Racking off fruit (pulp problem)

[JonBrew]

Hi all,

I've had a beer sitting on a decent chunk of mango for the last week and plan to rack to a tertiary fermenter this weekend. The mango was mashed before adding to the beer.

I had a peak at it last night and took a hydrometer reading. It transpires that the solid fruit parts have floated to the surface which is fine, however, from the hydrometer reading, there seems to be a lot of fruit pulp in suspension. I do not want this in the finished beer!

My bucket has a spigot about an inch from the bottom so my plan was to drain the beer from that spigot through a hose into another bucket but cover the end of the hose with a fine hopping bag. However, I'm concerned this may aerate the beer.

Any thoughts on whether it would or alternate techniques to get round this problem?

Cheers!

 

[JimRausch]

I would think that a cold crash and gelatin ought to pull the pulp out of suspension.

 

[rupert130]

It doesn't help you now, but next time put your mango mush in a dry hop bag made of a fine mesh. I have been doing this when adding fruit to beer and it has worked out quite well.

 

[azazel1024]

Rack using a siphon out of the bucket/carboy and cover the end of the siphon in a mesh bag, not the other way around. I do that often with fruit beers and it works well. Doesn't mean I never get a few floaters, but it is very, very minimal.

You'll also have to come to peace with the fact that you'll end up "losing" a little extra beer that you can't suck up because it is so pulp/fruit heavy and you can't realistically strain it out/siphon it up.

Also, tertiary carboy? Dang man, fruit beers are about the only thing I ever use a secondary for. Depends on what I am doing, but I either drop the fruit right in primary after primary fermentation has died down and then rack to secondary to then cold crash and bottle, or else I sometimes will rack to secondary on top of fruit, crash and bottle once it is finished secondary fermentation. Just kind of depends on if it is "floaty" fruit or stuff I know will likely settle down in to the trub.

 

[JonBrew]

Unfortunately cold crashing is not an option as I cant fit my fermentation bucket in the fridge. Would gelatine work on its own? Slightly warey of this though as I plan to bottle condition and dont want to much yeast to drop out.

Rupert - thanks, a fine hopping bag will most definitely be employed next time!

Any views on the aeration issue ?

 

[rupert130]

Unfortunately cold crashing is not an option as I cant fit my fermentation bucket in the fridge. Would gelatine work on its own? Slightly warey of this though as I plan to bottle condition and dont want to much yeast to drop out.

Rupert - thanks, a fine hopping bag will most definitely be employed next time!

Any views on the aeration issue ?

I wouldn't worry too much about aeration from the the mesh bag on the end of the hose if you can get it down to the bottom of the vessel you are planning to transfer to. However, the fact that it will be a "tertiary" concerns me, as you are bound to introduce O2 every time you transfer. If you have some way to flush with CO2 first, it would probably help.

 

[azazel1024]

I wouldn't worry about yeast drop out. If lagers can bottle condition without being re-yeasted after lagering at 36F for 4+ weeks, gelatin and a couple of days cold crashing isn't going to remove too much yeast.

I haven't used gelatin, but with a 2 day cold crash, I notice no difference in carbonation/bottle conditioning time. I do notice much clearer beers. I DO notice a difference between ales and lagers for bottle conditioning time. My lagers go for 2-4 weeks lagering before bottling and they often take 3 good weeks to be fully carbed when my ales generally only take 10-14 days to be fully carbed (when my basement is around 70F. In the winter and 65F down there, both take a good 5-7 days longer to carb up).

 

[JonBrew]

thanks to all for your input, it's really appreciated!

i note a concern around the racking to tertiary. on the subject of the exposure to oxygen this will cause, is it not likely that by bottle conditioning, the additional oxygen the beer is exposed to will be consumed by the remaining yeast as they carbonate the beer?

apologies if this is completely ridiculous question!

 

[azazel1024]

thanks to all for your input, it's really appreciated!

i note a concern around the racking to tertiary. on the subject of the exposure to oxygen this will cause, is it not likely that by bottle conditioning, the additional oxygen the beer is exposed to will be consumed by the remaining yeast as they carbonate the beer?

apologies if this is completely ridiculous question!

No, for the tiny bit of fermentation that occurs to bottle condition, the yeast will not consume all of the oxygen in the bottle. Plus bottle caps are oxygen permeable. Not very, but it'll oxidize between the latent oxygen in the bottle as well as what will exchange within the bottle itself.

Besides, you can get a LOT of oxidizing of hop bits and other parts of the beer in just a matter of hours or days before you bottle.

Very mild oxidization can be a good thing with some styles, like barley wines and RIS. The big heavy beers can stand to use a little in a lot of cases (I mean MILD oxidization that occurs from aging in a bottle for months to years). You don't want a ton, which can occur from multiple transfers between vessels. Obv, the more careful the transfer, the less oxidization occurs.

This is why I almost never use a secondary any more. I notice no difference in beer quality (flavor or clarity) by using a secondary and it increases the chance of oxidization from extra transfers. Plus it is more time and effort to do it. I only do it with fruit beers occasionally to keep fruit from "sinking" in to the torb and/or because with some fruits it makes it a lot easier to keep gunk from getting in to the bottle in the end.

 

[JonBrew]

that makes sense i guess.

as it happens, this beer is in fact a big 12% abv barley wine/quad hybrid. i'm going to oak it in the tertiary for some time and then dry hop toward the end. think i'm crazy?!

anyway i know that sherry like flavours are permitable/desired in bigger styles and oxidation flavours are part of a genuine barrel aged beer so hopefully my final product wont suffer too much as a result.

wish me luck!

 

[azazel1024]

Probably won't. A little of me would still want to add in just a tiny bit of sugar (an ounce or two maybe) to the tertiary to flush the O2 out with a little CO2 production, especially if it is going to be aged in there a long time.

 

[JonBrew]

Yeah I hear ya! Sounds like a good plan. Thanks.

 

[ArcLight]

In my experience with fruit, 1 week may not be enough.
I usually use puree and let it sit for a few weeks.

 

[azazel1024]

Oh, I missed the week thing. Well pureed/mashed fruit should probably be given 10 days minimum before racking off of it. I try to give it at least 2 weeks.