Fruit Beer Succulent Strawberry Blonde

[NWAleDad]

bottled this weekend and all I can say is wow...I mean WOW! ended up with 7.1 ABV!! insane and this is really good, brewing this again. All my beer glases are dirty after a good weekend so i used SWMBO wine glass.

 

[Tizzomes]

I brewed his early this afternoon but made a few adjustments.I add an ounce of cascade instead of half and because of what was available I use 6 lbs of light pilsner LME, and 3 lbs wheat DME.Any thoughts king of new and no sure on what to expect.......

 

[smithnick0]

Just racked my beer onto 8 lbs of fresh strawberries that I halved and froze. Temp of beer was 54 degrees with strawberries. Looks good so far!

 

[smithnick0]

i didnt take a final gravity. SHould i have done this before or i racked onto the strawberries or should i do it when its all complete?

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

i didnt take a final gravity. SHould i have done this before or i racked onto the strawberries or should i do it when its all complete?

Without taking an FG reading, how did you know fermentation was complete? It won't hurt anything to take a reading after you rack off of the berries. I usually take it when I add the berries and have taken one again when I rack off of them just to see if there was any change. There hasn't been one. So as long as you know fermentation is complete, it doesn't matter when you take the reading.

 

[smithnick0]

Yeah I totally forgot to take it. I figured it had been 3+ weeks so it should have been done. I'll let this sit for another week and check it. Thanks!

 

[wolfnforest]

Bump. I've ordered the components for this recipe, but I have a couple questions. Have those that used frozen dole strawberries run into any problems? I just want to use something with preservatives in it. Thanks!

 

[Primevci]

I might be stupid im pretty new to brewing but i cant find anything called Extra Pale LME is there another name for it?

 

[NWAleDad]

Pale LME or Gold LME will work fine ask the folks at your LHBS.

 

[NWAleDad]

Bump. I've ordered the components for this recipe, but I have a couple questions. Have those that used frozen dole strawberries run into any problems? I just want to use something with preservatives in it. Thanks!

you want something that does NOT contain preservatives. I found organic strawberries from Trade Jose and this **** is good and still have 1.5 weeks in the bottle before ready (i snuck one last weekend ).

 

[pwndabear]

well, i have to say that the dole strawberries did the job well but you dont know what youre going to get with them. they have a chance to be very tart and if that is the case, you are going to get that tart off-flavor in your beer.

my beer has in a little over sweet because it finished very high but it also has a little bit of a tart aftertaste which, when trying one of the strawberries, i got a hint of. if you can afford it, go to your local hippie organic place and pick up a bag of frozen organic berries. IMO, i feel that they are much more sweet.

 

[smithnick0]

On a little off not last night i tried a Fruli strawberry beer. WOW, talk about a strong strawberry flavor!

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Bump. I've ordered the components for this recipe, but I have a couple questions. Have those that used frozen dole strawberries run into any problems? I just want to use something with preservatives in it. Thanks!

I've used Dole frozen many times and have never had a problem.

 

[wolfnforest]

Thanks for all of the advice! I've got a whole foods and trader joe's near, so I suppose I will go check out what they have. Can't wait to brew this beer.

 

[D_Nyholm]

I bought a 6 lb. bag of strawberries from Costco for $8. They specifically state on the label, no sugars or preservatives added, just individually quick frozen strawberries. I sure hope they are sweet enough since i don't want a tart strawberry flavor. I guess i'll have to thaw one and try it out before i rack onto it this coming weekend.

 

[NWAleDad]

Thanks for all of the advice! I've got a whole foods and trader joe's near, so I suppose I will go check out what they have. Can't wait to brew this beer.

I picked up 8 (1 lb) bags of Trader Joe's branded organic strawberries and it taste great

 

[gregger]

Are you all racking on top of frozen strawberries or have they been thawed?

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Frozen in my case.

 

[gregger]

Must be my problem. I froze fresh strawberries for about a week-and-a-half, then thawed, then racked on top of them. My beer has an almost weird-ish strawberry flavor, not exactly rotten, but close. At that point the fermentation temp was about 73 degrees. I decided to let it sit a few more months to see if the flavor subsides. The taste it has now though I can really tell it has great potential to be a great beer.

 

[NWAleDad]

I kept mine frozen, this is the best way to avoid contamination and the freezing kills avoids the need to sterilize the berries in vodka or something.

 

[NWAleDad]

I kept mine frozen, this is the best way to avoid contamination and the freezing kills avoids the need to sterilize the berries in vodka or something.

Wow that is barely coherent

I kept mine frozen, this is the best way to avoid contamination. The freezing avoids the need to sterilize the berries in vodka or something.

 

[wolfnforest]

Wow that is barely coherent

I kept mine frozen, this is the best way to avoid contamination. The freezing avoids the need to sterilize the berries in vodka or something.

No worries

 

[pwndabear]

this hobby definitely has its perks

 

[Tizzomes]

This would be my first fruit beer, so with that said would 1 week in primary be enough I've usually kept my brews in there for 3 weeks.Is it beneficial for the fruit to be added to the brew that early?
I was thinking 2 weeks in the primary than 1 week with fruit in secondary.I just don't want to ruin the batch....

 

[NWAleDad]

Here is what I did. 2 Weeks in primary, 1 week on fruit, 1 week in tertiary, and 3 weeks in bottle.

 

[pwndabear]

pretty much what i did too except i did 3 weeks primary

 

[smithnick0]

Mine has been on the strawberries a week today. I have not seen any bubbles come out of it since i put the strawberries in. Did anyone else not have ferminatation start back up? Ive been keeping it around 62-66 degrees

 

[nootay]

just because it doesnt bubble doesnt mean fermentation didnt occur. whats your gravity reading before and after adding the strawberries?

 

[D_Nyholm]

I added my strawberries 3 days ago and haven't seen any fermentation either. The strawberries are floating at the moment. I didn't take gravity readings either... oh well I did check the blonde that I used and that reached its fg. I am just hoping it is sweet and not tart! The strawberries were relatively sweet, just not super sweet like a later summer berry.

 

[smithnick0]

My OG was 1.060, and i didnt take a FG. I thought i would after it was on the strawberry. I should have done one before i added the strawberry though.