Raspberry Ale - How Much Added by Raspberries

[Nosybear]

Brewed a Raspberry Ale on Sunday - by today I was adding 3.5# of raspberry puree to the beer. The label said the gravity of the puree was 1.04 - 1.053. The 3.5# is about a quart of puree. There were about 5.5 gal of beer in the fermenter. So question: How many gravity points did I add to my brew?

Here's how I calculate it: If I were to add a quart of syrup at 1.05 and dilute it in 22 quarts of water, I'm adding about 2.27 GP (50/22). Multiply that by 3.5 pounds and I get an additional 6.8 points in the wort. Logic check: The OG of the beer was about 1.055, I'm adding puree at a lower OG than that.

Okay, guys, did I get the calculation right?

 

[LarryBrewer]

1.04 - 1.053 is a pretty big range.

If the puree is at 1.040, and it is one quart you have 22 quarts at 1.055, and 1 quart at 1.040. Blending them you get: (22 * 55 + 1 * 40) / 23 quarts = 54.3. So even if it is 1.040, you should still have a gravity of 1.054.

If the puree is at 1.053 and your OG was 1.055, you may not even notice it in your next hydrometer reading.

I would not pay attention to the weight, and just look at the volume. A lot of it is probably going to settle in the bottom, but the yeast should still eat the sugar.

 

[Nosybear]

I tend to agree on not worrying about the weight. I have a quart at approximately the same gravity as my beer, shouldn't make much of a difference. The puree was specifically packaged for brewing and winemaking - you'd think they'd label it in points/pound/gallon rather than the dimensionless number.

Thanks!

 

[Nosybear]

A follow-up - racked this ale this eve. 3.5# raspberries added to primary. The green beer is yummy, great raspberry flavor. Two weeks aging and I'll bottle it.

 

[LarryBrewer]

Awesome!