Fruit beer fermentation...

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chadm75

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I'm going to be brewing an Apricot Ale soon and had a question about the fruit addition. My recipe calls for 3 cans of apricots in water at two mins to go in the boil, then steeped for 10 mins at flameout. Then the recipe says to add the apricots to the primary.

I guess I'm thinking that the flavoring that would come from the apricots would ferment out during primary fermentation. Obviously the sugars from the fruit would ferment out but will it take the apricot flavoring with it?

Thanks,
Chad
 
Adding fruit to the boil with make the beer cloudy from the fruit pectin.

Pasteurize the fruit at 160F for at least 60 seconds and add it after fermentation to get the most flavor/aroma.
 
There are other methods that are, i'll say" spiritedly discussed around here, but i'll throw out that you can freeze, thaw, then add it to the secondary instead of pasteurizing, as another option. This method will tend to retain more of the fruit flavors/aromas than adding to the boil or primary fermenation.

Do a search, though, so i don't get yelled at again.
 
i agree with cactusgarrett. freezing fresh fruit, pasteurizing, and adding to secondary is a far better method that i use commonly when making fruit beers. pasteurizing by boiling is the best method, but will cause pectic haze. do you care if your beer is hazy?? i dont.
 
i agree with cactusgarrett. freezing fresh fruit, pasteurizing, and adding to secondary is a far better method that i use commonly when making fruit beers. pasteurizing by boiling is the best method, but will cause pectic haze. do you care if your beer is hazy?? i dont.

I was tounge-in-cheek making reference to a previous "how do i add fruit" discussion, but what i typically do is not even pasteurize. The alcohol present in the secondary is typically enough to quelch any harmful infections. I just freeze, thaw and throw in secondary - no pasteurization. Either way, pasteurization or not, adding to the secondary will be your best bet at fruity goodness retention.
 
My one experience with pasteurization was not a good one. I brewed a raspberry wheat a few months back and pasteurized the raspberries, then added to the secondary. It kicked up a vicious fermentation (which I expected) but it really dried out the beer and is too tart.

I will try and freeze, thaw, and toss method this time and see what happens.
 
well i didnt mean to put you out of context, i just jumbled my words. i agreed with you about freezing the fruit first to break the cells, then i jumbled my method together.
 
It kicked up a vicious fermentation (which I expected) but it really dried out the beer and is too tart.

As far as i know, this shouldn't be related to the pasteurization process, as it doesn't affect sugar levels. It's probably more a function of the form of fruit you used. For example, if you got the grocery store puree with "sugar added" it would have, of course, instigated further fermentation. You would get minimal extra fermentation from straight fresh fruit with nothing added.
 
What about using sugar-free kool-aid in sanitized water in the botting bucket?
 
Not suger free. use the regular kool aid and don't add the sugar.
The raspberry beer takes at least 6 weeks for the flavors to meld.
 
That's a wild card in my opinion. Doing that, you'd have to figure out the sugar content of the Kool Aid. And when you do and add the proper amount of Kool Aid for bottle conditioning, it very well could be the wrong amount of fruit flavor you're looking for.

Stick with the frozen fruit from the grocery store. Thaw & add to the secondary. The additional fermentation from the sugar in the fruit isn't going to dry out the beer as much as you think.
 
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