My Cotton Candy Hefe, I hope.

[Diznutz129]

I am trying to brew a cotton candy Hefe, 1 gal. brew
OK, I have a Hefe in the initial fermentation stage. I added about 20 fresh frozen Cotton Candy grapes and 10 fresh frozen strawberries towards the end of my wort brew. I intend to add more fresh (again frozen to kill off any wild yeast) grapes and berries to the second fermentation. I also have cotton candy sugar that I want to use to prime before bottling. Any suggestions to my procedure or finish appreciated.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Freezing fruit doesn't kill the wild microbes, so they may contaminate the batch.

Heat is the only way to kill the wild yeast and bacteria. You could maybe cut them up, add a little water, and bring to about 160-180°F.

For the priming, use a priming sugar calculator to determine the amount needed and a scale to measure it. Dissolve the sugar in hot water before adding it.

Cheers

 

[rburrelli]

Why would you take a hefe and do that to it? Don’t get me wrong. I hope it comes out great, but I would think another base ale would be better to start with. Banana, clove and grape and strawberry?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Banana, clove and grape and strawberry?

Lots of people like fruity Belgian beers with a bit of phenol. They might contain any/all of these flavors in balanced amounts.

I'd prefer this be called a "fruit beer" to avoid confusion with actual hefeweizens (weissbier) without weird adjuncts, but whatever.

 

[mashpaddled]

Sulfates will kill pretty much anything growing on the fruit. Freezing will kill a lot of microbes but not guaranteed to kill everything. High proof alcohol or an iodine-based sanitizer will get pretty close to everything as well.

I would not expect to get a lot out of those cotton candy grapes. They are super sweet because they are full of sugar with little flavor. When all that sugar ferments out you'll lose a lot of what makes those grapes taste the way they do.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Sulfates will kill pretty much anything growing on the fruit.

On the fruit, yes, but not in the fruit. Same for ethanol. They won't penetrate enough to kill everything.

*Sulfites not sulfates

 

[Jako]

i add fruit after a few days of fermenting with 0 issues. i made a blueberry cyser with 5 pounds of the blue guys and i ended with a silver on it. luck? meh i don't think so.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Cyser isn't beer. Beer suffers much higher consequences from contamination.

The consequences of contamination in wines is almost nothing. In beer however, wild microbes can produce bottle bombs or particularly nasty off-flavors.

Congrats on the medal though

 

[Diznutz129]

Why would you take a hefe and do that to it? Don’t get me wrong. I hope it comes out great, but I would think another base ale would be better to start with. Banana, clove and grape and strawberry?

Well I am trying to dupe a cotton candy Hefe that was brewed at a craft brew pub in PA. True it was a bit sweet, but the flavor was to my liking.

 

[Diznutz129]

Understand on the freezing of the fruit. Maybe bad advise from a LHBS. Still looking at adding some more fruit to the 2nd fermentation as a boiled sauce. Sound like a plan?

 

[RPh_Guy]

I suggest lower Pasteurization temps, not boiling.

 

[Jako]

Cyser isn't beer. Beer suffers much higher consequences from contamination.

The consequences of contamination in wines is almost nothing. In beer however, wild microbes can produce bottle bombs or particularly nasty off-flavors.

Congrats on the medal though

My thought process was some alcohol and healthy yeast to overwhelm any bad yeast or bacteria. A health dose of bro science. what can go wrong.

Could be why the last time i tried to make a blueberry wheat i had a infection that ruined 4 batches in a row. but that was two years ago. thanks for the good information!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Something like this is likely what the brewery used. https://amoretti.com/collections/tt...dy-artisan-flavor?_pos=2&_sid=916ef4bc6&_ss=r
Cotton candy is just sugar and probably 100 % fermentable, so you won’t get flavor, just more alcohol. Welcome to the hobby tell us how your brew turns out.