Fruit Beer -- Alternatives to Nylon Bag.

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Punkjah007

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I have playing around with fruit beers lately and I have been using a nylon bag for my fruit. Not that I'm oppose to using them, but I started thinking maybe there is a nylon mesh or stainless steel container (like a kitchen utensil) that would also work. I thought I would check to see if anyone has found (or built) a better "device" for infusing a couple of lbs of fruit into a beer. Here is my train of though on it, if anyone is interested in contributing to the conversation;

Nylon bag - I assume that the reason these are the most used is because they are commonly attainable and probably the most affordable option. Also, they are versatile as they can be used in multiple stages of the brewing process (for fruit, hops, or grains).



Nylon Strainers.png

Hard Nylon Strainer - I used to work in restaurants for many years and I like to buy nice kitchen stuff. I was looking for a new stainless steel strainer but I happen to see these hard nylon strainers and I thought maybe someone could make a container out of hard nylon that somehow seals shut. It would be much easier to clean than a bag, I think.


capsule.png

Dry hop capsule - I have never used one of these, but I have seen these capsules come up when shopping for a hopspider. This one pictured is marketed as a "dry-hopper". I figured it could be used to infuse a beer with flowers or tea leaves, but they are not really big enough for 1lb+ of fruit. I have not seen them in a "large" size.



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Hop Basket - Something like this hop basket is along the lines of what I'm thinking. It's solid. It can be easily lifted out. It allows the fruit to move around. But now we are talking $$$ (these are usually $80+). Also, I feel like it's almost too large. Like you would need a pretty big sink to spray this thing out without making a mess (or always clean it outside, but that is not always an option in colder states).



pot insert.png

Pasta strainer pot insert - As i said, I like kitchen stuff. I have used something like this for pasta and vegetables on occasion and I thought if I could find one (probably at a thrift store in case I need to "edit" it) with very small holes perhaps it could be used in a similar fashion to the Hop Basket.




tea strainer2.png
tea strainer.png

Tea Strainers - If you google search "tea strainer" you get all kinds of small devices like this that are used to hold tea leaves (as oppose to the paper disposable bags tea usually comes in). Similar to the hop capsule option. Typically not big enough to hold multiple pounds of fruit, but would probably work ok for flowers or tea leaves.

Some day I would like to get a 3D printer and I was thinking (assuming I could find a food safe plastic to work with) maybe I could print something. What do people think? Tell me what you are using, or what ideas you have been mulling over. I love to build, create and design things. If you made "a thing", lets see it.
 
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Options are subject to vessel opening size. What holds your beer when it's going to be fruited?

fwiw, I brew a raspberry hibiscus wheat beer that gets one pound of pureed berries per gallon. They go in a clean carboy "commando" obviously (it's puree! 🙂) and the fermented base beer is racked on top via closed transfer. After a week it's cold crashed and the beer is racked off the lees into kegs...

Cheers!
 
Most of the options listed wouldn't hold enough fruit unless you're talking about a 1 gallon batch. A lot of fruits would require up to 2 pounds per gallon. I put 11 pounds of Mango puree into a 5 gallon batch.

The other alternative is to not bag it at all. You let it settle and rack the beer off it later. In the case where it might clog up the siphon, you can also wrap a nylon bag around the siphon.
 
Most of the options listed wouldn't hold enough fruit unless you're talking about a 1 gallon batch.

Correct. Some of these vessels I did not intend that they would specifically be used during a 5 gallon batch, but implying that something similar could be created or used. These were just for ideas/brainstorming, not necessarily for application.

Do you buy your Mango already pureed? (I believe there is a company that sells fruit purees in large cans). or puree them yourself?
 
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