Secondary Fruit Fermentation

[duggyb]

Ok our local homebrew club is running a bit of a "kit Hack" where we got to purchase some wort fresh from a local commercial brewery and then throw our own twist on it.

we could either reboil, add fruit,add hops do whatever.

I chose to do a Peach Ale currently the wort is in first Fermentation with Wyeast American Ale in a 6 G glass carboy (5.2G worth)

I have 7.5lbs of frozen peaches i want to thaw out and mash up then run secondary

I also have 2 oz of hops i want to dry hop to add some kick, when should i put these in?


I don't own another fermentor but am going to buy one and just wondering if I should get a pail and a large one for extra room? or stay glass? do they make larger carboys?

I was told to place fruit on the bottom and then rack over that is this correct?

any other tips?

Thanks
duggyb

 

[Kent88]

There is a bit of a debate over how to add fruit to secondary. Some people like to just throw it in the fermenter and siphon on top of it, counting on the alcohol and low pH to keep any unwanted microbes at bay. Others boil their fruit briefly to make sure it is sanitized. I think I've even heard of some people who put their fruit in the fermenter with a little water and add a campden tablet a day before they siphon on it.

If you feel like gambling a bit, just put the peaches in there and siphon right on. If you aren't worried about the fruit being a little "cooked", pasteurize it with heat. If you can afford to dilute the beer a bit and have some time the day before, use a campden tablet.

I am doing my first fruit-in-secondary beer and I put about a half pound of raspberries in a small container and let them sit in the oven at 190F until I was satisfied they were pasteurized and so far the gallon of wheat beer I siphoned on it looks free from mold and bad bacteria.

As for a fermenter, you probably want something glass with a little extra headspace as adding fruit will restart fermentation, sometimes vigorously.