Hoser
Well-Known Member
So I'm about to make a Southern English Brown following Brewing Classic Styles this weekend but I'd like to have a go at adding raspberry puree to half the batch. Jamil recommends in the book that you should rack your beer to another fermenter if you plan on making a fruit beer. Given I'd like to split my batch and I need to rack for the raspberry portion, which of the following makes more sense:
1) split the wort into 2 10L batches in 15L fermenters at the start. Pitch yeast and then rack one of the fermenters into a separate 15L fermenter (with raspberry puree added) near the most active phase of fermentation as recommended in Brewing Classic Styles
or
2) start with one 20L batch in a 30L fermenter. Pitch yeast and then rack the entire batch into 2 10L sub-batches in 15L fermenters near most active phase of fermentation. Obviously one of the fermenters has the raspberry puree
I'm thinking #1 makes more sense because if the best time to transfer for fruit beer is near the end (but not at the end) of the most active phase of fermentation, there will be a high krausen which I'm assuming means plenty of top side yeast. If I rack a combined 20L batch to 2 separate fermenters, the split of yeast will not be consistent... or is that not really an issue because there's yeast all throughout the beer by that stage?
For#2 I only need to buy 2 15L fermenters instead of obviously 3 as in #1 (don't have any 15L fermenters right now). But perhaps more importantly in #1 I'm doing less racking overall which then means less risk of infections, oxidation, etc.
Am I overthinking this?... :unsure:
1) split the wort into 2 10L batches in 15L fermenters at the start. Pitch yeast and then rack one of the fermenters into a separate 15L fermenter (with raspberry puree added) near the most active phase of fermentation as recommended in Brewing Classic Styles
or
2) start with one 20L batch in a 30L fermenter. Pitch yeast and then rack the entire batch into 2 10L sub-batches in 15L fermenters near most active phase of fermentation. Obviously one of the fermenters has the raspberry puree
I'm thinking #1 makes more sense because if the best time to transfer for fruit beer is near the end (but not at the end) of the most active phase of fermentation, there will be a high krausen which I'm assuming means plenty of top side yeast. If I rack a combined 20L batch to 2 separate fermenters, the split of yeast will not be consistent... or is that not really an issue because there's yeast all throughout the beer by that stage?
For#2 I only need to buy 2 15L fermenters instead of obviously 3 as in #1 (don't have any 15L fermenters right now). But perhaps more importantly in #1 I'm doing less racking overall which then means less risk of infections, oxidation, etc.
Am I overthinking this?... :unsure: