Advice on adding real fruit to my wheat beer.

[bohicarlp]

Greeting all. Well summer is around the corner and I want to brew a raspberry and blueberry wheat beers. I would prefer to use real fruit, and I would like any advice in the additions of it.

1) I do not want an overpowering flavor and I would prefer not to have a blue beer, but it is what it is.
2) Also, if I am to add in the secondary, how do I go about sterilizing the fruit?
3) I was thinking that 4-5 pounds per 5 gallon batch would be enough, but what do I know?

Thanks to all that answer. Cheers!!

[Ozwald]

1- Raspberries will lend a purple color to your beer. I have one that I've been sitting on for the better part of a year. Yup. Still purple. Blueberries won't lend any color, but will have a more reserved flavor.
2- Pasteurize it. I buy the fruit frozen so the cell walls are already beat up. I put it in my original 16 qt enamel brew pot and toss it in the oven. I've been drinking so I can't recall exact temps/times but stir it once in a while, let it cool a bit & rack on top. Super easy.
3- I average 6lbs of pasteurized fruit for a fat 5 gallon batch (after I rack off, I get a full keg)

[brewinhard]

Greeting all. Well summer is around the corner and I want to brew a raspberry and blueberry wheat beers. I would prefer to use real fruit, and I would like any advice in the additions of it.

1) I do not want an overpowering flavor and I would prefer not to have a blue beer, but it is what it is.
2) Also, if I am to add in the secondary, how do I go about sterilizing the fruit?
3) I was thinking that 4-5 pounds per 5 gallon batch would be enough, but what do I know?

Thanks to all that answer. Cheers!!

The best time to add fruit to preserve it's precious aroma and flavor is in secondary. Freezing your fruit is the easiest way to help burst the cell walls and make the sugars available to the yeast. Freezing will not completely kill of all bacteria or wild yeast on the fruit but it is enough to make sure your beer will not become infected. Remember, you are adding the fruit to beer that already has alcohol in it and has a low pH which makes it hard for any infection to get started. I have brewed with fruit MANY times and I have only frozen it with no problems EVER!

Raspberries are a fairly acidic fruit with quite a big punch of flavor as well. If you don't want anything overpowering then I would use 1#/galllon. That should put you in the right ballpark. Let the beer sit on the fruit in secondary for at least 2 wks, but a mos would be better. You could always take samples with a wine theif along the way to get your flavor that you want.

Blueberries are more subtle in flavor and aroma and I would probably use 2#/gallon to get a nice effect. Once again, YMMV. Here is a tip for getting the fruit in the carboy:

-Boil some water in a large kettle to sanitize it (with the lid on to sanitize that as well)
-Dump your frozen fruit into the kettle after you emptied out the boiled water and put the lid on
-Let your fruit thaw (this will take much longer than you think - 4-6 hrs)
-Using a sanitized masher, mash up your fruit once thawed
-cut a liter soda bottle in half, using the top half sanitize it well
-when fruit is thawed, place the bottle neck into the carboy opening (fits perfectly) and scoop your fruit (with a sanitized scoop) from the kettle into the liter bottle and carboy (you will need something sanitized to help push the fruit into the carboy, I use the handle of a plastic spoon)
-rack your fermented beer carefully on top (no splashing)

Hope this helps! Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

[bohicarlp]

Thanks fellas. Gonna have to wait til the next batch. Been working on a wheat recipe and just had a sample before putting into secondary. It is just not what I am looking for for a wheat beer just yet. Cannot quite tell what is overpowering the flavor. Maybe wheat or my hop addition. I enjoyed it, but just not right. Gonna have to condition to see if the flavors all mingle together.