Fruit in Beer

[gurkgurkgurk]

Hey guys, I'm still rather new to this, I'm on my second brew right now, and am already planning my next one. Now I've been reading a lot of home brewing books and sites and all that jazz, and one thing that people aren't too really clear about is, when should i add fruit if i want a good strong fruity flavor? I know sometimes it may depend on the fruit and the kind I'm putting in. but for my next beer i want to brew a Hef with raspberry in it, and not just a slight raspberry flavor, but a very pronounced flavor. so heres my set of questions

I plan on using frozen raspberry just because they seem to be easier to use, but also notice a lot of raspberry extracts online and at stores. which way is easier to go for my goal?

Should i add frozen raspberries to the first fermenter or the second? both or neither? or should i think about making a tincture and using raspberry extract with my sugar during priming?


sorry for all the questions, but I have yet to mess with fruit too much and just dont want to ruin a batch of good beer on experimenting. thanks

 

[helibrewer]

I helped my daughter with a raspberry wheat and we steeped the frozen berries in the kettle just as you would grains using a grain bag. IIRC we used about 32oz. of frozen black and raspberries (total).

 

[Unibrow]

In my limited experience, I have only gotten successful results by:

1) racking beer onto fruit in the secondary
2) AFTER you have hit your FG, or gotten really close

You can add the fruit to the primary I suppose, but again, make sure the majority of fermentation is over before doing this. Let us know what you do, and how it goes!

 

[bcryan]

i have only made one raspberry wheat. the kit came with extract. i wouldnt make it again with the extract. tasted kinda like raspberry cough syrup. not horrible. but its gotta taste better with real raspberrys.

 

[toast]

I helped my daughter with a raspberry wheat and we steeped the frozen berries in the kettle just as you would grains using a grain bag. IIRC we used about 32oz. of frozen black and raspberries (total).

How did the raspberry flavor come out with the fruit added to the mash? I've never done it that way, I have always added into the secondary.

 

[rancidcrabtree]

How did the raspberry flavor come out with the fruit added to the mash? I've never done it that way, I have always added into the secondary.

I am curious about this too, I'm looking to do a fruit beer, probably something involving fruit and a kolsch and I'm wondering what they best way to get flavor out of fruit would be? I like the idea of doing it in the mash, that would be before the boil and would be a great way to sterilize any wild yeasts/bacteria from the fruit...

 

[sfrisby]

Test

 

[sfrisby]

Test

To retype my answer that didn't post, do both. Rack 1/2 with pasteurized fruit, 1/2 with extract. Decide based on flavor, cost, effort, ect, what you like best for you.

 

[paraordnance]

I had really good results adding fruit to keg. If you kegging your brew this is a best way to have most fruit flavor. I added 3 lbs frozen strawberries to belgian blonde right in keg (bagged for easy removal), kept it cool below 40F to NOT allow yeast to ferment sugars in fruit and had terrific results. It was pure strawberry goodness within 4 days, no tartness and insane aroma. I will definatelly do it again. Not possible if you bottle though, will result in bottle bombs

 

[gurkgurkgurk]

I helped my daughter with a raspberry wheat and we steeped the frozen berries in the kettle just as you would grains using a grain bag. IIRC we used about 32oz. of frozen black and raspberries (total).

what kind of raspberry flavor did you get? I'm looking for a very pronounced flavor, and a good sweetness.

so you steeped them in for how long?

 

[Matteo57]

I did a wheat beer that I split and did some strawberry and some raspberry. I added fruit in secondary (frozen fruit) and let it sit for about a week to a week and a half. It is usually about 1lb fruit to gallon of beer for decently fruity or strong flavored fruit. I also did a gallon of blackberry that I added a pount to but that one did NOT turn out flavorful enough. The strawberry wheat and raspberry wheat turned out great. I kegged the straberry and bottled the raspberry. Pretty tasty!

 

[Matteo57]

It wasn't pronounced as a lambic or anything but it was a very nice raspberry flavor. Have you ever had the shocktop raspberry? It isn't as sweet as that but it was close. I thought the shocktop raspberry was cloyingly sweet so I really enjoyed what I got. Yes I racked the beer from secondary onto the raspberries and let them sit on them for a week and a half I believe it was.... kinda weird.. they turn all white and stuff. but yah it turnd out really well! Really enjoyed it a lot and would do it again for sure

 

[Pilotpip]

Just did a cream ale with my GF and did a little experiment with 8 bottles. She had a peaches and cream ale at a local pub that she loved. Each of the bottles has a different amount of peach and vanilla extract. If there's one in the 8 she likes we will up it for a 5 gallon batch ready for summer.

 

[gurkgurkgurk]

It wasn't pronounced as a lambic or anything but it was a very nice raspberry flavor. Have you ever had the shocktop raspberry? It isn't as sweet as that but it was close. I thought the shocktop raspberry was cloyingly sweet so I really enjoyed what I got. Yes I racked the beer from secondary onto the raspberries and let them sit on them for a week and a half I believe it was.... kinda weird.. they turn all white and stuff. but yah it turnd out really well! Really enjoyed it a lot and would do it again for sure

interesting. that sounds like what ill do. so you racked from the primary onto the secondary with the raspberries already at the bottom? did you do anything special to them or did you just dump them right outta the bag into the carboy?

and do you think it would be possibly when priming, to use one cup of raspberry juice mixed with a little less dextrose to try to kick some more raspberry flavor in there?

