Using fruit

Brewing processes and methods. How to brew using extract, partial or all-grain. Tips and tricks.

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londonaftermi26

Using fruit

Post by londonaftermi26 »

im planning on making a cherry wheat ale, my question is im going to use real cherries, should i boil them with the wort, and then leave them in when i tranfer to the primary fermentation, or should i take them out after the boil, im quite new to home brewing so any suggestion will help this will be a partial mash brew
brewer13210
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Post by brewer13210 »

First, don't boil the fruit. You'll set the pectin and form a permanent haze in your beer.

My experience with fruit is that it's best to add it to the secondary or the primary fermenter after the initial fermentation is complete. Otherwise, during primary fermentation the CO2 tends to scrub out a lot of the flavor from the fruit.

Todd
londonaftermi26

Post by londonaftermi26 »

that makes much sense, cause my last batch i used cherry flavoring syrup at bottling its a 5 oz bottle by ID carlson, and i have no cherry flavor at all, thank you for the advice
londonaftermi26

Post by londonaftermi26 »

im looking for a hazy brew with this recipe a lot like a hefewiezen, im just wondering whats the best way to use fruit with the best flavor, cause ive also heard that cider yeast allows the most flavor from fruit,
Markus055
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Post by Markus055 »

Hi, I am a big fan of fruit beers, and particularly of Lambic style, after doing allot of research I decided to do it the traditional way, here are the steps:

I made a wheat beer and used Wyeast 5278 Lambic blend, it has two Brettanomyces strains and Lactic cultures, fermented in primary for ~1 week, then I added the pitted cherry's (8lbs) in a grain bag with Wyeast 5733 Pediococcus cerevisea, another lactic bacteria for added acidity for one more week in the same primary, acidity is important if you do not want your beer to taste like fruit juice.

I made sure to wash the fruit well, and being that Brettanomyces is basically a wild yeast I was not to worried with contamination.

Now the hard part, transfer in carboy and let it rest in a dark cool area for one YEAR!!

8 months after that,brew a new batch of the same wheat recipe but no fruit, and with the Wyeast 3763 Roeselare , a VSS strain of the month, and let it rest for the remaining 4 months.

After 12 months mix the new and "old" beer together, with a second Wyeast 3763 Roeselare Lambic blend for carbonating in bottles, (this is optional, this particular yeast is still semi active even after 4 months).

*very important, before brewing any other new batch, make sure to clean and sanitize everything , that came in contact with the yeast 3 times, wild yeast is very resistant, the equipment I use for brewing fruit beers is only dedicated for that purpose*

My newest batch will be ready next August, 12 gallons of premium beer!

They have been doing this in Belgium abbeys for century's, they go as far as having open tubs in a middle of a field, all the pollen wild yeast fall in the beer, (and bugs), then they filter it to secondary fermentation, this is done in oak barrels, which you need to add more worth in it,because of evaporation, because wood barrels are not air tight.

Anyways, for my first post it is a long one. To some up if you use the proper techniques, everything is possible.

Sorry for my English, French is my first language

Cheers! :D
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