Apricot Beer Help

[Beeratopia]

I am going to be making a Apricot beer this weekend. I am trying to figure out when the best time to add the apricot puree to the batch. I have heard some people say put it into the primary some have said put into the secondary, or I have even heard put it in before bottling. I could use some input from someone that has some experience in the subject.

[pcollins]

Don't know exactly as I've never done an apricot beer before. But, I've added a fair number of different things to beer and I often add them in secondary for best results.

I usually make a puree (if possible) of whatever I'm going to add and heat that to pasteurize it (180ºF for about 10 minutes). Dump that in the carboy and rack the beer on top of it. Seven days is usually a good time to let it sit on that and then sample to see where you're at.

[BuckfieldBeerGuy]

  I made an apricott rye last fall, and it was well recieved.  If you have bought your puree from a brewing supply store, adding it directly to your primary is the way to go.  However if its store bought puree, you may want to microway the puree first before you add it to your primary.  Most fruit producing plants process many items thru the same machines with minimal cleanings.  Microwaving the puree will kill any bacteria. 
  I found that when it came to bottling time, i taste tested first and wasn't satisfied.  So I added a half bottle of apricott exstract to the bottling bucket, and that made all the difference.  Apricott is a very suttle flavor.  Depending what your looking for, if you only want a suggestion of flavor puree in the primary is perfect; depending on your wort compilation.  Having some extract on hand at bottling time, can really help.   Hope my rambling helps.  Im 4 deep in some scotch ale.. 
  Love the buzz

[Beeratopia]

Thank you both for your input. The puree that I bought was in a can from Northern Brewer so I take it as that I can dump it straight in. I also have some apricot extract just in case I don't feel like the flavor is strong enough. I don't really want to use it though. I would like a more natural approach with the puree. I am hoping that the puree will have a strong enough flavor for me.

[BuckfieldBeerGuy]

I agree with you, I like the natural approach as well.  However apricotta is a supple flavor. It all depends on your base beer.  If you use pale 2 row or lighgt lme, dme, as the majority of your beer profile, the puree in the primary may not shine, if your base is darker in complex; you may not notice the puree at all. 
Love the buzz 

[crabbs]

I just recently made an apricot pale ale . i used a 3.3lb can of puree in the secondary.1.056 og.i learned that the beer was very hazy so i let it rest in secondary longer than anticipated hoping it would clear,it didnt.cold crahing helped .but what i did not think about at the time was that the longer it sits on the puree the more flavor is extracted.it was no longer subtle in the backround but dominating up front. while drinkable ,in the future i would not secondary as long and sample periodically.when the achieved result is there i would immediatly cold crash and filter into a keg.let me know what you did and the results as i will attempt this again .good luck to you. 

[KipDM]

i posted a ghetto apricot wheat.

i would suggest using half as much apricot puree as i did.

i would also recommend primary for only 3-4 days, add puree to the secondary and rack to secondary on day 3, 4, or 5.

i found that i had plenty of apricot background to my wheat without using any extract, but that's just MHO.

there were some other problems with my ApWh though and i will give an update once i have made a second round.

[SplitHop]

I agree with you, I like the natural approach as well.  However apricot is a supple flavor. It all depends on your base beer.  If you use pale 2 row or lighgt lme, dme, as the majority of your beer profile, the puree in the primary may not shine, if your base is darker in complex; you may not notice the puree at all. 
Love the buzz

I will chine in here if I could.  I just finished an Apricot DIPA which I used fresh apricots from the tree, washed, pitted them, placed on a sheet pan and baked them for two hours at 300 deg. F.  They were caramelized, and syrupy.  I placed all into a sterile container, froze it and then added 2 1/2 lbs. of the mash to my last 10 minutes of the boil.  I saved 1 lb. for a later addition in the secondary the final week along with the dry hops.  I made a 10 gal. batch.  Pre-boil gravity was 1.066, post boil gravity into the fermenter was 1.069, I pitched a 2500 ml 02 ale yeast to try and dry it up a bit.  I also did a three step mash,

Pepidase at 115 deg. for 15 minutes
Beta Amylase at 138 deg. f for 15 minutes and finally a
Alpha Amylase rest for 40 minutes at 158 deg. f.

Wort was clear, clean and delicious.  The apricots gave it a slight scent of stone fruit, color was deep golden with a hint of orange.  I am excited to see how this beer comes out, started fermentation at 68 deg. F. to pitch.  Refer is holding now at 19.8 deg. C. for the duration of the fermentation.

Will follow up with progress and flavor when done to confirm apricot notes.