How much fruit?

[BogusOwnz]

I'm planning to rack a wheat beer onto some raspberries. How much. Is 5 pounds for 5 gallons to much?

 

[Quan]

I made a strawberry blonde with 4 pounds of strawberries for 5 gallons and my fiance loves it, so I don't think 5 pounds of raspberries is too much.

 

[BogusOwnz]

Can I just throw these raspberries in whole or do i need to mash them up a bit?

 

[GRHunter]

A pound per gallon is about right. I puree and pasteurize my raspberries before racking my beer on to them. Others have said that you can just dump them in.

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

I have a Raspberry Wheat that is just finishing up bottle conditioning now. I brewed a 5-gallon batch and used 4 lbs. of frozen raspberries. I steeped them in 2 cups of water at around 160 degrees for 20 minutes, then racked the beer over them.

The beer came out super nice, and with about a week to go in bottles the color and flavor is pretty smooth.

 

[BogusOwnz]

Now what does the steeping do for the raspberries?

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

As long as you maintain at least 160 degrees, steeping will pasteurize the fruit so you don't get any weird **** in your beer. I used frozen raspberries, and the steeping also broke them down some so I wasn't dumping un-thawed berries in my beer. 20 minutes will give you a mice raspberry mush that will break down nice in your beer. You might consider straining it before bottling, but I didn't and it seemed to be fine. The beer is a little pulpy but nothing a good pour doesn't fix.

 

[BogusOwnz]

Did you steep directly from frozen or thaw them first?

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

I steeped directly from frozen and it worked nicely. Just make sure whatever raspberries you buy don't have any preservatives (there's one specific type to look out for but I can't remember the name) or the sugars won't ferment.

 

[Gman2]

Do you keep the second cold during this process to prevent too much fermentation? If not, how long did you leave the fruit in the 2nd to ferment out before you added suggar and bottled?

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

To be honest, I was expecting some crazy fermentation because of the fruit in secondary, but it wasn't that bad. It was over in a day or two and it wasn't too crazy. The yeast basically just eats away at the berries. It stayed in secondary for about two weeks, plus or minus a day. It's less than a week old in bottles. Some light carbonation but nothing crazy yet, but the taste is awesome. I'm going to check back on it in another week and see how it's progressing.

To answer your question, no, I kept the secondary fermenter in the same spot as my primary (cedar closet, ~66-67 degrees) and didn't have an issue.

 

[BogusOwnz]

do i throw everything into the carboy after pasteurizing or just strain out the raspberries and throw those in?

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

I put everything in.

 

[BogusOwnz]

alright just got done I racked some wheat that fermented for a week on top of 5 pounds of pasteurized raspberries. Has anyone ever racked to a 3rd after a couple weeks with the raspberries for clearing or just bottle after secondary?

 

[Quan]

I just fish the bag of fruit out of my secondary carboy (I literally use a fishing hook and line to get it), let it sit a few days, throw it in for cold crash and gelatin and my beer turns out ridiculously clear.

It's really just a matter of preference for how clear you really care for your beer to get.

 

[BogusOwnz]

guess putting 5pounds of raspberries with beer in a 5 gallon carboy is a bad idea. i've had to resort to open fermentation because the airlock can't keep up. I think i need a bigger carboy.

 

[beesy]

I made a strawberry blonde with 4 pounds of strawberries for 5 gallons and my fiance loves it, so I don't think 5 pounds of raspberries is too much.

I disagree. In my opinion, 5lbs of raspberries in a 5g batch is too much unless you're looking for a strong raspberry flavor that dominates everything else. 5 lbs of strawberries is cool because the flavor is so much more muted in strawberries vs raspberries, meaning to takes a lot more strawberries to mathc the flavor of raspberries. I have done 2 raspberry wheats with, if I recall correctly 2.25lbs and 3.25lbs of raspberries. If you can afford it and find it local, the Orgeon puree is the way to go. I used to think the frozen berries were pasturized until I looked at them, the ones I found are not. Just heat them up in a pan at 170-180 for 10-15 minutes to kill off any wild yeasts and bacteria, cool and pitch. This will also help break them apart which will impart more flavors for you. Also, the freezing will rupture a lot of the cell membranes, which will allow them to impart more flavors. Let us know what you go with and what you think of the results.

 

[NuclearRich]

I have a wheat that is about to go to a raspberry filled secondary myself! I bought the extract when I originally put the recipe together, but since then I have opted to buy 3lbs of frozen raspberries. A couple more days and I get to jump on it. Glad to hear the voice of other summer-friendly girlie beers!
I went with 3lbs vs. more because I didn't want the raspberries to dominate the beer, I still want it to be a beer and not something akin to cider. Cant wait to hear/tell more about this beer!

 

[bovineblitz]

Anyone used blackberries? I plan on doing a blackberry amber and was thinking 3.5 lbs of blackberries would be good in a 5gal batch.

 

[BogusOwnz]

This is my first attempt as well to do fruit with beer. I'll be sure to post a review and pictures of the 5 pound to 5 gallon ratio.

 

[NuclearRich]

Mind if I update alongside of you? I just racked 3lbs of frozen raspberries (pasturized 20 mins) with 6gals of beer on top.

I measured SG before and after mixing the fruit, just about a single point of difference. I haven't noticed any airlock activity either. Did you happen to measure SG as well? Just wondering because you said you had so much activity... wondering if maybe you had a stuck fermentation and the fruit woke the yeast up. You also have a higher fruit to beer ratio, that might explain as well.

How much volume did your fruit add?
How long are you letting it sit before bottling? I noticed you were thinking of a tertiary... I was thinking it might be ok, and just use a sterilized grain bag on the end of the racking cane.

Looking forward to trading notes with ya!

 

[Quan]

NuclearRich:

I just thought I'd throw in that in my experience, I get no airlock activity from adding the 5lbs of strawberries in my brew and I do measure my SG, and it doesn't change at all from before and after the addition of the fruit.

 

[Gman2]

I just racked 5 gal. of wheat onto 4lbs of mixed barries. My OG was 1.051, the SG when I racked was 1.021 (probably not finished yet). I figured it would not hurt to throw the fruit into the final stage of fermentation. After 2 days of crazy fermentation my SG is at 1.010 and still bubbeling.

If you are not getting any activity from the berries then I might repitch some yeast and make sure there are no preservatives in the fruit.

 

[NuclearRich]

I would repitch, but I am not really fearing incomplete fermentation, SG was 1.010, 1.011 after adding fruit, so I'm pretty sure that its done. Thanks though.

 

[Gman2]

I understand. This is my first fruit batch and I want to make sure there is not extra sugar in my beer before I bottle. I read that it could make bottle bombs if there is too much sugar left over, but it sounds like your FG is about where it should be.

 

[mjgrazi]

I disagree. In my opinion, 5lbs of raspberries in a 5g batch is too much unless you're looking for a strong raspberry flavor that dominates everything else. 5 lbs of strawberries is cool because the flavor is so much more muted in strawberries vs raspberries, meaning to takes a lot more strawberries to mathc the flavor of raspberries. I have done 2 raspberry wheats with, if I recall correctly 2.25lbs and 3.25lbs of raspberries. If you can afford it and find it local, the Orgeon puree is the way to go. I used to think the frozen berries were pasturized until I looked at them, the ones I found are not. Just heat them up in a pan at 170-180 for 10-15 minutes to kill off any wild yeasts and bacteria, cool and pitch. This will also help break them apart which will impart more flavors for you. Also, the freezing will rupture a lot of the cell membranes, which will allow them to impart more flavors. Let us know what you go with and what you think of the results.

I'd have to agree with this. I used 4 lbs of raspberries (3# Oregon puree, 1# frozen) in 5 gallons of wheat beer recently, and the raspberries completely dominate the taste. Next time I make it, I'll probably just use the 3# can of puree for 5 gallons

 

[BogusOwnz]

Mind if I update alongside of you? I just racked 3lbs of frozen raspberries (pasturized 20 mins) with 6gals of beer on top.

I measured SG before and after mixing the fruit, just about a single point of difference. I haven't noticed any airlock activity either. Did you happen to measure SG as well? Just wondering because you said you had so much activity... wondering if maybe you had a stuck fermentation and the fruit woke the yeast up. You also have a higher fruit to beer ratio, that might explain as well.

How much volume did your fruit add?
How long are you letting it sit before bottling? I noticed you were thinking of a tertiary... I was thinking it might be ok, and just use a sterilized grain bag on the end of the racking cane.

Looking forward to trading notes with ya!

No feel free to update as much as you want the more info the better. You doing a 3 pound raspberry beer should help me with trying to figure this all out. Maybe when we are both done we can swap bottles?

Starting gravity was 1.049
after 1 week in primary it was at 1.019

After that week was when I racked in top of 5 pounds of raspberries. The 5 pounds id say added about half a gallon of volume to the beer. I ended up having to do open fermentation for the first day and night before I was able to put my water lock on. It has now been a week with the raspberries and I just did a gravity test, the beer is now at 1.010 I plan on leaving it in secondary for another week then bottling.

I will say that the taste so far is not what I wanted or expected it is just super tart and tastes like I ate a raw raspberry. This is my first ever attempt at adding adjuncts to a beer.

 

[Gman2]

I tasted mine yesterday and the 4 lbs of mixed berries are super tart also. I am hoping this will mellow out in the bottle. I have heard that after a few weeks the flavor decreases drastically. I hope so, because i do not want a beer this tart.....

 

[NuclearRich]

yikes... super tart is def. not what im looking for either. I tasted my gravity sample when I added the fruit, and it was def. tart, but I always allow myself some fault in premature beer, because it always mellows. I am going for just a hint of raspberry flavor, I want it to be beer still!
The 3lbs I added also contributed about a half gallon. I probably added a little too much water during pasturization, but thats fine - more beer in the long run!

I would be happy to trade bottles, bogus! I am planning to bottle in a little more than two weeks, and then condition for a good 3. I will certainly PM you when its ready!

 

[BogusOwnz]

sounds great i'm gunna be bottling in a week and then conditioning for 3 as well so we are just about on the same schedule.