6 replies to this topic

[cbbrown40]

I have 12 gals of American Amber Ale that is at about 14 days in my Sanke fermenter. I would like to make a Blueberry Ale out of it. Not sure why but something I have wanted to do for awhile. I am planning on dumping 2, 48 Ounce cans of Oregon Puree in top of the fermemnter and let it go until done. Then I will keg. I do have some blueberry extract to add if the taste is not strong enough. My dilemma is should I add it to my primary that is going right now(and that is my plan right now) or put it in a secondary and let it sit. Or does it really matter. My secondary is usually cold condition in the keg.

[Deerslyr]

I have 12 gals of American Amber Ale that is at about 14 days in my Sanke fermenter. I would like to make a Blueberry Ale out of it. Not sure why but something I have wanted to do for awhile. I am planning on dumping 2, 48 Ounce cans of Oregon Puree in top of the fermemnter and let it go until done. Then I will keg. I do have some blueberry extract to add if the taste is not strong enough. My dilemma is should I add it to my primary that is going right now(and that is my plan right now) or put it in a secondary and let it sit. Or does it really matter. My secondary is usually cold condition in the keg.

I would transfer to a secondary and put the blueberries in. Fermentation should take off again and that would be a lot of sediment on the bottom at the end. I don't know if I'd secondary in the keg... I'm just thinking how tough it would be to clean and also is this your serving keg?

[cbbrown40]

I would transfer to a secondary and put the blueberries in. Fermentation should take off again and that would be a lot of sediment on the bottom at the end. I don't know if I'd secondary in the keg... I'm just thinking how tough it would be to clean and also is this your serving keg?

I would add the fruit to the primary and let go until done then put in secondary. I guess you could call it cold conditioning because fermentation would be done when I keg. The Ale is at about 14 days now so I would basically just dump the fruit on top of what going and let finish before I transfer if I am making any sense.

[Deerslyr]

I would add the fruit to the primary and let go until done then put in secondary. I guess you could call it cold conditioning because fermentation would be done when I keg. The Ale is at about 14 days now so I would basically just dump the fruit on top of what going and let finish before I transfer if I am making any sense.

I'm just thinking you might want to get it off of the Primary Yeast Cake... I have 3 buckets, all of which can be used for ferementation and/or bottling. Do you just have the one fermenter available to you right now?

[cbbrown40]

I'm just thinking you might want to get it off of the Primary Yeast Cake... I have 3 buckets, all of which can be used for ferementation and/or bottling. Do you just have the one fermenter available to you right now?

No I have more available. I guess it's just and idea I am playing with. Normally I would rack to secondary and add the fruit. I saw somewhere in a recipe for an apricot ale however that the recipe had them dump the fruit in the primary after a couple of weeks and let it continue so am I pondering the idea and the Pros and Cons I guess.

[Deerslyr]

No I have more available. I guess it's just and idea I am playing with. Normally I would rack to secondary and add the fruit. I saw somewhere in a recipe for an apricot ale however that the recipe had them dump the fruit in the primary after a couple of weeks and let it continue so am I pondering the idea and the Pros and Cons I guess.

The problem I see with blueberries and apricots is that the flavors from the fruit itself tend to be very subtle, so I would want to give the fruit the best chance it has to impart its flavors to the beer. Might be less concerned if you were using a fruit that was more pungent or strong. I'd think the tartness and strong flavors of peaches or huckleberries might withstand sitting on top of the primary cake better than a blueberry or apricot. I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of either fruit on their own because the flavors are too subtle/mild for my palate. Put them in a beer and I'm likely to miss the flavor entirely. I think if you want to focus on the flavor and aroma of the fruit, let it do it's thing by itself. It's just my humble opinion. I've got a wheat that I want to put on some plums from the tree, but I'm definitely planning on taking it off the primary first. Maybe I'll do that tonight... I've been negligent with my beer.

[Brewmasters Warehouse]

I personally always would rack to a secondary before adding the fruit. If you want to throw fruit into the primary I do not think it would hurt anything as long as the vast majority of fermentation is complete. Throwing dry hops or fruit into the primary during fermentation is going to reduce the flavor given off by the addition. But if you wait until fermentation is completed the only draw back I see to adding fruit in the primary is the yeast cake. I am not too worried about autolysis but I just prefer to get the beer off the cake when adding fruit/dry hops.Ed