Raspberry Wheat Beer Method Advice.

[Slightly]

Thomas Cooper Wheat Beer Kit
500g of Light Dry Malt
300g of Dextrose
2kgs of frozen raspberries (thawed).

Need some method advice on when exactly I should put the raspberries in the fermenter? Should I put maybe 500g in before the yeast is pitched then the other 1.5kg when the brew is nearing the end? i.e. at 1015. I'm looking for a pretty potent raspberry flavour.

Thanks.


oh, and do I need to mix the raspberries into the brew or just place them in?

 

[fraser_john]

Just add them at the start of fermentation, but make sure you puree them first to make sure all the juice is available. You're going to have to mix it in pretty thoroughly as well, if they sit in the bottom, the yeast may not get to all the sugars properly.

 

[Slightly]

Great, thanks. How do you recommend the berries to be pureed?

 

[bum]

I've read many fruit users like to add the fruit in much the same way as dry hops and for much the same reason - some feel the more active period of primary fermentation will strip the fruitiness out to some degree.

Have a search around there is plenty of talk about using fruit in brews - especially raspberries in wheaties.

Quick question about your question? How many practical ways to puree raspberries can you think of?

 

[Slightly]

Close to none

 

[bum]

Blend the crap out of it might be one method.

Dunno if people usually try to boil or pasteurise the puree.

As I say, there are heaps of threads on this process. Have a read and you get so many ideas you won't know what to do with them.

 

[Slightly]

Cheers mate, I'll go searching for some info now.

 

[bconnery]

I just put them in at the end of primary fermentation.
I freeze them, assuming they aren't already, then defrost them with some boiling water or the microwave.
Leave them in the fermenter for a week or two and then rack to secondary for chilling to get most of the fruit off.

Edit: There's a fruit beer wiki / article thingy in the area where the wiki/article thingies are...

 

[Slightly]

I read somewhere - may have been on this forum - that if you put the raspberries in at the start of fermentation... that is, before the yeast is pitched, the flavour from the berries will decrease.

Is it possible to put some in at the start and then, towards the end, open the fermenter lid and put more raspberry puree in? Or will this lid opening have some sort of negative affect to the yeast and fermentation?

 

[MattC]

There is always a risk of infection by opening up the fermenter lid. At least if you wait until primary fermentation has finished, there will be a blanket of carbon dioxide on your beer which can guard somewhat against infection.

I did a raspberry hefeweizen with 2kg of frozen raspberries. I fermented the wort, then after primary fermentation, I racked to a secondary fermenter that contained the raspberries. IMHO you didnt really have puree the raspberries when they are frozen as the freezing process actually breaks up their cell structure and allows the juice to flow into the beer. After a week in the secondary, crash chill, which should get all the raspberries on the bottom, then bottle or keg. I found that I had a fair few raspberry bits flow through, so I intend to filter the next one.

Cheers..

 

[Fourstar]

always add the fruit to secondary after a long cold crash if you can. You want as little yeast in secondary as this will steal your fruit flavours (much like it strips hop flavour and bitterness). With my raspberries i pureed them with boiling water to kill any nasties and then froze it in an icecream container. to be super careful you could pasturise them first in the microwave on its lowest setting holding them at 75 degrees for 15 mins. The onyl downside to this is you might get pectin haze. this shouldnt effect the flavour though.

When i transferred to secondary i simply racked the bright beer onto the raspberries and let it warm up to ambient. i then sat it on the berries for a week still at ambient. I'd recommend a minimum of 1.5kg of raspberries too.

 

[bconnery]

There is always a risk of infection by opening up the fermenter lid. At least if you wait until primary fermentation has finished, there will be a blanket of carbon dioxide on your beer which can guard somewhat against infection.

I did a raspberry hefeweizen with 2kg of frozen raspberries. I fermented the wort, then after primary fermentation, I racked to a secondary fermenter that contained the raspberries. IMHO you didnt really have puree the raspberries when they are frozen as the freezing process actually breaks up their cell structure and allows the juice to flow into the beer. After a week in the secondary, crash chill, which should get all the raspberries on the bottom, then bottle or keg. I found that I had a fair few raspberry bits flow through, so I intend to filter the next one.

Cheers..

These floaty bits are the reason I now add mine at the end of primary.
That way I can let them sit, then rack the beer off the fruit.
A secondary in the fridge, slowly chilling down to cold conditioning then drops almost all of the little floaty bits out.
I then rack to the bottling bucket or else keg.

I figure that by the end of primary there isn't going to be too much yeast action, and I don't mind a little extra anyway to dry the beer out...

 

[Slightly]

always add the fruit to secondary after a long cold crash if you can. You want as little yeast in secondary as this will steal your fruit flavours (much like it strips hop flavour and bitterness).

As I'm just using my Coopers fermenter, after it has fermented for a few days, am I able to scoop out the yeast and then put the raspberry puree in for a few more days with the beer?

 

[Fourstar]

As I'm just using my Coopers fermenter, after it has fermented for a few days, am I able to scoop out the yeast and then put the raspberry puree in for a few more days with the beer?

go to bunnings and get a 25L water barrel for 9 bucks and a tap for $2 (they have red lids). you can drill yourself a hole in the lid if you want to use the airlock from your coopers kit and transfer the grommet. If you want to go the easier route, cover the opening with gladwrap and use the 'O' ring from the fermenter to hold it in place while in secondary. You can transfer the beer from primary to secondary via gravity with a length of vynil hose plugged onto the mouth of your sanitied fermenter tap (also available from bunnings).

All up your effort will cost you $20~ and best of all you have a second fermenter on hand.

 

[Slightly]

This is all well and good and I'm appreciative of your assistance... but is it possible to just scoop out the yeast from one fermenter and put the raspberries in?

 

[Fourstar]

This is all well and good and I'm appreciative of your assistance... but is it possible to just scoop out the yeast from one fermenter and put the raspberries in?

I have NFI how you would scoop out the yeast without transferring the beer to another vessel?!

 

[bum]

You'd just stick you arm in with a cup. Why can't you just answer the question, Fourstar? Seems reasonable to me! h34r:


Scooping the yeast out is a really bad idea and pretty well near impossible (you'd more than likely just stir it up instead of pulling it out), Slightly.

You could conceivably just add the fruit to the end of primary in the same vessel leaving the yeast in but racking to another fermenter should yield cleaner results.

 

[Fourstar]

You could conceivably just add the fruit to the end of primary in the same vessel leaving the yeast in but racking to another fermenter should yield cleaner results.

and deal with the loss of flavour imparted by the raspberries which was what i was trying to get him to avoid.

maybe its just me but i dont like doing things 1/2 arsed!

 

[bum]

He's still gonna get more out of it that way than putting it in at the beginning of primary and having it in there during the more vigorous fermenting period, right?

He's obviously not too interested in getting a second fermenter - which I would recommend you reconsider, Slightly. My Bunnings red lid fermenter has been one of my better brewing purchases - it has allowed me to start bulk priming.

 

[Slightly]

maybe its just me but i dont like doing things 1/2 arsed!

Yeah, you're right. I want to do this properly. I'll be going to bunnings within the next week . Any other tips for my attempt at this?