Sanity Check for Raspberry Sour...

[t0rin0]

Popped the top on the bucket last night and took a sample. Flavor was good, but would not want to loose any of the Raspberry flavor. Raspberries had all floated to the top. I could see the Raspberries on the very top possibly going bad just because they are not submerged in the liquid/beer. Does that make sense?

The raspberries are floating because there is yeast in there fermenting and pumping out CO2. Once they're fully consumed they'll probably fall to the bottom. Having them not fully submerged will not cause problems. Here is a picture of yeast eating away at some cherries in a quad I brewed a while back (they started at the bottom, floated during fermentation, then fell to the bottom again after a couple months):

Dont open the bucket until you're ready to take a sample, maybe a year after brewing. Its a bit late now but I agree with not adding the fruit until a few months before bottling/kegging.

 

[Lumbee]

OK...so I couldn't wait. It tasted great in the bucket, so I bottled it a few weeks ago, and cracked the first bottle this past week. I love it! Very clean, a little tart, and tons of Raspberry flavor. I have two more batches brewing where basically I followed the same process. One with blackberries, the other with Raspberries. Those will have more time to age/ferment with the fruit. Thanks again for all the input.

 

[AmandaK]

As others have mentioned, longer than 3 months and you may start to loose some fruit flavor and aroma as those compounds continue to be broken down by the mixed fermentation.

I did a Flanders Red on 8 lbs of tart cherries for ~8 months. Scoresheets came back complimenting me on the amount of tart cherry flavor I had gotten into the beer. It also smelled like cherry pie.

Was it the Roeselare? Was it the fresh tart cherries? Who knows.

 

[AmandaK]

I have two more batches brewing where basically I followed the same process. One with blackberries, the other with Raspberries. Those will have more time to age/ferment with the fruit. Thanks again for all the input.

Those will undoubtedly have more sourness and more good-funkiness. But that's a good thing!

Welcome to the world of sours!

 

[gamb0056]

I did a Flanders Red on 8 lbs of tart cherries for ~8 months. Scoresheets came back complimenting me on the amount of tart cherry flavor I had gotten into the beer. It also smelled like cherry pie.

Was it the Roeselare? Was it the fresh tart cherries? Who knows.

That's great! It was probably due to both. My point to OP was that the fruit flavor would likely be stronger at say, 3 months than 8. It's surprising how much a flanders (even sans cherries) can smell and taste like a cherry pie. This is making me thirsty!