WHEN TO ADD FRUIT???

[HoppingWeasel]

Evening,

Right so I'm going to make a forest fruit beer; I'm a novice rookie and this will be my 2nd attempt at a homebrew.
From research, I'm seeing alot of adding fruit at second fermentation... this where my novice knowledge shows.
From my first brew, after primary I moved it into a pressure barrel where it sat for for 2-3 weeks until ready.


If I'm attempting a fruity beer? Do I need a second bucket for a secondary fermentation stage before bottling/barreling?
If so, how long should I leave it in there before bottling?

Any advice guys, cheers.

 

[ryanshelton]

Hi


Yes realistically you'll need a second FV to move the beer into and then add the fruit. What fruit are you adding? You will want to steralise them before otherwise you risk infection.

As for how long, it depends on taste. I would say taste daily until the desired flavour has been reached

 

[graysalchemy]

It depends on the fruit you are using. If you are going to use something with a delicate flavour then add it in the secondary after fermentation has finished, you will need to leave the pulp overnight with a campden tablet in it. If you are using something more robust like elderberry or black current or blackberry then I have always added it at the start of fermentation, I would pulp them and boil it for 10 minutes you may well want to add some pectolase enzyme as well unless it is a stout in which case clarity won't be an issue. With the second method the fruit is obviously fermented so the flavours will be different which IMHO suits the more robust fruit making them more port like which goes well with dark beers.

I do an elderberry stout which uses 1/2lb of fruit per gallon (i think :wha: ).

Hope that helps. :thumb: