Working with fruit.. and honey

[Mermaid]

Still madly in love with Avery's "Sixteen" (the Belgian saison with peaches, honey, and jasmine flowers)

I'm thinking of creating something similar, but with my own twist on it (because I can, because it's fun)

Will be doing a partial mash / extract for the malts (Belgian 2-row, maybe some flaked wheat, and some light DME) will probably use noble hops, but would like to have the peaches and honey still present when the brew is finished.

I've seen different takes on when to add the fruit / fruit puree and whether or not honey should be added at flameout, or after a few days in the primary (or even waiting until secondary). I'll likely be doing a 5.5 gallon batch, looking for something that can be ready to drink in a few months (rather than 6 months).

Would like to use some of my stored Wyeast 3864 (washed from a brew I did earlier this summer), or maybe the Belgian Ardennes.

For the fruit I'm thinking peaches or apricot, and some orange blossom honey (since it's light in color). Would like to keep the honey fragrance as well as a whisper in the taste as well, would like the fruit to be present but not overpowering. How much honey is usually added? Would I still want to use a sugar/belgian candi, etc. ?

 

[avidhomebrewer]

I usually add the fruit to secondary if I use puree or if I'm using whole, in the boil for the last 15 minutes. About 10-15# of whole for a 5 gallon batch or, what I've had good success with in the past, is to use about 3-4 frozen concentrate juice (100% juice, no blends) that I add to secondary. I don't mix any water with this; just dump in the thawed concentrate and it's all set. As for the honey, I would add about 2-3# and skip the candi sugar, not unless you really want to make a strong brew. Make a big starter.

 

[Mermaid]

Ahhh perfect! I have read a few posts where folks put the fruit into the secondary.

Yeah, I was going to make a starter, add some yeast nutrient too (that worked great for the dubbel that's in the secondary). 2-3 lbs. should be doable.

Have read a few folks who had good success with the Oregon fruit puree, that would probably work.

Definitely don't want another big beer hanging around here - I'll have one calorie bomb to drink (and share) as it is