When To Add Fruit To My Beer

pappabell

New Member
Trial Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2015
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I`m making a Belgian style fruit beer.Have it all figured out except when to add the 3.3 lb. can of sterile harvest peach puree and the cinnamon vanilla soaked oak cube liquid to the beer.Any thought to when would be the best time to do so?The beer it self is a Belgian blonde ale beefed up alittle bit.And,Should I add a touch of acid to this?
 
pappabell said:
Should I add a touch of acid to this?
Not sure if beer and acid go well together....never tried myself. :?
 
Charle P says to add fruit after the boil, and let it sit for 15-20 minutes at 150-180°F. In his other book, he says it can be added to the secondary for 5-7 days. Make sure there's headspace. The fruit will ferment.
 
Yes,Thanks for the replys,Think ill stick to my original plans.Since the peaches are all ready sterile,Think ill use a 6 1/2 gallon carboy,put the peaches and cinnamon vanilla oak liquid in first then rack the primary into that.1 1/2 gallon head space in case it wants to fire up again.But will keep a close eye on it for the first few days.Add a touch of clearing agent into it and let it go until it clears.Then priming sugar in bottling bucket,rack,and fill bottles.Sounds like a good plan......... :D
 
add some Acid? William S. Burroughs agrees.

When to add fruit - I have used a few different processes;
1. secondary - racked on top of loose fruit - fruit will rise to top and can clog siphon or transfer small chunks
2. secondary - transferred beer first and dropped fruit in (inside mesh bag) - this can clog siphon but you can also pull bag out priory to bottling as it will be floating. Use sterilized tongs.
3. primary - drop fruit straight into primary after fermentation (or at least primary fermentation) is complete.

I would let primary complete before adding fruit as the off gassing of yeast could push fruit aromas out. I have never used puree but have read this is the best of all worlds - low maintenance and best fruit character. I think real fruit also waters down the beer slightly. I just prefer the real thing. Check out The Mad Fermentationist as he works with fruit quite a bit and did trials with real vs. puree vs. syrup. He is also great about answering questions.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20140516_181101_1.jpg
    IMG_20140516_181101_1.jpg
    160.7 KB · Views: 679
Thank-you bret America,I hope The Mad Fermentationist chimes in here and gives me his 2 cents worth also.
 
When to add Fruit

From personal experience, the best results for fruit beers have been added post fermentation. This allows the lighter, more delicate, fruits to keep their aromatic qualities instead of the yeast blowing them off with CO2 production. Some fruits also produce vegetal qualities when boiled so we do not recommend adding them to your boil. So with that in mind, there have been recommendations to start with 1 lb to 1 gallon ratio of real fruit to volume of beer. Remember, you can always add more, but you can’t take it away. The best results I’ve seen have used a mixture of puree and real fruit. This helps with both the flavor and aroma complexities. Just like using multiple types of hops in a double IPA adds complexity, so does different type of fruit additions. Also remember that introducing fruits that contain sugars will restart fermentation!

How Much to Add

Try using 1 can of the fruit puree in the primary fermenter after primary fermentation has completed. After that has completed fermenting again, rack to a secondary fermentation vessel with the real fruit. Be sure to pasteurize your fruit! This can be done by either bringing your fruit to 170 degrees to kill off wild yeast and bacteria. Another option is to dice up your fruit with a sanitized knife and freeze them. This will break down their cell walls and allow the fruit to be introduced into the beer better. Allow the beer to condition on the real fruit anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months, depending on how you enjoy the fruit flavor and aroma.

Lastly, fruits contain something called pectin that will create haze in your beer. Some fruits have more pectin than others and contribute more haze. You may not care to remove this from your beer but if you do, be sure to add Pectic Enzyme to the fruit before adding it to the beer. Also to note is the stronger fruits to add to beer are blackberries, raspberries, and passion fruit. Fruits like cherries, strawberries, blueberries and peaches will most likely need a larger volume of fruit due to their delicate nature.
Got this from another website,Think I`ll do it this way now!!Put the canned sterile peaches in the primary after done fermenting,Let it ferment again,Then rake to secondary...Let go till settled completely,Then add 2oz.peach flavoring from morebeer and the priming sugar to the bottling bucket,and bottle.GOT IT !!!
 

Back
Top