Fruit Beers - Adding fruit to the FV

[Notlaw]

I've been looking through and jotting down the recipes that I want to try and one of the ones my missus wants me to make is a raspberry witbier. In the recipe it states to add the fresh (or frozen) raspberries directly to the FV. I can't remember if it was after a few days or not, but I'll check that when I have the recipe in front of me again. The question really, is if you need to do anything to the fruit before it goes in the FV? Surely fresh raspberries could all kind of potential nasties on the surface, not sure about the frozen ones, but would you need to scald them or anything first to kill anything on them?

 

[TartanSpecial]

I'm interested in this too...am going to make a raspberry wheatbeer (Greg Hughes recipe) and concerned that fresh or frozen raspberries will harbour wild yeasts....am considering using the Funkin (yes this is the brand name :smile: ) raspberry puree used for cocktails since it should be sterile.

 

[duncans]

Added fruit once. Vinegar!

I will use fruit mushed in a little vodka next time. Or tinned fruit maybe.

 

[YeastFace]

You can pasteurise, but this can cause more haze than usual. Using Funkin fruit puree is something I'm looking to do also.

 

[MyQul]

Added fruit once. Vinegar!

I will use fruit mushed in a little vodka next time. Or tinned fruit maybe.

I watched a youtube vid once a while back, and putting a piece of fruit in some sweet wort is exactly how you can capture wild yeast

 

[duncans]

Yeah, heard about that. I haven't tried it yet. Maybe in the autumn.

I have tried to catch wild yeast a couple of times. Got a funky smelling starter on right now, so maybe ....

 

[Notlaw]

Would tinned raspberries work, do you reckon? You have to drain of the syrup first of course.

 

[MyQul]

Would tinned raspberries work, do you reckon? You have to drain of the syrup first of course.

The preservatives might cause a problem but I'm not sure. The wine guys don't use fruit that has preservatives anywhere near it

 

[Notlaw]

Hmmmm, I'm wondering about frozen ones and plunging them in boiling water first. Just thinking out loud here and getting opinion.... I'll not come knocking on anyone's door if they suggest something and it goes breasts northward.!

 

[Johnf]

Freezing will sterlise the fruit I would have thought. Tip it in frozen whilst still sterile. William bros buy fresh Tayberries from a fruit farm I visit which they use in their Roisin beer. A favourite summer brew of mine.


John

 

[HisDudeness]

I had a go at a partial mash version of GH raspberry beer that used frozen fruit. I mashed them up and treated with a campden tab. As far as I could tell I avoided wild yeast this way, carbonation came out the same as the non-fruit version and there was no obvious funkiness to the taste. From what I remember it was a bit on the harsh side initially and took a while to mellow out. Was drinkable but not something top of my list to make again.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=55591

 

[HisDudeness]

and freezing will not sterilise unfortunately...

 

[Johnf]

On another note and just my brain working, how do they get fresh hops sterile? And we dry hop.


John

 

[Johnf]

and freezing will not sterilise unfortunately...

How not? Out of intetest?

John

 

[MyQul]

On another note and just my brain working, how do they get fresh hops sterile? And we dry hop.


John

They dont sterilize them. Hops have natural antiseptic properties/compounds so you can just chuck em into your wort

 

[Notlaw]

I had a go at a partial mash version of GH raspberry beer that used frozen fruit. I mashed them up and treated with a campden tab. As far as I could tell I avoided wild yeast this way, carbonation came out the same as the non-fruit version and there was no obvious funkiness to the taste. From what I remember it was a bit on the harsh side initially and took a while to mellow out. Was drinkable but not something top of my list to make again.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=55591

Someone you'd recommend leaving it in the bottle for a couple of months to mellow a bit? You say it reminds you a kreik? That's what I'd be hoping for, I love those.

 

[HisDudeness]

How not? Out of intetest?

John

Freezing slows down bacteria and microbes but does not necessarily kill them so any nasties present at the point of freezing will still be there at thaw. Many yeasts including wild yeasts will tolerate very low temps and even freezing and will 'hibernate' until it is warm again e.g. lager yeasts

 

[HisDudeness]

Someone you'd recommend leaving it in the bottle for a couple of months to mellow a bit? You say it reminds you a kreik? That's what I'd be hoping for, I love those.

Mine was a partial mash so may have needed extra time to mellow out the kit side of things but yes I think a month or 2 conditioning is a good idea. It was the sharpness from the raspberries I think that reminded me of that sour cherry taste in kriek and it was very dry (quite boozy as well from what little I remember!) but with the frothy smooth wheat taste as well. So maybe a kind of Kriek/Wheat fruity beer lovechild I suppose :lol:

 

[Notlaw]

Mine was a partial mash so may have needed extra time to mellow out the kit side of things but yes I think a month or 2 conditioning is a good idea. It was the sharpness from the raspberries I think that reminded me of that sour cherry taste in kriek and it was very dry (quite boozy as well from what little I remember!) but with the frothy smooth wheat taste as well. So maybe a kind of Kriek/Wheat fruity beer lovechild I suppose :lol:

I'm all over that like a tramp eating chips. I'll start planning that for some time soon then.

 

[MyQul]

I'm all over that like a tramp eating chips. I'll start planning that for some time soon then.

:lol: I like your turn of phrase