Fruit position in secondary

[Ole_Smoky]

How do you get the new ABV% after the raspberries have fermented? I was sitting at 5.5% when I racked to secondary, Ive found ways online to estimate the new % with the added vodka but nothing yet on the raspberry fermentation.

 

[Shawnanigans]

I used this article to do it. I'm a big fan of this guy. He really seems to know his stuff.

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2010/10/adding-fruit-to-beer-increases-alcohol.html?m=1

 

[Ole_Smoky]

Right on ill check it out tonight. I ended up bottling the beer this morning. First impression is pretty tart, good and you can deff taste the raspberry. Once I got a glass cooled right down then the tart wasn't as intense. Be nice to see what some carbination and a good month of conditioning will do!!

View attachment 1429138884010.jpg

 

[Shawnanigans]

I really like the color of that! We are going to be trying ours carbed up this weekend if we don't sneak a sample tonight. Lol I hope some aging does it good man.

 

[Shawnanigans]

So the beer has been a rollercoaster of taste. It first stated out very raspberry with a wheat finish, then the raspberry faded except for the tartness and it tasted more like wheat, now the tartness is almost gone and the wheat is taking a back seat again but the raspberry has mellowed too. Its becoming a great beer IMO.

 

[BakerBrew]

I'm currently finishing an ale with 12 frozen and diced mangos in secondary. All the chunks are still floating at the top and haven't lost too much color after almost 2 weeks. If doing mango again, this is what I will do. Put the fruit in a large, fine mesh nylon bag. Weight it down in secondary. If possible, use a bottling bucket as to allow space and access to stirring the bag around. My WLP060 yeast picked up a bit on top, so they may have driven off a lot of mango aroma and flavor.

 

[Shawnanigans]

That sounds like a lot of mango. I used this page to get an idea of how much per gallon when I was designing mine.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/beer-fruit-amount.html

I just did a blue berry shandy for a wedding and with that one I just dropped the blueberries right into the beer. I did 1lb of blueberries, 1 gal of lemonade and 4 gal of beer in the secondary for a week then kegged it. The blueberries never sunk but the beer has a nice purple color and a good blueberry flavor to it.

You'll have to let me know how the second attempt at mango goes. I've never thought about mixing that with an ale but I could see it working.

 

[DesignatedDrinker]

Every fruit beer I have made to include ones that have won comps, I have just thrown the fruit in there and racked on top. it will float around and add flavor just fine. In fact I'm doing a Mango Pale Ale this coming weekend, 5lbs will go straight into secondary and racked on top. Now when it comes time to racked out of the secondary, don't worry about screening off the cane, just racked, and you will get a little fruit sediment towards the end, it adds character!

 

[eadavis80]

I used a can of sweet cherry puree for a 5-gallon wheat extract kit (NB's) and that can didn't do much of anything besides change the color. It all fermented out, but I did not notice hardly any taste or smell change. Next time I make a fruit beer, I'll just go back to frozen fruit - live n' learn...