New to Fruit - What To Do?

[sharp63]

I have a base #9 clone sitting in a primary right now.

I'll be racking this on Friday or Saturday and want to do try to use blueberrys instead of apricots. I've never done a fruit beer before, so I need some help.

1) How much fruit do I use?
2) What type of fruit do I use (fresh, frozen, canned in syrup, etc.)
3) This is too late, but what are the advantages of adding blueberrys to either the boiling wort or adding them directly to the primary? From what I understand, putting them in the secondary gives the beer more of the fruits true flavor.

Thanks!

 

[dwarven_stout]

1) This depends on the type of fruit, type of base beer, method of addition, and most of all personal preference. Blueberries take a little more to achieve a "fruit flavor" than say, cherries or raspberries. Strawberries take a *lot* more. With blueberries, you'd probably be looking at 4-5lbs in the secondary, but keep a bottle of extract on hand just in case you come to bottling and are not satisfied with the flavor that you have.

2) Each has its own benefits and drawbacks. Fresh can mean you know where it's from, no pesticides etc, but the flavor can be pretty variable. If you use fresh, make sure it's ripe! Frozen (and bagged, from the store) has already been pasteurized, so you can pretty much add it directly to the secondary after thawing. Canned fruit puree is the way a lot of people around here go.

3) Don't boil fruit unless you like the taste of cooked fruit in beer. Boiling also sets the pectin in the fruit, which will add haze to your finished beer.

 

[boydak]

I used a flat of blueberries (fresh) we juiced them and got about 1 gallon of juice. added it at flame out and let sit for a few minurtes.

Tasted great.

 

[sharp63]

I just want to dump my blueberries into the carboy before racking, right? So they on the bottom, not the top or mixed in or anything, right?

 

[sharp63]

Also, I'll probably use Coopers drops for carbonating and mixing in priming sugar to the bottling bucket, should I stir it up before bottling to move the blueberry flavor at all?

 

[pericles]

AMOUNT: The amount of fruit you add will vary based on your taste. As little as a quarter pound of fruit per gallon of beer will give you a very subtle addition that might be appropriate for a #9 clone - it's not like it was screaming APRICOT to begin with! I've also seen recipes that called for more than a full pound per gallon (my disastrous raspberry spritzer, for instance) and which were completely overpowering. Sometimes that's what you want though!

SANITATION: Not everyone sanitizes their fruit, but my feeling is that it's nice to do so in an overabundance of caution. I boil in 1 cup of water, and then chill to room temperature before adding to the secondary. Other methods I've seen are the use of a vodka solution, or toasting the fruit in the oven. Boiling releases some of the juice, which helps with homogeneity IMHO, but others really like the additional flavor toasting gives.

METHOD: Include the fruit addition at secondarying: sanitize your carboy, then add the fruit, then rack your beer on top. Some of the fruit might float, but don't worry about it. After a week or two, rack from a secondary to a tertiary fermenter, and give it another week to settle and get the flavors going. I NEVER secondary anything else, but it's always worked best this way for me with fruit beers.

NOTA BENE: In re some of the previous comments. . . (1) do NOT mix your beer after fermentation has begun unless you intentionally want to aerate it. The action of the yeast, osmosis, and normal convection processes will cause the fruit flavor to mingle with the wort all on its own. If you stir it, you'll oxegenate the wort and get off flavors. Veto.

Sharp63: why would you add both coopers drops AND priming sugar? Pick one or the other, or else I worry that you'll over carbonate and chance bottle bombs. Also, same advice on stirring: just say no.