 

[timdsmith72]

I did a wheat beer that I split and did some strawberry and some raspberry. I added fruit in secondary (frozen fruit) and let it sit for about a week to a week and a half. It is usually about 1lb fruit to gallon of beer for decently fruity or strong flavored fruit. I also did a gallon of blackberry that I added a pount to but that one did NOT turn out flavorful enough. The strawberry wheat and raspberry wheat turned out great. I kegged the straberry and bottled the raspberry. Pretty tasty!

This. I get the best results adding the fruit to the secondary. I usually let mine sit a full two weeks in the secondary. Just a thought, I also rack to a tertiary(sp?) for a week before bottling. You get less fruit bits in your bottles that way. You may not care though. To each his own.

 

[Jamison]

I used 3 lbs. of frozen organic raspberries in secondary for a cream ale I did. Turned out great. I would make sure to use ORGANIC. If you search for a thread called Requiem Raspberry, you will find a lot of good info and some pics.

 

[Hopwater]

I used 5 lbs of raspberries that we picked and then froze for a 5 gal batch of rasp wheat.

We froze them, then put them in a nylon paint strainer bag, then pasteurized them to take care of any wild molds/yeasts that may have been present, then let them cool to room temp.

Added them to the primary bucket (which was about 2 weeks into fermentation...i.e. mostly done), and let them sit for a week. Pulled the bag out and let drain back into the bucket.

Took gravity reading, then another after 3 days...it was the same, so it was time to bottle.

I think this was a good method for fruit addition, but in retrospect I would probably have used only 3 lbs raspberries. This stuff is VERY raspberry! Good, but almost tastes more like a lambic or wine cooler than a wheat beer.

 

[Matteo57]

For the raspberry part of my trio I did of the wheat beers I used canned oregon raspberries. The strawberry part I just put frozen bagged strawberries in. Both worked great. I liked the raspberry one best but I think it would be pretty close to the same by just adding frozen bagged raspberries. I would suggest throwing them in in a hop bag or nylon mesh bag so the berries don't clog up things.. that was my one main issue. Other than that I would suggest 1lb berries to 1gallon beer with raspberries or strawberries. Let me know how yours comes out. I would like to try an orange cream ale sometime as well! Sounds good for a summer beer!

 

[Matteo57]

Just did a cream ale with my GF and did a little experiment with 8 bottles. She had a peaches and cream ale at a local pub that she loved. Each of the bottles has a different amount of peach and vanilla extract. If there's one in the 8 she likes we will up it for a 5 gallon batch ready for summer.

Let me know how it turns out. I would like to try one possibly for summer!

 

[Lgaddy44]

I brewed a Hefe a couple weeks back and my gf was given about 5 lbs of raspberries, freshly picked and frozen. I decided to add the raspberries to my beer. I let the primary go for two weeks, thawed the raspberries, then racked over about 4.5 gallons of beer on top. I used about 4.5 lbs of raspberries, but I did not rack much of the yeast cake from the primary, assuming there'd be enough yeast still suspended in the beer. I added a blowoff tube with the other end in a jar of one step. The secondary has been at around 68-70 degrees.

It's been 3 days and I haven't seen the slightest bit of activity. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should've racked over more of the cake. Any suggestions? I've got more harvested yeast in the fridge, should I add more? I know the yeast was viable, after making a starter initially and seeing a normal fermentation before I racked.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Unibrow]

I think no activity is good at that point. Extra fermentation will drive away delicate flavors from the fruit. You basically want it to sit, undisturbed for a while.

 

[Lgaddy44]

I thought about that but then the thought occurred that maybe I'd be left with a diluted, heavily fruit flavored, weak beer. Alcohol level is not my main concern, but I'd definitely like some balance, and also not end up with a slightly alcoholic fruit drink. I guess I don't have a ton of options at this point.

 

[Unibrow]

What was your OG? It would take a LOT of fruit to dilute 5 gallons of beer. 5# of raspberries in a Hefe sounds like a solid amount. I used 3# of Blueberries in a Hefe and it ended up being too subtle in the end, but still very good. Raspberry's flavor is way stronger than blueberry...so you should be golden

 

[Lgaddy44]

Have to check my log to be sure, but I'm pretty positive I nailed my target OG of 1.056.

Thanks for the input, feeling a little better already. My plan was to leave it on the raspberries for two weeks, rack into a tertiary for a month or so, then bottle condition for a month or more.

 

[Unibrow]

Sounds like a great plan. Come back in 8-12 weeks and tell us how it comes out. Since it's a Hefe, remember it doesn't necessarily benefit from excessive aging. I've done a Hefe (no fruit addition) that was amazing after 2 weeks primary and 2 weeks bottle. I used WLP400 yeast and had an OG of 1.054.

 

[Pilotpip]

Let me know how it turns out. I would like to try one possibly for summer!

Just tried them last night after a month in the bottle. The results were good. We made 8 bottles with variations of 1/4-1/2 tsp of peach and vanilla extract. Two were really good, two had a bit of a medicinal flavor.

My girlfriend liked the bottle that had 1/2 tsp of each peach and vanilla extract. I liked the one that had 1/2 vanilla and 1/4 peach. I think it's more of a personal preference. We will be upping the 1/2 of each to a 5 gallon batch for a summer brew. I think it will be a hit.

The straight vanilla will be used too. I plan on doing a coffee stout soon. Mixing that with a vanilla cream results in something almost like a frappachino.

All in all, an experiment that was well worth it.