Goin yo make my 1st fruit beer, raspberry chocolate stout, technique opinions??

[Beardown]

I am going to make my 1st attempt at a fruit beer. A raspberry chocolate stout... there seem to be a lot of opinions on what form or fruit to add and when. 5.5 gallon batch, partial mash/ extract. As of now the plan is to add 10 oz of raspberry purée and 8oz bakers chocolate at flameout. Anything wrong with this plan? Thoughts, advice, recommendations? Thanks

 

[xpops]

i've made several beers with fruit/additions. i can give you my method, but as you've read around...there's lots of opinions, and no guarentee its' the best. i can tell you, they're always a success and everyone loves them.

i typically don't add my secondary "additions" at flameout, as they'll be susceptible to your entire fermentation. You'll end up losing all your flavour. i always wait until primary fermentation is done, then i'll rack the beer onto my fruit additions in a new carboy and let it sit for a week or two.

I tend to use whole/fresh fruit, that i've cubed up small enough to fit into carboy, then freeze. This breaks the cell walls of the fruit, and allows more juice/fruit to get into your beer. Ive been very successful on mulitple occasions with Blueberries, Raspberries, jalepeno's, strawberries, rhubarb. I also plan on doing the exact same thing with nectarines and tart cherries with 2 sour beers i have on the go.

hope this helps you out!

 

[purplerat]

I typically keep a raspberry wheat on tap and my preferred method is to add raspberry extract into the keg when I transfer. Seems to work pretty well for me.

I did use canned puree for my first couple of batches but switched for two reasons. 1. the sugar in the puree ferments and I prefer this beer to be of a lower ABV. 2. the raspberries would turn the beer pink. But then again the extra ABV and color might be preferable for your recipe.

As luck would have it a raspberry chocolate stout was exactly what I planned on brewing next but haven't quite decided on a recipe. If you wouldn't mind sharing what you're thinking I'd be interested.

 

[xpops]

the colour change is part of the "wow" factor people loved! - although you wont get the same with a stout...

 

[Beardown]

Thanks for the feedback.... what do you think about adding 10oz purée to secondary racking ? Or would frozen raspberries be better ? Or purée at end of boil and frozen at secondary ?

 

[Beardown]

Assuming that I'm ok w the additional gravity and potential color change

 

[Joewalla88]

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/adding-fruit-to-homebrew.22052/

https://www.midwestsupplies.com/beer-fruit-amount

These two links can lead you to some good info. I've had some success using different methods for fruit beer. I always use frozen fruit. Generally I like to at least give it a quick steaming, or something to kind of pasteurize it, then make a puree. I usually add it about week after the primary ferment. I read that some fruits are better cooked, like blueberry. So, I cooked some of them before adding to a black ale, and it turned out nice. Cooking or not cooking really has to do with what type of flavor you're looking for IMO. Adding straight frozen works too. If you do decide to heat it up, don't over do it, you can drive off flavors, and end up adding some unwanted tannins. One of the links has some good lb per gallon advice that has been helpful to me.

 

[tiredofbuyingbeer]

I did use canned puree for my first couple of batches but switched for two reasons. 1. the sugar in the puree ferments and I prefer this beer to be of a lower ABV. 2. the raspberries would turn the beer pink. But then again the extra ABV and color might be preferable for your recipe.

Fruit additions don't really add much alcohol by volume. They contain sugars that ferment and increase the alcohol, but they also increase the volume of the beer. The gravity of most non-concentrated fruit juices isn't so much higher than the original gravity of wort that it will significantly increase the alcohol concentration in your beer. (Fruit juice is 100% fermentable, though.)

An issue for a stout might be that fruit additions will dry it out.

 

[Beardown]

If I chose to buy fresh raspberrys, then freeze em then toss them into the secondary and rack on top of them should I rack directly onto the frozen raspberries or thaw them in some way? Thanks, and I'm thinking 5lbs of raspberries for the 5 gallon batch. Will the frozen fruit not effect the rest of fermentation being that it will drop the temp for some time ? Thanks

 

[RedlegEd]

If I chose to buy fresh raspberrys, then freeze em then toss them into the secondary and rack on top of them should I rack directly onto the frozen raspberries or thaw them in some way? Thanks, and I'm thinking 5lbs of raspberries for the 5 gallon batch. Will the frozen fruit not effect the rest of fermentation being that it will drop the temp for some time ? Thanks

Hi. I think the fresh raspberries don't need to be frozen, although you might want to give them a good soak in Starsan and drain before racking onto them. A lot of folks put them into a paint strainer bag (from a big box home supply store,) just to keep the seeds & pulp contained when you finally rack to your keg or bottling bucket. Your profile doesn't say where you're from, but I'm originally from Tucson, and the slogan is unmistakeable. Ed

 

[xpops]

Freezing just breaks cell membranes and makes more flavour available for extraction. You could soak in starsan....iv never done it....you're putting it into an acid alcohol based liquid...it's most likely going to be ok....sure there are chances of it coming in contact t with lacto, pedio, Brett...but are those currently present in your brew house?

I've never sterilised fruit prior to secondary, never had a prob.

 

[Beardown]

So xpops- you put the frozen fruit into the secondary and rack right on em while still frozen? Does this abrupt drop in temp, that pounds of frozen fruit will surely cause, effect the outcome at all in a negative way? Or do you let the fruit thaw before racking on top of it?

 

[xpops]

they usually sit in the carboy for a little bit of time before i rack. they're usually mostly thawed but i doubt completely. Since it's post fermentation, i'm not overly concerned with temp shift. By the time you get 5 gallons of liquid on them, the temp shift isn't that significant.