I plan on adding raspberries to my berliner. I made 2.5 gallons and have it sitting in a 3 gallon carboy. The next size carboy I have is 5 gallons. I was thinking about adding the raspberries directly to the 3 gallon carboy after about a week or so. Does anyone foresee any issues with this? Or, should I add the raspberries to the 5 gallon carboy and rack on top? (my concern here is the extra head space).
Would be interested to know about this too, as I'm planning on making a Saison and then splitting it into two other carboys for secondary with a different fruit in each carboy. Appreciate anyone's feedback
What volume of raspberry? I would be shy about doing it in the 5 gallon carboy. Fruit beers carry some extra work and expense -- no point risking oxidation. For the 3 gallon, maybe juice the berries to get as much juice out of them as you can (freeze-thaw-squeeze-decant in plastic bag, for example), and then add enough of the pulp to brink the volume to the neck of the carboy. Just a thought off the top of my 3 Philosopher impaired brain.
I agree with Peter's suggestion: juice the raspberries and add the juice to the 3 gallon carboy. Cheers!
Thanks for bailing me out, Jack. Add the juice FIRST. And if there is still head space, add some pulp to bring the volume to the neck. That's what I meant to say, but I got distracted by my other conversation with three philosophers.
Excess head space may or may not be a problem. 'May' because there's so much of it for a small batch size. 'May not' because the raspberry addition will gin up some CO2 from a brief round of active fermentation...as evidenced by krausen. I'd suggest racking into the 5G carboy, clean the 3G, and rack back to the 3G after the raspberries have been added. Also suggest bagging the fruit because the tiny seeds can be a PITA come bottling day.
I'm watching this thread with interest because I'd like to add fruit a beer myself soon, and I've only done it once so far (although that blueberry blonde was damn tasty stuff). When you guys say "juice" it, what mechanism/machine are you talking? A juicer? Just mash 'em up? Several lovely Belgian girls with bare feet? Any vodka needed? When I did it, I just mashed em up and put a little vodka on them (whole blueberries). But what's the more EXPOIT way?
My 2 cents on the fruit addition would be to use a bottling bucket with an airlock as your secondary, puree the fruit in a blender, and put into ziplock bags to freeze. Once frozen, take block of juice/puree out of bag and drop into sanitized pantyhose or hop bag, and drop into bucket.
Not to throw this thread on a tangent. I'm also doing a BW, I'm not worried about headspace and want to add Rasberries also. If I add whole rasberries without blending or any other method, will this take longer/not be as Rasberrlicious?
I have 2 pounds of Trader Joe's frozen raspberries and I was just going to smash them up in the bag and add them to the primary. I did not want want to transfer to another carboy, but have read some threads wherein folks have stated that there were "off" flavors, and/or the rapsberry goodness would not be extracted as well unless put in a secondary vessel (not sure about the validity of this statement). I dryhop in the primary so I am assuming the fruit in the primary should be fine...... hopefully.
Different strokes for different fruits...I always say. Since this thread is specifically about raspberries...some of the techniques mentioned...such as freezing and pureeing...aren't really necessary. Other...tougher-skinned or denser fruits...maybe yes...but not raspberries. It's debatable whether the fruit should be sanitized. My experience...better safe than sorry. It's a PITA to salvage a batch by having to rack from under the mold layer? IMO...heat pasteurization is best because it's quick and easy. Others use Campden tabs; however...this treament kills wild yeast but not mold and takes 24 hours. The presence of mold is less likley in commercially-produced frozen berries than from home garden-grown or on the fresh-market. It's not debatable whether the fruit addition the derive the best flavor / aroma should be made far from the kettle. Fruit aromatics are a delicate and volitile as those found in hops. One week to 10 days in a 2ndary is more than enough time for the all the berry's goodness to leech into the beer. Small volume brewers will benefit from bagging the fruit to avoid not only loss of volume at bottling time but clogs in the bottling wand. --- You have been listening to the 'Voice of Xperience' radio
- Put berries in pot on a stove. - Apply low heat initially...then increase temperature gradually (over ten minutes or so) to between ~160° and 180°F while stirring frequently. - Simmer for 30" while stirring frequently. Some say five to ten minutes is plenty good but my mileage varied until I went 30". --- Don't let the fruit boil or else the pectin will set (like it does in jam) and produce haze. I use a double-boiler (pot-in-a-pot of water) to prevent scourching and to more easily control the temperature. --- Cool...bag...place in 2ndary...rack beer from primary...and rest seven to ten days.
Put berries in pot on a stove. - Apply low heat initially...then increase temperature gradually (over ten minutes or so) to between ~160° and 180°F while stirring frequently. - Simmer for 30" while stirring frequently. Some say five to ten minutes is plenty good but my mileage varied until I went 30". --- Don't let the fruit boil or else the pectin will set (like it does in jam) and produce haze. I use a double-boiler (pot-in-a-pot of water) to prevent scourching and to more easily control the temperature.
