Hey All I am making a strawberry milkshake (per my friends request as a graduation present) and have a question for anyone who uses a FastFerment. I am going to use fresh strawberries in the secondary, If I dice them up small enough, do you think I can put them in the collection ball after open the valve back up? Think the beer will drop in and push the fruit up? Or think I should just muslin sack it up with some stainless and drop it in the top? Anyone have any wisdom to share in regards to frozen vs. fresh? If fresh, diced or pureed? Thanks in advance!
I don't own a fast ferment, so I can't say whether the fruit would find its way up from the ball (through the "bottle neck"), or if so, how quickly. Fruit does tend to float in beer, so you have that in your favor. Regarding fresh vs. frozen, I like fresh better, but you should freeze and thaw it before using. That will help break down the cells and will also kill some (but not all) of the bacteria that might be on the fruit. I normally "smush" the thawed fruit just before putting it in the fermenter. I think puree-ing could be even better, if you have the equipment to do that, and can sanitize it first. ETA: Re-reading the OP, it sounds like you don't want the fruit to float. But it generally does. I wouldn't put it in a bag, weighted or otherwise. I think you'd get more beer to fruit contact if the fruit floats freely than if it is constricted in a bag.
Thank you for the reply! Fresh to frozen is an interesting concept, it makes sense in theory, so I'll give that a go. My concern about letting it float freely is when I transfer from the fastferment to the keg that things might get clogged up and then that just leads to a whole bunch of other issues.
I have racked many fruited beers and have never had an issue from the floating fruit interfering when it reaches the racking area. But again, I don't have a fastferment, so can't say whether it would be an issue in your setup.
If you have a juicer, putting the strawberries through that is the best way to process them before use.
