Fruit and such....

[cghinds]

Hey guys I am trying to expand my brewing horizons, Ive been using true brew extract kits which have turned out very good. I want to add flavors to the beer such as cherry or blueberry. Do I add that to the boil or in the fermentation? I had posted last month about adding honey to one of my brews and was told several different options to do this. Is it the same with adding fruity flavors?

 

[myty1705]

if I remember correctly (and someone will correct me if I am wrong) DO NOT BOIL THE FRUIT the pectin will be released and it will cloud you beer up. I think you put the fruit in either after the boil, or in the fermentation period. Again corrections may be needed.

 

[SeamusMac]

I believe it can be done many different ways. The Blood Orange Hefeweizen I'm going to be trying later this month has the Blood Orange flavour imparted before it hits the fermenter. Joe's Ancient Orange Mead isn't beer, but it's a fermented beverage none the less and the recipe says to throw the oranges into the primary fermenter. Although a lot of people would suggest racking your beer out of the primary onto fruit in the secondary.

 

[Cheeto]

with the fruit, I add it after the bulk of the fermentation is over , rack the brew on to the fruit in a secondary carboy/bucket

I would start with a kit that has fruit to add and then expand out from there.

a few options would be a Choclate Cherry stout or AHS Purple Haze clone look around at your supply store of choice !

-Jason

 

[cghinds]

Unfortunately there is only one HBS here although the owner is very knowledgeable he deals more with pre-assembled kits then anything else

 

[SteveM]

Check my raspberry ale recipe - there is a lengthy discussion about managing fruit in beers.

 

[histo320]

For fruit, it usually consists of using fruit puree in the secondary, 100% pure fruit juice, or extract.

With honey, you want to add it to secondary after you boil it to sterilize it.

I've made 2 fruit beers, a Cranberry and just brewed a Magic Hat with apricot. With the cranberry I simply added cranberry juice after fermentation and let it sit for another week before bottling, it turned out great.