Fruit and a Berliner...

Haven't brewed one myself, but I had an Ever Weisse from Night Shift Brewing and it was one of the most enjoyable Berliners I have had. It is brewed with strawberries, kiwi, and hibiscus.

I do not know how much fruit they use, but the final result is delicious.

 

How big of a batch are you fruiting? One pound whole fruit per gallon is a good starting point. Not so sure about dried. I'm also fruiting a Berliner I've already brewed this Saturday and only plan to leave it in secondary for a couple weeks. That way I get quick feedback and can plan tweaks for the next batch without investing too much time in this one.

 

I've done a whole pineapple in one gallon and it was delicious. A big pineapple aroma and a subtle, nice taste.

I've also done ~40 oz raspberries/2-3 gallons and had no flavor although my beer looked awesome.

Last batch I went to my supermarket, went to the Ethnic section of the frozen food department and got the Goya Passionfruit puree and put 3 packs in for 1 gallon and the result is a passionfruit BOMB. It is straight sour passionfruit. I would defintely use 1 less pack next time.

 

Have a gallon of my Berliner sitting on plums and nectarines and the moment. Will report back with results ASAP.

 

mmm I want to hear about this. that sounds delicious. whats your ratio of pounds to gallons?

 

2-3 months sounds like over kill IMHO, ive had good luck with 2-3weeks for berliners. I suppose it depends on the fruit but for raspberries and peaches ive had very strong flavors after 2 weeks.

also i think your proportions are backwards. Strawberries are not very bold and would require more than 3lbs IMO.

 

7lbs of peaches for 5 gallons has treated me well. The peaches were pitted, sliced into 8ths and frozen for a few days and then stuff them in the carboy neck. The berliner sat on the peaches for 2 months.

 

Hmm got about 3 gallons of sour mashed Berliner fermented but no room in the kegs might try something with fruit as well.

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I did 6-7 pounds of strawberry for 2-3 weeks in a Berliner I did recently and wasn't a huge fan. The strawberries are great on the nose, but it is lacking in strawberry flavor and what flavor it got from it was overripe tasting. I would have used a different fruit, or combined with a different fruit if I could have done it again.

 

I used about 8 lbs of mango in 4 gallons of Berliner Weisse and loved it. Was a pain to rack (mango fibers kept getting stuck), so I would recommend a mesh bag.

 

I've always had the policy of doing at least 2lbs of fruit to 1 gal of beer (be it a berliner or a different sour) and has never failed me. The only exception I have with that rule is raspberries, which are very assertive and you can dial it down to 1.5lbs/gal. I've never used dried strawberries and would be really interested in trying it out, since the fresh versions are tough since you have to get them super ripe which means almost certainly you cant buy them at the store.

My experience with peaches is that they never quite live up to the expectation, and I've always liked the apricot version better (which most people think its peaches anyway). I think the peachiest beers I've ever made have had apricots. I pit stonefruits and cut them into quarters/eights once they are about as ripe as you're comfortable. So far I've yet to be able to make a peach version that I'm really satisfied with but the apricots always perform, that's just me though.

Mangoes are delicious.

Good luch

 

where is Stakem? I thought he was a fixture in any berliner homebrew thread