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Fruit addition Question.. and my this weeks flavor!

samgruvr

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Location
Arlington, VA
I'm toying with ideas for making some (hopefully ingenious) brews with different tropical fruits. My first go is a batch with Mango in it. I bought a fresh mango, peeled, pureed and added in with 15 left on the boil.. which ended up being 30 minuted before the end of a 90 minute boil.. but....

I'm curious to know about folks flavor and overall success when using fresh fruit.
  • When have you added it to the boil?

    Have you tried a boil add, a primary add or a secondary add?
     
    What sugar content is relevant in different fruits?

    What about nuts? Has anyone brewed with nuts?


    My brew this week is a Mango Saison Pale Ale

    2lb Vienna
    1/2lb rolled organic oats
    1/2lb flaked wheat
    5lb Extra Light DME (use 7 to bump up the booze)
    1lb Honey
    Put the grain in 3 gallons of water and bring the grain to 160 deg F and let steep for 20
    - have a beer
    top to 5.5 gallons and BOIL!!
    @  0 minutes: 2oz Kent Golding
    @ 25 minutes: 1oz Aussie Galaxy
    - have another beer
    @ 50 minutes (oops, had to deal with the dog): 5lb DME and one pureed mango
    @ 55 minutes: add 1lb honey
    @ 78 minutes: Add 1oz Pacifica (formerly Pacifica Hallertau)
    off heat at 80 minutes
    at 90 minutes began active cooldown with immersion chiller (Which needs to be swapped for a cold plate)
    25 minutes to cool 5.3 gallons of wort to <80 degrees and add one smack-pack of WYeast 1214 Belgian Abbey (Chimay)

    O.G. - 1.062

    That was in the snow before the superbowl, and after a good bottle swirl on Monday, the yeast kicked up and tore through it.

    I'm hoping it's a light, hoppy, fruity beer.. just in time for a spring kegging!

    Thanks all!
 
ok.. note to self.. boiling fruit makes jelly. I'm adding some pectin enzyme and hopefully I can save something.. I will re-make this with a secondary fermentation add of the mango ..


 
I once tried adding blueberries to the secondary. Treated them with sulfites, Campden tablets, used in wine making, and it actually came out pretty good. Until it sat for a couple months and the infection had a chance to ruin it. Glad it was only a gallon batch.
 
I have not personally done this but I understand some folks are having success with vodka.  If you diced the mango and let is sit overnight in some vodka you should be able to pitch into the secondary without any infection risk.  Some even put the vodka in too!  It won't hurt a thing.
 
Maine Homebrewer said:
I once tried adding blueberries to the secondary. Treated them with sulfites, Campden tablets, used in wine making, and it actually came out pretty good. Until it sat for a couple months and the infection had a chance to ruin it. Glad it was only a gallon batch.

I did blueberries once and added them to secondary in a blonde ale.  I loved how it came out (it was not strong, but it was obvious they were there).  I added one pound whole blueberries to two gallons in secondary, FWIW.  My sanitization was probably iffy and they may have slightly soured, but they didn't last long enough to worry about it.  They were too delicious.

I'd try blueberries again.  This time I'd soak them in vodka for a few days, then crush them and add them to a secondary.  I'd probably use a pound per gallon. 

Caveat: I'm guessing on this based on n=1.  This is not a definitive recipe or procedure. 
 
So, this beer turned out amazing after about 4  months in the bottle. It's several folks favorites and I'll be whipping up another batch soon to be ready for spring!
 
Look into aseptic puree. It's whole fruit and can be added directly to the primary. There's a brand called Perfect Puree, on Amazon. They make a Mango puree. This is a brand used by a lot of bars for hoity toity drinks.
 
When using fruit I have several different strategies that I use. 

One is the fruit purees sold by the homebrew suppliers.  I've had satisfactory results with those, but nothing amazing.  Since their sterilized and in a sealed can, they can be added anytime after the boil.

Another one is to add fruit juice at the end of the boil.  Use a juice that is preservative free (preservatives can kill yeast).  I use Knudsen Juice brands.  I especially like using their "Just Tart Cherry" in my porters and stouts.  They can also be added to the primary or secondary.

When using real fruit, I tend to use it in the primary.  I treat my wort like wine at first.  I put the fruit in my fermenter in a large mesh bag.  I rack my wort at 75F onto it and then stir in my campden tablets and my pectic enzyme.  I then get my hands in there and work the bag really well to get the pectic enzyme and campden tablets worked all through the fruit in the mesh bag.  After about 24 hours, I aerate and pitch my yeast.  I haven't had a contaminated batch yet.
 
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