Fruit

[edie]

Going to rack onto oranges today. I'm not going to use any zest, just going to peel the oranges, put it in mesh bag and drop in the bucket.

Question: do I need to boil? I get that the zest would need to boiled but the meat?

 

[Captain Damage]

It needs to be pasteurized. If you boil them you'll set the pectin and make your beer something between hazy and opaque. A search for "pasteurize fruit" yields this page.

For the zest I soak in vodka rather than boiling.

 

[edie]

Thanks for the link. Sounds like I'm going to peel the fruit and then add water to cover. Bring water up to 160 then let it cool down to beer temp. Rack beer onto fruit.

Sound like a plan?

 

[mcaple1]

I've heard lots of people just freezing the fruit and then popping it into the secondary and racking onto it....whats wrong with that method?

 

[edie]

Too late to freeze and like everything else, you ask a question and get 1000 different answers. I've picked this method.

 

[Captain Damage]

Hold it at 160 for ten minutes or so.

I've heard lots of people just freezing the fruit and then popping it into the secondary and racking onto it....whats wrong with that method?

Answer #1: If it works for you, keep doing it and don't listen to me.
Answer #2: Without pasteurizing you're not doing anything to kill bacteria inside the fruit. Freezing does not kill bacteria. The purpose of freezing is to break the cells and connective tissues of the fruit, releasing the maximum amount of sugar and flavor compounds.

 

[mcaple1]

Too late to freeze and like everything else, you ask a question and get 1000 different answers. I've picked this method.

Exactly what makes it "too late" to freeze. I've added frozen fruit to the primary before...never had a problem, then racked off the fruit. Same concept applies to racking ONTO fruit in the secondary....right?

 

[edie]

Too late as in I don't have time.

 

[edie]

What's with the ban?