Oregon Fruit Puree...

[Pelikan]

I'm doing a raspberry stout next time around, and am going to use a can of the Oregon puree. So I was thinking about 3 weeks in the primary to let it totally ferment and condition a bit, then racking to a 5 gallon carboy on top of the puree for 2 weeks. Sound gravy?

 

[BigKahuna]

When I used it....I dumped it into the primary after the second day. Then racked to let it clear...it makes quite a hazy mess.

 

[Pelikan]

I'm doing a stout, so I guess that doesn't much matter (hopefully, anyhow). Did you see any notable or vigorous secondary fermentation after adding the puree?

 

[CBBaron]

I think you will need to rack to a different container after the puree is added. Fruit can leave quite a mess in the fermenter and can be tricky to siphon away from. Adding it late in the primary is probably your bet bet or plan on a tertiary.

Having fruit haze in a stout will affect the flavors of the stout, in particular the stability of the beer for storage.
Craig

 

[Kilgore_Trout]

When I used it....I dumped it into the primary after the second day. Then racked to let it clear...it makes quite a hazy mess.

He's not kidding.

Fruit is tough to rack away from, especially if you don't wait long enough.

I have to rack off of the fruit, let it sit a few days, and then rack to bottling bucket to get all of the fruit out.

 

[Pelikan]

So, the ideal path might be something like let it ferment out in the primary, add Oregon puree, let it sit for about another two weeks -- then rack to secondary and let it sit for about another week, then bottle?

 

[AmyS]

What I've read (Jamil & another source) suggests putting the fruit in the 2ndary fermenter first, then racking to secondary. So, dump your can of fruit in your carboy then rack the beer on top of it.

 

[Pelikan]

What I've read (Jamil & another source) suggests putting the fruit in the 2ndary fermenter first, then racking to secondary. So, dump your can of fruit in your carboy then rack the beer on top of it.

Yeah, everything I've read has more or less told me to do this too, but the guys above are steering me differently? The reason I went out and bought a secondary to begin with was the fact that a lot of folks were recommending fruit in the secondary. But now the guys are telling me fruit in the primary, then rack to secondary for clearing...

...so we have two camps: fruit in the primary after primary fermentation has more or less finished, then secondary for clearing, OR put the fruit in the secondary, rack on top of it, then let it sit for two or so weeks.

Anyone with a fair amount of experience with fruit (particularly Oregon) care to enlighten me?

 

[HairyDogBrewing]

I'm making an apricot wheat with Oregon apricot puree.
Brewed on 11/11, pitched Notty, fermented at ~64 for one week.
Added the puree yesterday evening and the airlock is bubbling steadily.
I'm planning to go another week in primary and see if it needs a secondary before kegging.
I'm prepared to be underwhelmed, because the puree wasn't very intense in terms of flavor or aroma, and its being diluted about 15:1.

I also have pectic enzyme.
Any opinions?

 

[Kilgore_Trout]

I'm prepared to be underwhelmed, because the puree wasn't very intense in terms of flavor or aroma, and its being diluted about 15:1.

One can probably isn't going to give too overpowering of a taste. A can of peach puree in my last wheat was noticeable, but I probably will do more next time. Softer fruits are tough to get across strong without using extract.

 

[scinerd3000]

So, the ideal path might be something like let it ferment out in the primary, add Oregon puree, let it sit for about another two weeks -- then rack to secondary and let it sit for about another week, then bottle?

i would deffinitly go this route. Also carful not to add too much friut. I did AHB chocolate rasberry stout but used real berries and like an idiot i added too much. Needless to say tis been mellowing for about 5 months now. Its getting better. I figure in a year it will be drinkable?

 

[Pelikan]

What would you say is too much? I have a can of Oregon raspberry puree, and was going to use the whole thing. The guys a few posts back make me think it's not enough...

 

[Fat Guy Brewing]

Try the one can this time and see how you like it. You can always add more next time.

Read some of the fruit recipes here, I think most people add it to the secondary. I have added fruit at the end of a boil and did not get much flavor. The yeast tend to eat up the fruit flavoring. For my latest, I added it in the secondary and have good, noticeable flavor and color. It was a PITA though. I put fresh raspberries in the secondary for a few days. Then racked over to the bucket for a temporary holding tank while I cleaned out my secondary, then transferred it back into the secondary to clear for a couple more weeks. It went from secondary to bucket then back to secondary in the same night. Essentially a 3 stage fermentation.

 

[scinerd3000]

Try the one can this time and see how you like it. You can always add more next time.

