Wheat Malt, Pale (Weyermann) (2.0 SRM) 49.3 %
7.5 oz CHÂTEAU BISCUIT® (25.4 SRM) 1.2 %
1.66 oz Hallertau [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min 7.1 IBUs
2.49 oz Saaz [3.75 %] - Boil 30.0 min 6.8 IBUs
1.66 oz Saaz [3.75 %] - Boil 15.0 min 2.9 IBUs
3.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) -

 

[chickypad]

A nice American wheat like that is a good base for fruit. My favorite is watermelon, I add 4-5 cups fresh juice per 5 gal to the keg. I've also done apricot and peach purees (5-6 lb per 5 gal) - similar but I think the apricot comes through better. I would like to try passonfruit but it's so pricey.

 

[Gravity]

A nice American wheat like that is a good base for fruit. My favorite is watermelon, I add 4-5 cups fresh juice per 5 gal to the keg. I've also done apricot and peach purees (5-6 lb per 5 gal) - similar but I think the apricot comes through better. I would like to try passonfruit but it's so pricey.

I might go with the passion fruit, its on sale. I reckon 2 pounds for 2.5 gallons sounds about right. Its frozen puree, which should make things easier to incorporate.

Thoughts on the best way to add?

 

[Lefou]

If going to secondary, add the fruit puree first, then rack the unfinished beer on top. It will mix better and reduce the chance of a big, floating mass. A bit of a rotational swirl if you're using a glass carboy like I do, no vigorous shaking, though.
Fruit will acidify your unfinished beer and a higher ABV can tame it a bit, but don't be surprised if the beer tastes better with some aging.

For a lark, I politely took a sample of raspberry sour ale my local brewshop made in early spring. I'm no real fan of fruit beers - or sour ale. Brett beer is verboten in my house.
I took one sip and poured the remainder on my driveway, but I feel a moderate addition of fruit - done correctly - can give a nice variation in certain styles.

 

[Gravity]

Update

This is one mighty fine beer.!!