Sanitizing fruit with no rinse sanitizer, can it be done?

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brewd00d

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I have read that if you sanitized fruit by boiling, some of the flavors are gone and something about the pectin.

I wanted to do a late addition of strawberries into a lager im making (which are already fermenting with strawberries, i want more) but im wondering if i cut them up into a quarters and rinse them with some luke warm water with some no rinse sanitizer if that would be good enough?

Whats your thought?
 
Boy, I wouldn't. I mean, I know it's "no rinse" but it's not exactly for drinking, either.

I don't put fruit in my beer, but I use fruit all the time in my wines. I use campden tablets (potassium metabisulfite) in my wine musts/fruits and that works great.
 
i meant just a 2-3 minute contact time to sanitize them before i put them into an active fermentation.

i dont want to boil then add them because i dont wanna loose any flavor or have them get soggy and pale looking.
 
i meant just a 2-3 minute contact time to sanitize them before i put them into an active fermentation.

i dont want to boil then add them because i dont wanna loose any flavor or have them get soggy and pale looking.

I don't think 2-3 minutes contact time is enough to thoroughly sanitize fruit, but even so I wouldn't use star-san on it. That's just got such a "yuck" factor and the fruit WILL absorb the sanitizer.

Why not use the k-meta? That's the standard for wine making.
 
I think it would be ok, just santize them after you cut the tops off, rinse them with some distilled water, then quickly cut them with a sanized knife and chuck em in. Remember, you are putting them into alcohol :)
 
A lot of people on here seem to use vodka to sanitize fruit, as it is potable and doesn't affect the flavor significantly (in small quantities).
 
I think it would be ok, just santize them after you cut the tops off, rinse them with some distilled water, then quickly cut them with a sanized knife and chuck em in. Remember, you are putting them into alcohol :)

that was my thought too.

i guess there only one way to find out.
 
The only sanitizing I have done on fruit beers is to mix the fruit with 1/2 cup of vodka and pour through a strainer. I have done this with strawberries and raspberries with no contamination issues.
FWIW, an issue I experienced using whole strawberries was that the batch came our very tart. It's drinkable but not at all what I was expecting. I believe the reason to be that the strawberries were not quite ripe enough. I used frozen ones from Costco and I did not even think that they could be picked slightly "green". Strawberries are one fruit that does not ripen after picking like bananas or apples.
If I were to use strawberries again, I would try to pick them here locally next month and freeze until I need them.
 
The only sanitizing I have done on fruit beers is to mix the fruit with 1/2 cup of vodka and pour through a strainer. I have done this with strawberries and raspberries with no contamination issues.
FWIW, an issue I experienced using whole strawberries was that the batch came our very tart. It's drinkable but not at all what I was expecting. I believe the reason to be that the strawberries were not quite ripe enough. I used frozen ones from Costco and I did not even think that they could be picked slightly "green". Strawberries are one fruit that does not ripen after picking like bananas or apples.
If I were to use strawberries again, I would try to pick them here locally next month and freeze until I need them.

thanks for the heads up, the ones i got were locally picked, and from what was said, to pesticides were used.

ill do it. worst case scenario is i know what NOT to do next time.
 
Heating will cause some flavor loss, but infection will cause total flavor loss. If I do post fermentation fruit additions I pasteurize the fruit. Heat to 170 F for 10 minutes.
 
To do that you'd have to puree the berries, then boil them. Look guys, the bacteria thing is waaay overthought of course you clean everything as much as possiible, but people have been making beer and wine under deplorable conditions sanitation wise, and they made drinkable booze (I understand we are aiming for something better than that, but) some cultures throw fruit in a big pot, spit in it to get fermentation started, and then stir it with a hogs leg. Do what you want man, im sure it will turn out great, and if it sucks then you'll know to do something different. The idea is to continue on in the quest of knowledge on how to make better beer. Well im glad we all got to have this little talk :drunk:
 
I always add my fruit in the secondary. I use frozen fruit, thaw it and puree it in a sanitized blender. I figure that between the alcohol and strong yeast presence in the beer, no other organism has a chance and the yeast will scrub any oxygen that gets introduced.
 
Just did some fruit stuff today. I pureed the fruit (20 lbs) and put it musilin bags. Drop the temp of the boil to 175-170 so as to not set the pectins. 10 minutes. Finish chilling the wort.
 
Just did some fruit stuff today. I pureed the fruit (20 lbs) and put it musilin bags. Drop the temp of the boil to 175-170 so as to not set the pectins. 10 minutes. Finish chilling the wort.

I just finished Sam Calagione's book Extreme Brewing and he often adds the fruit after flame out and below 170 like genes did. I don't hear about this technique much on this site, usually everbody adds the fruit during the secondary. You'll have to let us know how it turns out.
 
I have used this method several times and the fruit aroma is phenomenal!!
 
timely thread... I've just made a 5gal batch of wheat beer with hefe yeast and plan on adding about 4 pounds of raspberry to that one. I made another 5gal batch with American Ale yeast and am adding 4 pounds of blueberries to that one. Thanks all...
 
As mentioned before in this thread there us flavor loss. But, the beer is very well balanced. The color is always brilliant.
 
Threadjack!

I wanna do Cherries. Can I just dump em right in the secondary for a week or so...any thoughts on this? Fresh, picked, Bings. Not cut up, not pureed, just the whole damn fruit...in all its plump beautiful bright glory!
 
meatwad said:
Threadjack!

I wanna do Cherries. Can I just dump em right in the secondary for a week or so...any thoughts on this? Fresh, picked, Bings. Not cut up, not pureed, just the whole damn fruit...in all its plump beautiful bright glory!

You actually should try to expose the pits if your going to do whole cherries. The pits of stone fruit actually have a lot of almond-like aroma to add as they are in the same family(prunus). I have a friend who makes apricot brandy that smells just like sweet almonds just from leaving in the pits
 
I had the same question, and was going to talk to the Star San people to see what they thought. Their offices were closed (early morning) so I googled. I got this thread first, then another answer— Chlorox.

According to the Olkahoma Cooperative Extension and the FDA:

Federal regulations permit the use of sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) in washing produce (21 CFR Part 173).

The conditions:

The concentration of sanitizer in the wash water must not exceed 2000 ppm hypochlorite.

The produce must be rinsed with potable water following the chlorine treatment.


Having said that, most sanitizing operations, unless the produce is very dirty, will not need a sanitizer concentration greater than 200 ppm total chlorine to achieve the desired sanitizing effect – provided contact times of one minute or greater (typically sufficient to achieve a thorough kill).



Of course, do this with UNCUT fruit, with an impermeable skin, and don't overdo it.

As with any new technique, try a small batch first.
 
I make a wheat beer where I rack it onto a few packages of frozen raspberries... I do not sanitize, boil them or anything... raspberries are likely washed and flash frozen, thus probably fairly clean and the beer already has a high enough alcohol content to take care of any bacteria in there. That is the key... if you add them early on that is where you will get an issue, or if you are using non frozen fruit with likely a much higher amount of bacteria on them.

I was cautious of doing this at first but have done it 3 times now with success... I find wheat beer and raspberry flavour are great together.
 
With frozen fruit distributed nationally the FDA requirements for processors have you covered. Problems would come if the packers are cheating or if you are using fresh fruit.
 

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