+1 on above

 

[SSRider]

I brewed an Irish stout and racked it to secondary on top of 3 cans of oregon fruit's bing cherries. I drained the syrup which in hindsight I should have added to enhance the flavor. The fermentation took off again after adding the fruit. I let it sit for 10 days, it should have sat for longer to get more flavor though.

I also did an American wheat on top of Blackberries. This time I added the syrup and it helped the flavor tremendously. Fermentation took off so hard in the secondary it blew the airlock off. I assume its from the yeast eating up the sugars from the syrup. I hooked up a blow off tube and let it go for a week, then cold crash to settle the fruit and then siphoned it off through a piece of cheese cloth to catch the solids. it turned out very good

I followed the advice of others to add the fruit in the seconday, although Im sure it would work at the end of the primary.

 

[Pelikan]

I brewed an Irish stout and racked it to secondary on top of 3 cans of oregon fruit's bing cherries. I drained the syrup which in hindsight I should have added to enhance the flavor. The fermentation took off again after adding the fruit. I let it sit for 10 days, it should have sat for longer to get more flavor though.

I also did an American wheat on top of Blackberries. This time I added the syrup and it helped the flavor tremendously. Fermentation took off so hard in the secondary it blew the airlock off. I assume its from the yeast eating up the sugars from the syrup. I hooked up a blow off tube and let it go for a week, then cold crash to settle the fruit and then siphoned it off through a piece of cheese cloth to catch the solids. it turned out very good

I followed the advice of others to add the fruit in the seconday, although Im sure it would work at the end of the primary.

How many cans of the Blackberry did you use? I'm thinking I might add some fresh, organic raspberries in addition to the canned. If I were to do this, would I need to grind them up in a blender, or just add them whole? Any steps for sterilizing the berries, or just toss 'em in there?

 

[SSRider]

How many cans of the Blackberry did you use? I'm thinking I might add some fresh, organic raspberries in addition to the canned. If I were to do this, would I need to grind them up in a blender, or just add them whole? Any steps for sterilizing the berries, or just toss 'em in there?

I added 2 full 15 oz cans. I sanitized the outside of the can then opened it up and dumped everything in. I used a funnel to get them into the secondary and smashed them up as I pushed them in. Right before kegging I added just the syrup from the can for extra flavoring. If you use fresh, I think you need to sanitize them somehow or they will have wild yeast in there. Some one else will have to chime in for steps on sanitizing fresh berries.

 

[SSRider]

Also its the cans of Oregon fruit from safeway, not the puree's from lhbs.

 

[Pelikan]

Also its the cans of Oregon fruit from safeway, not the puree's from lhbs.

Ahh...the Oregon puree can I have is (I believe) 49 ounces, so I guess I'll roll with just that for right now and see what happens.

 

[Fat Guy Brewing]

Here is the method I used for adding fresh raspberries. Read through the recipes here to get some other ideas as well.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f75/raspberry-ale-55316/

 

[jcadwell]

So ive searched the internet to try and find some Oregon strawberry puree to add to a blonde thats in the primary right now and i cant find it anywhere... any tips on where to find this?

 

[Fat Guy Brewing]

I would try making your own from fresh strawberries, those usually aren't too expensive at the grocery store. Worst case, you buy a bag of frozen ones. Search for some threads on how to treat frozen fruit, there have been some threads on it before.

 

[david_42]

About the only time I use a secondary is when I use fruit, be it Oregon Puree or home-grown blackberry muck. That minimizes the time between the fruit add and kegging.

You probably won't see much fermentation.

 

[jcadwell]

Thanks guys, i found a thread on a guy who made his own puree, I think im going to try that and put it in a secondary for a week or so.

 

[Pelikan]

Just discovered this thread has been resurrected from the ashes...

...in terms of my own experience, I find the advice to add it to the primary was spot on. It kicked fermentation back into action for about two days, then gradually settled.

Even with two stages of clearing (ie: primary, then secondary), there was still some haze left in the brew, mostly because of my greedy transferring procedures. But if you're careful with the transfers, a good schedule to go by is 4 weeks primary (add puree after 2 weeks), then 1-2 weeks in the secondary. Again, puree goes in the primary.

 

[Beezer94]

Resurrecting an old thread here. I was considering brewing a blackberry wheat for a wedding in mid September. Do you mash high to get a decent FG? Does the fruit puree ferment almost completely? I see a lot of recipes for a 1.05+ OG before they add 3 lbs of fruit puree (to 5gal batch) and that would seem to make 7-8% ABV brews. I'm looking to make a 5-6% ABV after fruit.

Basically I was thinking 5lbs wheat malt, 2lbs uk pale malt mashed at 156F, then add 3 lbs blackberry puree to secondary. Was going heavy on the wheat so that final beer still 50% wheat.