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Stopping secondary fermentation when adding fruit

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Samuelouellette

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I'm planning to make a peach Weisen. The thing is, when I add the fruit puree in secondary, I want the fermentation to stop. So my plan is to cold crash primary, rack beer on top of puree in secondary while adding Potassium sorbate and Campden tablet. I'm not sure of the amount needed to kill/sterilise the yeast.

Sounds good?:tank:
 
I would concur with your plan. The quantities listed on the bottles should be good, but usually I use 1 crushed campden tablet per gallon and (if I remember right, not looking at my bottle) it's 1/2tsp of potassium sorbate per gallon. It's usually best to add these about 2 days prior to racking to secondary so you can be sure that you arrest fermentation.

If you're planning on bottling using the yeast and sugar method, keep in mind the above methods won't work because you won't have the fermentation required to create Co2. (So kegging is your best option.)
 
If you just want to add straight peach flavor, why not just use peach flavor extract?
 
Yes I am curious as well, made many a fruit beer and a few Wiezens, this is the first time I've heard of killing the yeast before adding the fruit in the secondary. Why not just use the extract?
 
Thanks for the response revco. So I'll add them at the end of primary and I do have a kegging system.

Talgrath: I could do that, but my goal is to have sweetness associated with the fruit without adding lactose.Kinda like the beer Fruili (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruli). I did do in the past a strawberry ale with lactose and a low attenuation yeast and the taste/flavor wasn't the best.

Blkwater_brewer: Same. I saw a thread in here that mentioned this issue(https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/how-do-i-stop-fermentation-188324/), but for wine and I was wondering if someone did it with beer. I know some people cold crash, then add fruit puree and maintain the temperature, but I don't like to rely on this in case the unfermented sugar gets eaten later and ends up being bottle bombs (bottling with my keg system)
 
What I meant is to have a beer that has not only the aroma/flavor of peach but also some sweetness. Extracts doesn't add sweetness to beer so some people suggest to add lactose to add some sweetness with the extract. I am just wondering if it is possible to only add peach puree and to have both flavor/ aroma and sweetness from the puree.

My mistake for the confusion
 
I think your idea + force carbonating is the best. This is how I made my sweet apple cider. Just killed with potassium sorbate 1/2 tsp per gallon, racked to a keg, and added sugar.

I do wonder if killing the yeast is even needed when kegging, though. Not sure how much fermentation is gonna be going on if you leave the keg chilled at 40F until you finish it off. Even if it does ferment slightly, you'll just need that much less co2 from your tank to serve.
 
I'm working on a tart cherry Belgian red. Primaried on whole cherries, transferred yesterday to secondary with cherry puree. Plan to cold crash, then do the K-meta (campden) and Sorbate combo and back sweeten. Sterilizing to maintain the sweetness. Just as you did Samuel. Sorbate is 1/2 tsp per gal, I think campden tablets require 1 tablet per gallon.
 
Keep us informed of your tart cherry Belgian red Kegtoe. It sounds delicious!

As for my experiment, currently the the wort is fermenting since 6 febuary (friday) with S-05 with a water bath/soaked t-shirt @ 65F. In 5 days, I will be adding gelatin, then cold crashing it.
 
Beer is finished and I made an little experiment with one bottle conditioned at room temperature and the others at fridge temperature.

After one month, the F.G stayed the same for the fridge bottles, F.G is 1.020. It taste GREAT :mug: a great brew with a collaboration from my GF.

The F.G was 1.016 for the bottle that was conditioned at room temp, taste was less sweet and a more pronounced peach flavor and a bit more carbed. We both liked the fridge bottles better.

In conclusion, even with the potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate, fermentation continued but at a much slower pace. Maybe a bit more campden tablets and Sorbate would of helped but I'm not too shure that's good for our health.


I'm working on a tart cherry Belgian red. Primaried on whole cherries, transferred yesterday to secondary with cherry puree. Plan to cold crash, then do the K-meta (campden) and Sorbate combo and back sweeten. Sterilizing to maintain the sweetness. Just as you did Samuel. Sorbate is 1/2 tsp per gal, I think campden tablets require 1 tablet per gallon.

How's the belgian red doing?

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